The Moose and the Duck

Life has been rather hectic lately as I tried to orchestrate the end of my semester (finals, papers, etc. . .) with moving my years of accumulated junk into storage. As a result, I was looking forward to the calming effect of returning to my native land where I could be one with the elements. For the most part, I'm recuperating quite nicely. . .I went to work today, rode a snowmachine, got sun/snow burned, and lifted heavy items on ice and mud. It was good.

However, not all about returning home has been inspiring. There are some things about Glennallen, Alaska that I tend to forget a bit too easily against the grandeur of the raw wilderness that has so imprinted itself in my character. I was rudely awakened to this when I attended a "concert" that my brother was participating in.

First of all I should point out that my brother is a musical genius. All of my siblings and I have accomplished some degree of proficiency in music, but my brother puts us all to shame--if only he had the work ethic to equal his talent.

With that said, the "instructor" of music for this "concert" was the best musician Glennallen could offer. He's a man who is so convinced of his own genius, that he falls short of intelligence.

The concert was embarrassing.

To fully understand the scope of embarrassing I shall explain the song--composed by the instructor and performed by his After School Honor Choir--called, "The Moose and the Duck."

It goes like this:

Unnghhhhhhhh, Unnnnnghhhhhhhh
Quack Quack
Unnnghhhhhhhh, Unghhhhhhh, Unnnnnngggggghhhhhhhhh
Quack Quack, Quack, Quack
Uuuuuunnnnnnnnngghhhhhhhhhhhhhhgghhnnnnnghghghghghgh
QuackQuackQuackQuackQuackQuackQuack

And so forth, for several moments with the instructor waving his arms as if he is conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. And he's serious. This is something being performed for the community. . . it's not a warm up exercise.

And there's my brother--musical genius that he is--sitting in the back of the choir, tall, gangly, with long rebellious-musician hair, grunting like a moose in mating season.

I am so embarrassed, and so sad. And I kind of want to move back to Provo.

Attention All Extroverts

This article (thanks Ransom) explains, quite well, the dilemma that faces the introverts of the world. Extroverts should be required to read this:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

(Sorry, my link thing doesn't seem to be working. Anybody care to explain what the problem might be?)

When did this Storm Begin*

Today was the last day of classes but I am numb to any real sense of relief. I think I'm just so exhausted that it has yet to register in my mind that I am almost free. The last week has been pretty intense. . .

Dance Concert was awesome. The End. On the flip side, it took a great deal of energy with all of the extra rehearsals, and it consumed my entire week.

Thus I found myself desperately trying to finish a paper Sunday afternoon--which I didn't quit working on until almost 6am Monday morning, and it still wasn't finished. I then had to get out of bed at 7:30am to go about my day. I then spent till 2am Tuesday morning finishing the stupid thing. . .Blah!

You can understand why I might have been a little loopy over the last couple days.

Oh, and for three consecutive Tuesdays now I have been awarded some sort of ticket. The first two were parking tickets, but tonight I got pulled over (I was speeding). This isn't a good trend. It makes me feel like there is a change in the wind. . . before this I have never actually received a ticket, and now three in a row. Bam, bam, BAM! Lady Luck seems to have deserted me. . .

Maybe, if I go to bed right now, I will get more than three or four hours of sleep tonight. That would be a welcome change.

*Title of a new Shiny Toy Guns Song

What is a Man?

Once again I'm posting something from somewhere else. I swear, I'll start writing stuff again once I'm not so dad-gum busy. . .

This was amusing, but also rings very true. The miter saw line is awesome!

http://dating.personals.yahoo.com/singles/datingtips/88036/dating-question-what-is-a-man;_ylc=X3oDMTJzbzEwODFzBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjE0MjE2ODk4MARrA3doYXQgaXMgbWFuBHNlYwNmcF90b2RheQRzbGsDZGF0aW5nLXF1ZXN0aW9uLXdoYXQtaXMtYS1tYW4EenoDYWJj

Macbeth Review

The number and style of Shakespeare adaptations are virtually endless so it really isn’t surprising that a “Mormonized” version of Macbeth would eventually arrive. This particular version, directed by Barta Heiner, takes place within the realm of the Book of Mormon--with Mayan architecture and cultural symbology. Heiner justifies her adaptation by pointing out the “striking similarities between the characters in Macbeth and the people and the signs of evil that are documented in the Book of Mormon” (Director’s note, program). That may be true, but unfortunately that doesn’t translate into a good adaptation. Changing the costumes and altering the names of the characters and places does not make an adaptation. While there is potential in Heiner’s approach, the transformation is incomplete. The result is a production that is at war with itself. On one side is the production design and on the other is the text. As a result, the audience never melds with the production because they can never fully believe in the setting or the dialogue.

Part of that problem stems from the weakness of the production design itself. At first the set is interesting, consisting of large Mayan pillars that form a semicircle around the stage which has three large “fire pits” on an elevated platform. But as the play plows forward the static set becomes a liability; there are only so many times that actors can interact with a fire pit without becoming redundant. The set also lacks adequate acoustic accommodation, thus forcing the actors to expend effort into projecting their voices which limits the possibility of dynamic character portrayal.

The costumes of this production are also a weakness, lacking authenticity. Most feel as if they were pulled from a mismatched pile of garb found at DI; like the garish robes of children playing dress-up. Judging by audience reaction, the best costumes of the night entailed a group of shirtless men with large muscles, which drew audible admiration from the ladies present.

On the positive side, the cast invested themselves into their roles and delivered solid performances, even with the difficulties involving the production design. The best performances were from the actresses playing the Wayward (Weird) Sisters. These scenes were able to transcend the conflict inherent within the adaptation because the idea of witches is so universal that the conflict in the setting and language disappeared. Randy King’s performance as the porter also deserves mention because it displayed the humor found within Shakespeare’s writing through King’s lively delivery. Other positives include the battle scenes, which were energetic and entertaining, and the sound and lighting, which delivered an excellent ambiance for a Shakespearian tragedy.

Normally I would commend a director for staying true to Shakespeare’s text, but in this case it was a mistake. If Barta Heiner wanted to do a Book of Mormon version of Macbeth, a greater gamble should have been taken to develop a script that would incorporate Book of Mormon language and themes. Otherwise she should have stuck to Shakespeare’s original formula, which is never a wrong move.

--J.A. Devenport

D-i-s-r-e-s-p-e-c-t

A couple things that are actually related to the same issue have really galled me over the last couple days. First, I was at the BYU production of Macbeth (not as good as it should have been) and a bunch of people came in late and walked all over the people to get to their seats, and it wasn't just a couple people. How hard is it to be on time? I think it's the pinnacle of disrespect to show up to a performance late; it's insulting to the actors and inconsiderate of the audience. Actually, it's pretty pathetic to show up late to anything, especially church. Along those lines, I feel that every member of the Priesthood that gets up and leaves conference (Priesthood session, mainly) as soon as President Monson is done speaking, before the closing hymn and prayer, should be cursed with a week of diarrhea to give them an excuse to leave meetings early. The same goes for leaving sports events before the final buzzer, though I suppose God wouldn't be quite as insulted in this case. Come on people! How much time do you save by leaving conference early? Five minutes?

Being late and leaving early for events like church displays a great deal about character. . .and it's not good!

(I apologize for being irrationally angry about this and not very Christ-like)