Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Further randomness - websites I've encountered

- Ever had dreams that feature electronic media? Uh, hm, let me think about that one... If you have then send them here and they'll publish it on their blog
- Ever wanted to start a tribe on a remote Fijian island - huh? huh? Well now you can join one, all for a very-corporate-sounding-all-inclusive-packaged-price (although it sounds like a bit of marketing spiel to me) here
- Is the blog dead? Is Myspace really worth the hype? Apparently you're a nobody (in the music industry at least) if you don't have your own myspace account. Can I still join if I'm over 25? I have a friend - well sort of friend - who's in a band who have a hilarious song (and its not the intentionally funny kind). Listen here (its called Milkshake). Beck is rolling in his grave - he's dead isn't he? Or is he just a bit shit recently?

Random things I thought I'd mention...


But I couldnt be bothered to put them in any kind of coherent post so here they are -

- these people who live two doors down from us are constantly out in the corridor with their crying baby. When I say corridor i dont mean the one inside their own flat, I mean the communal corridor, where the entire floor can hear their screaming, bawling baby. I wonder why they do that? Every day, they're out there with their baby - there must be something seriously wrong with that kid, he cries sooo much. But why do they feel the need to share? Why do they have to take the kid out of the flat? I dont understand. I sometimes think of calling child services, but of course that's something I would never do. But still, take the kid indoors, he's yours, you deal with his cries, trust me when I say, nobody wants to share your pain.
- why does the media make us feel guilty if we aren't at some big public event that's taking place. Case in point the Sultan's elephant Yeah alright, it was a big elephant and it was quite amazing up close, but basically the day can be broken down to - we went, we saw, we got crushed by the surging crowd, I got annoyed and took it out on M, we fought, we got coffee and vowed to never be swayed by anything the Guardian claims "you'll be telling your grandkids about" - uh no, I dont think I'll be telling them about a giant elephant.
- I got private insurance for my back pain so I went to see an accupuncturist, who aside from poking me with needles burnt some herbs on my ankles, he told me to tell him when i feel a tingle, but the herbs burnt so fast he actually burnt my skin. Sometimes I wonder how far I go with these new-age fangled stuff, all for a bit of back pain, really.
- I won a Penguin Prize for a short story I wrote which they are publishing later in the year. I'm ecstatic.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Theatre on my mind

I find it fascinating how actors continue to act in plays that have widely received scathing or very negative reviews. This bore heavily on my mind as I went to see a play at a very respected theatre which has gotten a hammering from the press and mostly received 1 star for its production. I was actually excited about seeing it, because I thought surely it couldn't be as bad as that - I've worked with this theatre quite a lot before and they always get rave reviews for anything that they produce, even though I find quite a lot of their plays fairly dull. Anyway, it all started promisingly and then an hour later the play was over and I was like uh, what. It was the first time the stage lights went on and the audience didnt actually know whether they were meant to applaud. I peered at the actors faces as they hesitantly started to bow and felt really badly for them - but really there was no excuse the play really needed a lot more time before it was ready for production.
Cut to me a week later arguing with a 70 year old actor about the play - he loved it, and I understood why it was widely panned - I think I insulted him, I'm not sure. Perhaps I got too passionate - should one avoid revealing one's true thoughts to elderly people? Should one pay reverance to the elderly when they say stuff you dont really agree with? Hmmm..
Cut to me now, another week later trying to avoid seeing my own play that's on at a london theatre this week. Sent a pathetic excuse to the director that I couldnt make the dress rehearsals, anyway its too late, they cant really make any changes now. Will be seeing it on its final performance. Sitting squirming hoping that its not a big car crash. It shouldn't be, I hope.