Author: alexa0r

I liked the play, I liked the characters, and I liked the plot. I didn’t like being in the city late on a Tuesday night, and I also didn’t like the hard wood chairs. That’s about it. I was a little impressed because when I read the script the night before, it sounded almost exactly the same in my head as when the actors read it out loud. Score 1 for the playwright’s impeccable diction. Part of me feels like I would’ve liked it more if I hadn’t already read the script, but on the other hand it felt like it went by a lot faster because I knew how much of the script was left at any given time. I’m not sure why, but there was something about the actor for Howe that made my skin crawl a little bit. He did a good job though; all the actors did. Especially Leonora’s, her singing parts sounded good and it was cool that she was able to do that in a room full of people with no music.

I’m not really into interpretive dance, but the performance was enjoyable. I’m a little confused about why we went to see it though, because the average age in that audience had to be 80-something. I had a lot of respect for the dancers; when I’m home alone sometimes, I’ll start running around doing something similar to  those dance moves and I get out of breath in like ~3 seconds. So I have a vague idea of how difficult it is. Speaking of stamina, I did not appreciate being close enough to hear the dancers breathing. I feel like of all things, That’s what made it weird. There was also this one guy that was just. Sweating. Everywhere. Every time he spun around, The Rains of Africa followed. It was the only thing I could focus on. I was only thinking two things:
1) “one of them is going to slip in the puddles this man is producing”
and b) “Help, I’m about to get watered like a plant.”
Aside from Mr.Toto himself, something I found notable about the performance was that it was actually putting me to sleep. Not because it was boring(I promise, it wasn’t), but rather because the dancers were moving with such fluidity that it took the same effect as watching fish swim in a tank(google Aquarium Therapy). So that was pretty impressive. I wouldn’t go to something like this again, but it was an alright experience.

Going into this, my only opera experience was that JG Wentworth commercial from like 2008. So as you can guess, my expectations were pretty non-existent. Which probably served me and the show well. In short, I thought it was alright. Do I regret going? No. But would I go again?? Also no. Aside from the sets, I wasn’t particularly wowed by anything. It was a bit weird because my body was reacting to the girls’ singing, like I would sometimes get goosebumps, but I would remain mentally unimpressed, like “Okay. cool i guess.”
So that’s all well and good. I really liked the theater itself, the red velvet and the lights put just the right amount of holiday-magic in the air, and seeing so many people dressed up all fancy was really nice. Also I want those chandeliers in my kitchen. Like, for real. They’re so pretty.
I was really taken by the sets, the French Quarter one was amazing and the donkey was a nice touch. I was fascinated by the way it and the snow scene was elevated to look like two “floors” and I kept thinking about how it would look from the side or something. So that was cool.
In conclusion, this was an okay experience, but it wasn’t much to write home about. I’d much prefer Avenue Q. or at the very least, Rent.

Being somewhat of a punk myself, I felt a lil bit of a kinship with this guy. Granted, Punk’s not my whole life and I definitely caught on it’s later waves, but it’s a pretty big influence in my life (especially in how I dress; a lot of black and leather). When he was passing around the records and books and stuff, it all felt very familiar to me and it made me kinda happy. I was also really getting into that song he played for us too(does anyone remember the name of it?? because I don’t). The pin maker was cool, but unfortunately I couldn’t come up with anything to make one. It’s fine though, I never use pins anyway (I always think I’m gonna lose them). There were a few things that I found to be a bit ironic about his visit, the first being that he’s an older guy teaching teenagers about Punk. The general feeling you get from the Punk genre is that during your teens and twenties, you Rage Against the Machine, and once you reach your thirties, you become The Machine. I don’t mean to say he’s too old to be a punk or anything; just that it’s cool to see the stereotype be broken. Another thing that seemed a little backwards was that we were having a Lesson About Punk; it felt a bit like going against it’s definition. It formed as a rebellion to art, and here we are, studying it in an art class.
Anyway, he was a cool guest speaker, I’d listen to him again. the tats were sick.

Listen I’ve wanted to see Avenue Q since I was 10 years old and holy Crap it exceeded my expectations and then some. I went in there Excited and came out Excited x10. I’m listening to the soundtrack as I write this. I knew it was like the muppets on crack but oh my god it’s so much more. There’s just something so funny about those kind of puppets doing and saying the things they do in the show, especially swearing. It’s like hearing Elmo say “F*CK!!” but it’s so much better. The sex scene was wild, it was totally unexpected and it cracked up man. What really got me was the bit at the end of the scene where the other tenants were Doin’ It in(and out) the windows. And then Trekki Monster. 10 outta 10.
The only thing that freaked me out a little was the song about missing college, just the thought of “…This is as good as it gets..? :/”. also why did the puppets have nipples

Alright so a presentation that stuck out to me was Alaina’s presentation on F. Scott Fitzgerald because it was longer than Titanic. I didn’t really “enjoy” it because I’m not a huge fan of books/reading, but I found it incredibly impressive that she was able to be so involved in her topic. The slide show was also very aesthetically pleasing, and it was cute to see her passion for Fitzgerald’s literature and characters, namely Daisy from The Great Gatsby. I can’t say I like Daisy as much as Alaina does, because her choice at the end of the book really pissed me off, but I did read and like The Great Gatsby. I especially liked the fact that Fitzgerald hinted that Nick was gay for Gatsby. As for the other book Alaina talked about, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I didn’t read it or even know what it was about. But I’m glad I do now. I was impressed by her ability to look so deep into Fitzgerald’s female characters and their connection to New York. Overall, I think Alaina’s presentation was very well done. Just keep it short&sweet next time.please

For the independent museum trip, I went to the Cooper Hewitt Museum in Manhattan. I picked this place because it’s been called “the museum for people that hate museums”. I don’t actually hate museums, but they don’t interest me very much so this sounded better than another room full of pictures. The thing that sets this museum apart from the rest is the interactivity built in to your visit. You have to walk around holding a stylus that lets you interact with each exhibit. There were several interesting things in the museum, my favorite being the Immersion Room. In the immersion room my friend and I were able to draw a design on a tablet and have it projected as a wallpaper all over the room. We had a good time drawing cats and pokemon and stuff.
As for the rest of it, it wasn’t what I expecting. I had looked up this museum beforehand and it showed some of the exhibits. They’ve been rotated since then and the Cool Stuff was replaced with Less Cool Stuff. There were still interesting things, like a trucker jacket that would be paired with a phone so the wearer could navigate the phone by making gestures on the sleeve, and a wallpaper made of LED lights. There were also 3D-printed dresses and a chair shaped like a tongue (ew).
I was planning to go to this museum for a while now, so I’m glad I went. But maybe I should’ve went at a different time. oh well

For me, the Brooklyn Museum was ok. I wasn’t bothered by anything(but there was this one statue..), however I didn’t get to see everything. The things I remember the most are the Egyptian exhibits, the rooms with the giant realistic charcoal drawings, and the Native American Life-and-Death exhibits.
In the Egypt rooms I wasn’t really able to pay attention to anything; I noticed how large the rooms were and it made the small artifacts seem even smaller. I knew I was looking at Significant Pieces of History but the environment just made them seem so insignificant.
On the other hand, I was really impressed by the charcoal drawings. I actually thought they were all photographs until I saw the bald eagle one all the way at the end of the exhibit; that was a big “wait.WHAT-” moment.
There was only one thing that I felt absolute disdain for in the museum. This one statue of a woman made out of metal. It had to be about 7 or 8 feet tall with the proportions of Jessica Rabbit, but extremely muscular. The shoulders and hips were like 3 feet across but the waist looked like it was 30 inches around. I just…do not understand. And I’m not sure I want to.