#also I think it's interesting JG is doing his best work 10+ years out from his peak fame. life lesson there maybe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

foxes-that-run · 6 months

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Perfect

Zayn said he wouldn’t buy the record when he heard Perfect (so salty!). Harry's emotions varied performing it in its short 27 performance run from Oct-Dec when 1D ended. These 2 stand out:

November 20 2015, rather than sing the Bridge Harry said to the crowd "if you think it's so funny you can sing it".

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3 days later at the AMAs he rolls his eyes and looks ready to walk out, the camera cuts to a kid who seems to agree. (Bridge is 2:40).

It was only performed 6 more times, in Carpool Karaoke (10:30) Harry stops singing for parts and the song cuts before the bridge, at the Jingle ball he looks away and the last time was new years.

Or this concert he put the mike into the crowd, someone stole the microphone and licked it.

Safe to say he regretted that bridge, it's savage to them both.

Writers

Perfect ties with Fools Gold for the title of the Haylor song with the most writers, at 7. While Fools Gold has all 5 of the band, Bunetta and Ryan. Harry and Louis are the only band members who worked on Perfect with Bunetta, Ryan and 3 others:

Jesse Shatkin, (cowrote Sia's Chandelier)

Jacob Kasher (Maroon 5 collaborator), and

Mozella (cowrote Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball and Fools Gold.)

To me, Perfect has more media grabbing pop-song than Harry Styles. HS’s best 1D work was with teams of 3 or 4 writers. In fact, Bunetta said Olivia came out in 45 minutes while overworking another "less good" MITAM song.

Timeline

Bunetta also told Rolling Stone about Perfect:

"That one took a long time, just because it was written over a couple different continents. It started as one thing and ended up where it is."

MITAM was made in the summer of 2015. To have been written in a couple of continents and with USA based writers it was probably either side of the BBMAs. It could have been started 'as one thing' in April in South Africa before the BBMAs other songs that reference Style including Two Ghosts started early in the year. The "ended up where it is" with those writers would be after the BBMAs, when they got back to the USA from July. This would be at the end of the album and he was singing it daily within 3 months.

Similarity to Taylors songs

It has the same chord progressions as Style and is also very similar to out of the woods as this video on Twitter shows. He called it a love song in the made in the AM interview (6 mins) and that it wasn’t literal in another. I do love this James Cordon bit and I love his Taylor smile so much.

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Lyrics

[Verse 1: Louis] I might never be your knight in shinin' armour I might never be the one you take home to mother And I might never be the one who brings you flowers But I can be the one, be the one tonight

Grapejuice, has the perfect (get it) call back to this verse, along with 'Red' and 'Pay for it' and I love him for it:

"I was on my way to buy some flowers for you (ooh) / Thought that we could hide away in a corner of the heath / There's never been someone who's so perfect for me / But I got over it and I said / "Give me somethin' old and red" / I pay for it more than I did back then"

[Pre-Chorus: Liam] When I first saw you from across the room I could tell that you were curious, oh, yeah Girl, I hope you're sure what you're looking for 'Cause I'm not good at making promises

Promises come up again in Woman "Promises are broken like a stitches is", which is interesting if both Woman and part of Perfect are written after the 2015 BBMAs.

‘Know what you are looking for’ is interesting. In "Say don't go" and the 1989 TV Vaults in general Taylor did not get what she was looking for. At 23, dating a 19 year old Taylor told us she didn’t get wavy she needed. Her most recent ex, JG was 29. (yes - JG was the age Harry is now! Imagine if he did that) So I kind of stand by this line.

The start refers to the night they met. Which neither has ever confirmed, I think it was in 2011 (see timeline) Many look at the coat he tries on in the music video, which matches both his Up All Night Tour outfit (from December 2011) and the 2012 Kids Choice Awards. The awards are fun though. The Up All Night DVD also has it.

[Verse 2: Niall] I might never be the hands you put your heart in Or the arms that hold you any time you want them But that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment 'Cause I can be the one you love from time to time

Urgh I choose to attribute 'love from time to time' to one of the 6 other people writing this. To me this line always sounds like a boy-band heartthrob priority playing out in the writers room. No wonder it took time and HS1 to overcome this.

However, this does speak to a theme of them not being available to each other because of their careers and 1D punishing schedule. If I could fly's "I'm missing half of me when we're apart" and Half the World Aways " So you're not my girlfriend / Don't pretend that makes us nothing / Tell me you don't miss this feeling" speaks more honestly to the interplay of his band image, schedules and priorities which Taylor referred to Suburban Legends.

[Chorus: Harry, All] But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms And if you like having secret little rendezvous If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn't do Then, baby, I'm perfect Baby, I'm perfect for you And if you like midnight driving with the windows down And if you like goin' places we can't even pronounce If you like to do whatever you've been dreamin' about Then, baby, you're perfect Baby, you're perfect So let's start right now

Here are Haylor themes we know and love, Driving at midnight (Style, HYGTG, Wish You Would) generally going from a high schooler to superstar overnight (placed they can’t pronounce like Cannes), and hidden love/hiding (I Know Places, Slut!)

[Bridge: Harry] And if you like cameras flashin' every time we go out Oh, yeah And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about Then baby, I'm perfect And baby, we're perfect

The camera’s flashing is good imagery and his voice brings to life how personally challenging it was for them both in a way I Know Places didn't with very few words. Taylor also refers to this imagery in Is it over now?

But the break up songs is a low blow and I assume the part he regretted to the point of not wanting to sing it. In a later interview Harry said:

“The only time you really think, ’is this song too personal?’ is if you think about, ‘is this going to be really annoying for the other person?’ Because I do [care],” he finished.

Which I think the break up song line would have been very annoying.

If you made it through that reward yourself with Grapejuice at Wembley 🍇

#one direction #harry styles #haylor #Youtube #one direction haylor

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theprocrastinatingalien · 5 years

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Casting The Batman

Director Matt Reeves said in a Q&A that he expects THE BATMAN to start production at the end of this year. Now that's still quite a way off, but for that to happen a few things need to happen... like casting.

It's be confirmed that Ben Affleck has stepped away from the Batcave, and we're now looking at a new actor putting on the cowl.

Firstly, we need to asses... is Reeves' Batflick part of the DCEU, or does it stand aside, like the upcoming JOKER movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, despite the fact Jared Leto is expected to carry on as the Clown Prince of Crime within the shared universe.

Why is this important? Well, Whilst Affleck is going off, that doesn't mean the supporting characters have to change cast, especially if it's in the shared universe. Particular roles are in place. Jeremy Irons as played Alfred in two movies now, and JK Simmons popped up in the JUSTICE LEAGUE as Commissioner James Gordon. Either of those actors could continue. Even if this movie is in the past. Sure a younger actor in either part may make sense, but CAPTAIN MARVEL just proved you can do a whole film with nifty de-aging effects (Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury).

Whilst I will, naturally, look towards who could be cast in supporting (and villainous) roles, right now we're going to focus on the big issue. Who should play Batman?

Below are a list of different actors who I've seen suggested, or am suggesting myself, that could end up as the next Dark Knight. I've included a variety of ages too... just covering the bases.

KARL URBAN

This one was an obvious inclusion. Before Affleck was announced, Urban was my (and seemingly half the internet) top choice. Probably best known currently as Dr McCoy in the new age STAR TREK movies, he also appeared as DREDD, and more recently played Skurge in THOR: RAGNAROK over in the MCU. He's around the same age as Affleck (both born in 1972), so this would be more of a direct recast, but a popular one I believe.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Urg. No. This would annoy me... but a major rumour recently was that the TWILIGHT star was in talks for Bruce Wayne and his alter ego. To be honest, it wouldn't be the WORST casting in the DCEU (Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, anyone?) and I would still give the guy a go. It's just not a casting I'd be excited about. With Pattinson we'd have a Batman in his early 30s.

ARMIE HAMMER

The funny thing with this one... it was basically reported that Hammer had got the job. The actor had to debunk the casting himself. There's quite a fanbase for the actor to get this role, and to be fair, he had once been attached to a Batman role in the past, when he was cast as Bruce Wayne in a defunct JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. Still, whilst the actor said nobody (in power) had talked to him, the media buzz may have brought him to the attention of Reeves... so I wouldn't rule out this casting entirely. I'd certainly prefer it to Pattinson. Both actors are the same actor as 32.

AIDAN TURNER

This Irish actor is very popular with the ladies (good for Bruce Wayne) and was a sheer highlight as vampire Mitchell in BEING HUMAN (the UK series)… He's currently the heartthrob lead in POLDARK, and was the heartthrob dwarf Kili in THE HOBBIT trilogy. And whilst there probably has been a lot of onus on his looks, he just happens to be a really good actor, and in his mid 30s, I believe shouldn't be dismissed as a potential Batman (or Bond!).

TARON EGERTON

Now, this wouldn't be an ideal choice, but I'm throwing it in there. Egerton's currently 29, so the youngest on my list at this point, and he's making quite a name for himself. I think his best qualification for Batman is his role in the KINGSMAN franchise, but he also recently played ROBIN HOOD. He's possibly a little on the short side for Batman, and whilst he has the physicality for the role, I don't think he's the best fit for Bruce Wayne. However, I would definitely put him near the top of a NIGHTWING list. As Dick Grayson does become Batman at some point, I thought it'd be fair to include him on here.

K J APA

Apa's the youngest person on this list at 21. If I'm honest, I'm not sure he quite has the charisma for Bruce Wayne, and he feels a little young for Bats, but that might be what Reeves is looking for. Apa is Archie, the lead character in RIVERDALE, and he does get to play detective - which plays into comments Reeves has made.

KIT HARINGTON

Funnily enough, I was actually going to include Harington's onscreen brother Richard Madden, from GAME OF THRONES but I've switched it. Harington certainly has the broody look down. We all know how Batman likes to brood, and with GoT coming to an end, Kit's probably looking for a new high-profile acting gig. THE BATMAN wouldn't be a bad way to go. Not sure how people would take to this casting though, I'm not sure how the actor is perceived in the public eye. Agewise, he's inline with the likes of Pattinson and Hammer.

LIAM NEESON

I said, I'd be cover all the bases, and this one's going the other way, with an older actor. Liam Neeson is 66. He's already been a part of the Batworld, featuring in THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy as villain R'as Al Ghul. But what if we turned that around and made him the big man himself. Casting Zeus, Aslan and Qui-Gon Jinn as Batman works for me!

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN

Okay, so this is not a clear-cut choice... but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Morgan played Thomas Wayne in the opening scenes of BATMAN V SUPERMAN. We know that there's an upcoming move (supposedly) based on FLASHPOINT, and in that, rather than Bruce becoming Batman, his father does instead. What if the DCEU are clever and tie this alternative reality into the cast change... handing the cowl over to Morgan. Personally I like it. Recasting Batman without recasting Bruce Wayne. Morgan is in his 50s, and currently plays the violent Negan in THE WALKING DEAD.

BRAD PITT

No, really. Like Morgan, Pitt is in his 50's, but he's still got that good-looking, swagger (perfect for an aging Bruce), and he'd be a pretty commercial choice I think. Plus, Pitt is a pretty decent actor. He'd be able to display a few different facets for the caped crusader, and might be able to channel that dark SEVEN vibe, tying in with Matt Reeves' noir detective tale.

Now, I should probably start wrapping this list up. I've already listed 10, but there's still two more I think deserve a mention. One positive, one negative.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL

Now, you're probably expecting Jake to be the positive, but no. I do not like the idea of him playing Batman. He's not right for the role. So why am I including him now? Gyllenhaal was a possible casting way back when Christian Bale was cast. As were Joshua Jackson and Wes Bentley. I'd actually rather Bentley get given the shot of any of them, but Jake gets the mention because apparently Matt Reeves may have his eye on him. I'm not against JG as an actor, in fact I'm looking forward to his turn as Mysterio in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME over at the MCU. I just don't think he'd be *my* Batman if he were to be cast.

Which leaves us with...

OSCAR ISAAC

I saw Isaac's name pop up on another list, and you know what... I wouldn't mind it. I wouldn't have thought of him myself, He's half Guatemalan, half Cuban, which would add ethnicity to the character that had typically been played by straight up white American or Brits, with being as controversial as, say casting Idris Elba (who, incidentally has joined the DCEU as Deadshot, replacing Will Smith). Isaac is suave enough to play Bruce, and intense enough to play Batman. He's a good actor, and now has quite a following thanks to his part in the current STAR WARS trilogy. Of the twelve candidates listed here, he's definitely up the top end for me.

It would have been quite easy to fall in with listing every dark-haired furrow-browed actor in Hollywood, but I tried to streamline the list a little. Personally for me, my tick rests near Urban still, although I accept it's unlikely. It's going to be interesting to see who they do go with in the end. There was a lot of negativity against Affleck's casting, but I think most can agree he's been a highlight of the DCEU.

Whoever get's cast, will be filling the shoes of Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Affleck. Soon, I'll also be looking at the supporting cast - including an actor I almost included here as a potential Batman, but then realised I'd love to see him as a Riddler...

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illneverrecover · 7 years

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the biggest tag ever

@joz-stankovich tagged me in this because they are so sweet and kind, bless.

THE LAST:

1. DRINK: water, I’m lame. 2. PHONE CALL: today at work, I call patients all day long. Last personal call was to the doc for my kid. 3. TEXT MESSAGE: my last text was to a group text with my husband and our two friends - “We still bringing yeungling to Denver though, right??” (We leave for Denver Comic Con on Thursday morning and Yeungling is a good ass beer, ok???) 4. SONG YOU LISTENED TO: Black Sheep - Metric 5. TIME YOU CRIED: Oh god, probably two days ago or so? HAVE YOU: -6. DATED SOMEONE TWICE: yes, then I married him, so it worked out alright. 7. KISSED SOMEONE AND REGRETTED IT: eh, not really? 8. BEEN CHEATED ON: yes 9. LOST SOMEONE SPECIAL: Yeah - my husband’s granny passed away last year, and we were super close. She always supported us even when we were young and dumb, and inspired me to become a nurse so she is missed immensely. 10. BEEN DEPRESSED: yes 11. GOTTEN DRUNK AND THROWN UP: ugh yes, though its been quite some time since that’s happened (thank god)

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: purple, black, red

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. MADE NEW FRIENDS: Yes! I’ve made so many awesome friends through tumblr and mystic messenger, it’s kind of crazy and I love it. 16. FALLEN OUT OF LOVE: no 17. LAUGHED UNTIL YOU CRIED: Yes, so many times, most recently yesterday. My husband took me on a date to celebrate our dating anniversary (13 years we’ve been together, wtf) and was being stupid in Target and I couldn’t handle it 18. FOUND OUT SOMEONE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU: yeah, but that stuff doesn’t really bother me. 19. MET SOMEONE WHO CHANGED YOU: Yes - in the last year, I met my daughter, and she’s changed me the most. 20. FOUND OUT WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE: I mean, I’ve always known. There are a few people I’m not as close with but I wouldn’t say we aren’t still friends. Life happens. 21. KISSED SOMEONE ON YOUR FACEBOOK LIST: Yes, I kiss my husband daily (I can almost hear @feelsgood-anon saying GAAAAAAAAY)

GENERAL:

22. HOW MANY OF YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS DO YOU KNOW IN REAL LIFE: All of them. I don’t use FB as much as I used to but I keep it pretty private. 23. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS: a cat Harlow, and two corgis - Eevee & Winry. 24. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR NAME: I’ve never been a huge fan of my name but I’m used to it, I don’t even know what I would change it to. 25. WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY: Every year for my birthday, God blesses me with a new Star Wars movie (seriously, they either come out near or on my birthday - December 15th) so it usually evolves going to see those. Last year we saw Rouge One & I also did a Krampus Pub Crawl and it was awesome. 26. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP: 11:30 pm, 12:40 am, 1:30 am, 4:00 am, and then for good at 6:33 am (thanks a lot, tiny human). 27. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT: Sleeping, I’m an old ass woman. 28. NAME SOMETHING YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR: I’m so excited for Denver Comic Con this weekend! A week away from work in a different city, dressing up and nerding out with my friends. It’s gonna be dope. 29. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR MOM: December. I live across the country from my family. 30. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE: Oh god, I’m really not sure? I wish I could spend more time doing things that I love and figuring out myself, I guess. 31. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING RIGHT NOW: I am watching The Bachelorette because I have a trash kink and I enjoy screaming about it weekly with @zombolouge 32. HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO A PERSON NAMED TOM: My first crush was on a kid named Tommy if that counts. 33. SOMETHING THAT IS GETTING ON YOUR NERVES: Work being stupid. 34. MOST VISITED WEBSITE: Tumblr, AO3, my email, reddit. 35. MOLE/S: I don’t have any, just some freckles. 36. MARK/S: I have a scar from an ice skate (lmao true story) on my wrist, two surgical scars (one on each wrist) from my carpal tunnel surgery, a c-section scar, a scar on my knee from a door jam, and numerous tattoos and piercings. 37. CHILDHOOD DREAM: A singer who ONLY sang slow songs. Obviously. 38. HAIRCOLOR: Right now, it’s bright red again (yaaaassss). Naturally, I’m poop brown. 39. LONG OR SHORT HAIR: In general, or mine? Mine’s medium ish I guess. 40. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON SOMEONE: Saeyoung, Jumin, Zen, Masamune, & @serensama 41. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF: I like to think I’m funny and I’m fun to be around? Physically probably my eyes. 42. PIERCINGS: my ears & my nose. 43. BLOODTYPE: B+!!! 44. NICKNAME: Jackie is a nickname, haha. My real name is Jacqueline. Other than that? Jack, Kiki, JG, Nurse, Hey you, Have you ever seen that show Nurse Jackie?, Babe, Mama, Babes, other inappropriate names my husband gives me. 45. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: married 46. ZODIAC: Sagittarius & Dragon 47. PRONOUNS: she/her 48. FAVORITE TV SHOW: I recently just finished The Handmaids Tale, Seraph of the End, and American Gods, they were awesome. Game of Thrones, Westworld, Stranger Things, and so many anime that I probably shouldn’t list.

49. TATTOOS: I have 7 - a huge shoulder/back lace piece, a sugar skull & French phrase on my back, a sparrow on my chest, a tree of life on my hip, a shooting star on left foot, and a phrase in Italian on my right foot. I need mooooooreeee 50. RIGHT OR LEFT HAND: right 51. SURGERY: bilateral carpal tunnel surgery bc I’m an old ass birch, c-section, wisdom teeth removal. 52. HAIR DYED IN DIFFERENT COLOR: My hair has been every color, haha. I’ve been dying it since I was 13. Brown, Blonde, Red, Pink, Purple, Blue, Orange/copper, combinations of all of those. 53. SPORT: I like watching football, hockey & baseball 55. VACATION: I’ve been on a bunch throughout my life all over, though my most recent favorite was my trip to Mexico with husband & friends after his most recent deployment. 56. PAIR OF TRAINERS: I legit couldn’t think what trainers were?? why am I so stupid??? Probably my grey chucks.

MORE GENERAL:

57. EATING: dick. I mean... what? 58. DRINKING: nothing, currently. 59. I’M ABOUT TO: fart around on tumblr, catch up on AO3 61. WAITING FOR: Wednesday to be over with, so I can get ready for my long weekend and Denver! 62. WANT: uhhhh a million dollars? not to work tomorrow? A PONY.

63. GET MARRIED: I already did, hopefully won’t need to do that again 64. CAREER: I am a Registered Nurse & BSN and I currently work in a Gastroenterology & Hepatology clinic.

WHICH IS BETTER

65. HUGS OR KISSES: I love hugs but there is just something special about kisses. 66. LIPS OR EYES: eyes 67. SHORTER OR TALLER: I’m pretty fucking short, so I need someone taller to reach all of the things. 68. OLDER OR YOUNGER: eh, I don’t really care. 70. NICE ARMS OR NICE STOMACH: oooooh arms 71. SENSITIVE OR LOUD: I like both. 72. HOOK UP OR RELATIONSHIP: I’m a relationship kinda gal. 73. TROUBLEMAKER OR HESITANT: I’m a well known troublemaker, woops.

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. KISSED A STRANGER: No. Well, kind of? I kissed a girl who I didn’t realize I knew but apparently we went to high school together. 75. DRANK HARD LIQUOR: of course, probably more than I should. 76. LOST GLASSES/CONTACT LENSES: Not my glasses but I’ve totally lost contacts and it suuuucks 77. TURNED SOMEONE DOWN: yup 78. SEX IN THE FIRST DATE: No 79. BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART: Yes, though it was never intentional :/ 80. HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN: yes. 81. BEEN ARRESTED: nooooo 82. CRIED WHEN SOMEONE DIED: of course 83. FALLEN FOR A FRIEND: yes, this is how most of my relationships started.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. YOURSELF: on occasion 85. MIRACLES: sometimes 86. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: No. I like the idea? But not realistically. 87. SANTA CLAUS: No, though my dad had us fooled FOR YEARS. He even got us gold buttons with the initials ‘SC’ on them and said they were from Santa. He was a sneaky bastard. 88. KISS IN THE FIRST DATE: sure? I haven’t been on a date with not my husband since I was 15 soooooo 89. ANGELS: Of course, it’s the only way I can describe some of the cherubs I’ve met through here.

OTHER:

90. CURRENT BEST FRIENDS NAME: I have many different people that I would consider my best friends that I talk to daily, but if I had to pick one, It’d be my husband probably - Aulin. 91. EYE COLOR: green! 92. FAVORITE MOVIE: Too many to name, once again (i’m awful at picking favorites) but Howl’s Moving Castle & The Princess Brides are two classics.

This thing is a BEAST so I won’t tag anyone - if you are interesting in doing this, consider this your tag!

#ooooh boy this was a long one!#i love doing these things though haha #and i love reading them #i'm nosy #but i don't blame anyone if they don't want to #tagged #jackie gets tagged #jackie jabbers

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capstagearsonists · 6 years

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In her own words: Jackie talks about The Arsonists

From Phindie:

CK: Both Bottle Fly and The Arsonists are both very much rooted in place. Do you think of yourself as a playwright of place?

JG: The idea of place is incredibly important to me, because in theater you’re there, it’s live—you are very much immersed in the place. Creating that strong, compelling, and engaging sense of place in the language of my plays is a very large part of creating the atmosphere of the world. I think we do need to create the world in theater more than we have to in other literatures, because with fiction you’re sitting at home, and you can imagine the ins and outs of a world if you like. In theater, because we are coming together at a specific time and a specific location to tell a particular story, it is really important that the world is a strong part of the play. That’s true even if it takes place on the moon!

CK: Who were the playwrights who inspired that attitude in your writing?

JG: Sam Shepard does a great job of creating place, even in some of his earlier works which can be really out there. Enda Walsh does a phenomenal job, and Caryl Churchill is another one. And August Wilson, because you could not tell his stories in any other place than where he sets them. It is that vital to the story he’s telling. We have a tremendous history in America of evocating place in a strong and specific way, and since I grew up reading a lot of traditionally American stories, I think that filtered through.

CK: Speaking of inspiration, you used Electra as the starting point for The Arsonists. Was that always a text you wanted to work with?

JG: It was not a text I always wanted to work with. Of the Greek tragedies, it was never the one that truly popped for me, until after I had kids. But after I had kids, I was teaching the Frank McGuinness adaptation of Electra, and all of a sudden the relationship between Electra and Agamemnon became so much more dimensional and vital. I initially thought of doing more of a straight adaptation, but the fact is that there are plenty of straightforward adaptations of that play. So I started thinking about what other ideas I had in the pot, and what might fit together. The idea of a father/daughter arson team was one I’d had for a while, but I didn’t know what to do with it. When I stuck Electra to it, it started to have some heat. It started to make some sense, because the relationship between the father and daughter is likely very private, very intense, and very dangerous. They would be likely to lose each other. I don’t always know why certain ideas start to group together, but they do. There is a magnetism that just starts to click into place.

From WHYY:

Goldfinger is part of the younger generation of playwrights who are helping turn Philadelphia into a hub of new theater. She began writing a trilogy six years ago: “The Terrible Sisters (2012), “Skin and Bone (2014) and, now, “The Arsonists,” all developed and produced by Philadelphia’s Azuka Theatre.

While the characters and storylines do not necessarily connect, the plays are joined by a Southern Gothic sensibility. This final part of the trilogy concerns a father-daughter team of arsonists for hire, living outside the law in the Florida Everglades. The story is heavily influenced by the Greek tragedy of Electra and her dead father, Agamemnon.

“It digs very deeply, which is why we chose to incorporate music,” said Goldfinger. “There are places music can go emotionally that the best-written monologue can’t go. There are feelings, memories that music can evoke in us like nothing else.”

Goldfinger said she wrote a “play with music,” a theater format hearkening back to America’s Victorian era. It’s not a play with merely interstitial music, nor is it a musical with a plot driven by production numbers.

“The ‘play with music’ has fallen out of fashion,” said Goldfinger. “Music is played by actors in the play in the context of the story, that deepens the emotional moment, that connected them to a greater community, and deepens the feelings without having to have a 10-minute monologue.”

From Philadelphia Weekly:

Goldfinger states that she wrote the first draft of The Arsonists over three long wine-soaked nights by the seaside in Lisbon while at the Disquiet Literary Conference, an event whose goal is to “help support the creation of provocative and disruptive literature, so the play seemed destined to be born at that time, at that place, among those people,” she says. “However, this idea – scored with music from my childhood: roughed up hymns, reimagined folk tunes – has been around since 2011 when we produced Terrible Girls at Azuka, and caught fire in my imagination when I was teaching Frank McGuinness’ adaptation of Electra after giving birth to twins.”

The unbreakable bond between Electra and her father, Agamemnon, the betrayal she felt by her mother, and Goldfinger’s fear she might not be a good mother rattled her bones.

“Around the same time, my father had some health issues, which pushed me to think even more about our relationship and that he’s not going to be around forever.” The Arsonists grew from a more intimate, personal place of having just given birth and intense, sometimes deeply disturbing, connections to her children which, “went far beyond the Disney-ish sanitized sentimental love and parenthood. They were primal emotions, so visceral, that they could only be tackled through the lens of Greek theater. We’ve been told that we are beyond these emotions, too civilized and intelligent, yet they are there and can be equally damaging and empowering.”

From CityBeat:

Initially, Goldfinger considered adapting Sophocles’ Electra, an ancient Greek tragedy about a daughter grieving her father’s death. “But as I did a deeper dive into the literature, I found that that story has been adapted and readapted so often that I wasn’t sure we needed another adaptation,” the playwright says. Instead, she turned to the ancient story as a loose inspiration for her new play. “The Everglades was the perfect place to set this mythical story, transforming Electra’s story of family connection into American myth.”

Goldfinger recalls, “It can be so dry in the Everglades that you can have these fires that just rage. Sometimes they’re set by people, sometimes by nature — and sometimes you don’t know.” Setting fires brought necessary elements together for her script. “To have a father-daughter team with arson as a legacy passed down by generations allowed me to connect with the mythic nature of Electra and her family’s journey while also making it very specifically American and talking about us today.”

Goldfinger has powerfully employed music in her concept. The ancient Greek play had “huge monologue moments that express very deeply held emotions” and she felt songs would be a good choice to replace these moments. As the daughter of an amateur musician, Goldfinger grew up with Americana and Folk tunes. “I chose songs prevalent in the region that two characters could play and be interesting, moving and funny — and also touching and full of grief and hope,” she says.

Her script for The Arsonists indicates songs for various scenes, but she wanted to enable flexibility and invite interpretation from production to production. “While it’s technically the same traditional songs, in some theaters they do them with a harmonica and change the arrangement. In some, they do them with two guitars. The music is specific, but it’s malleable enough to fit whatever vision the director wants to fill the space in the text.”

Goldfinger says the play’s bottom-line appeal is the fact that “often we don’t realize how much we love someone until they are gone. Rather than wait for my father to die, I’m going to tell him how much he means to me.” In fact, Goldfinger calls her play “a love letter to my father.”

Subjects covered during a Rep Radio podcast interview (35 minutes):

Major show themes - parent/child relationships, learning to let go

Elektra “adaptation” comparison and Greek theatre themes/styles

“Play with music” - Jackie’s childhood influences

Storytelling vibe, especially with music

Play development process

Rolling world premiere process

Changes to the script over the 2-year development process

Southern Gothic trilogy descriptions - The Terrible Girls, Skin & Bone, The Arsonists

Favorite songs in the show

Inspiration for Southern Gothic trilogy

Audience takeaway hopes

#Jacqueline Goldfinger

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sbknews · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Superbike News

New Post has been published on http://superbike-news.co.uk/wordpress/nine-riders-ready-to-fight-for-bsb-showdown-place-at-silverstone/

Nine riders ready to fight for BSB Showdown place at Silverstone

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Silverstone will host the next crucial stage of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship this weekend (September 8/9/10) when the six Title Fighters will finally be decided in an intense triple-header race weekend.

For the first time in the history of the championship, there is not a single rider confirmed in the Showdown title fight ahead of the top six decider, so the battle to be in contention to push for British championship honours will come down to three crucial races in Northamptonshire.

There have been seven different race winners and a further five different podium finishers so far this season, so it really will be a battle of the titans this weekend.

Leading the standings into Silverstone is defending champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne. The Be Wiser Ducati rider holds a narrow ten point advantage over arch rival Leon Haslam and the record-breaking champion will be pushing for a victorious return to Silverstone, but his JG Speedfit Kawasaki opponent was the victor last time out at Cadwell Park.

Peter Hickman has soared up the standings in recent rounds and the Smiths Racing BMW rider heads to Silverstone and will be bidding to repeat his victory from 2016 as he bids to make the cut for the Showdown for the first time.

Just adrift of Hickman is Australian contender Jason O’Halloran; the Honda Racing rider is gunning for his first win of the season onboard the all-new Fireblade, but his fellow countryman Josh Brookes is only eleven points behind as he bids to add to his 2015 title crown.

Luke Mossey holds the final place in the top six ahead of Silverstone as he aims to return from injury for JG Speedfit Kawasaki. Mossey trails Brookes by six points, but closing rapidly is RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon and he is only five points off in seventh place with Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon also pushing for a Showdown position.

The final rider with a shot at the Showdown six is James Ellison as he heads to Silverstone after becoming the seventh different winner of the season at Cadwell Park.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings:

Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 219

Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 209

Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) 193

Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) 178

Josh Brookes (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) 167

Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 161

Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) 156

Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) 153

James Ellison (McAMS Yamaha) 119

For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne Be Wiser Ducati Championship position: 1st “Silverstone is an event I am really looking forward to because if I am honest I left Cadwell Park a bit angry and frustrated about the last two rounds and how many potential podium points we have given away to our rivals. That is a bitter pill to swallow.

“With three races at Silverstone we have an opportunity to get some back and so we need to work as hard as possible to make that happen. However we need to remember that the Showdown starts just a few days later.

“I have spent the time since the last round in Spain and I really feel fired up and ready to go because I want to put right the wrongs of the previous races at Silverstone.”

Leon Haslam JG Speedfit Kawasaki Championship position: 2nd “I am feeling confident for Silverstone and so are the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team. We have some things we want to test before the Showdown and this is the perfect place to try it before the final three rounds.

“We have a good plan and know that we need to have three consistently strong races, because at this stage of the season nobody can afford a DNF. I am sure at this point of the season and the importance of it will spur some people on a bit more to make some moves, but I know what I need to do.

“It really is business as usual for me. I have missed four races this year through issues and injury so we need to collect as many Podium Points as we can this weekend and get back to that consistency we had at the start of the season.

“I feel we are coming into this weekend in a strong position and I am ready to fight for the three wins.”

Peter Hickman Smiths Racing BMW Championship position: 3rd “I think excited is the key word for me ahead of Silverstone this weekend. I have been close to making the Showdown a couple of times before and I have missed out because of a couple of points here or there and this year we have jumped in at the moment, but it is still all to play for.

“We have three races so there is a lot that can still happen. I am 37 points ahead of seventh so I have a good cushion but it only takes one DNF and someone else to win one and suddenly that goes down to 12 points.

“ I think there will be some interesting moves going on, especially in race two and three! It is going to be hard fought like it is every weekend in this championship and it will be tough. Silverstone lends itself to that kind of close racing though and it’s fast and the racing is always close! We might see some harsh moves being pulled as people fight for their place in the Showdown.”

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Jason O’Halloran Honda Racing Championship position: 4th “I knew when we started the season that we would have development work to do with the new Fireblade, but we have been building and scoring consistently even when we have had a tough weekend. I would definitely like to have won a race by now and scored some more podiums but the important thing is that we are fighting for a position in the Showdown.

“I love Silverstone; it has been a strong circuit for Honda in the past. It is one of those tracks that should suit it and I think we can come out and have three strong races. Once you are in the Showdown it is anyone’s game, but I feel that we deserve to be there.

“I am focusing one race at a time and I am going out to do the best job I can for Honda Racing. I think it will be a round where everyone will be pushing the boundaries a bit more; myself, Josh [Brookes] and Luke [Mossey] are not as safe as the guys in front of us so we need to really attack the weekend as usual with a clear head and remain as consistent as possible.”

Josh Brookes Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha Championship position: 5th “Silverstone is a good circuit; I look forward to going there. It’s no different to any other round at this stage, its business as usual, and not in a secure manner. Nobody is completely secure, but being fifth in the championship is just job as usual. I just have to go and get the results and head towards the championship decider.

“I don’t feel like there is any pressure put on me, I only put pressure on myself! The only pressure in our team should be in the tyres! The job has always been to win races, even from the first round of the year – the idea and the expectation is to win races. That’s what we aim to achieve, and that’s how you win a championship.

“Other riders or teams may succumb to the idea of this round being greater than others, but to me it’s the same from the first round to the last. We’ve got the same job, the same objectives, so the pressure doesn’t change.”

Luke Mossey JG Speedfit Kawasaki Championship position: 6th “The recovery has been going well. I got straight back on my feet and although we had to sit out Cadwell Park, I have been doing everything possible to come back. Missing Cadwell Park was disappointing as I think we could have had a good result there.

“I am not worried about Silverstone as we know we have pace and that the JG Speedfit Kawasaki is good. I feel like I have been on vacation so I am coming back refreshed and ready to fight for wins.

“I think there are some guys around me who have more pressure than me, but it will be an interesting one as there are six to eight guys fighting to make the last positions but I am ready for it.”

Jake Dixon RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki Championship position: 7th “Silverstone can’t come soon enough! The way I have been riding in recent rounds there should be no reason why we can’t be in the top six.

“Luke Mossey is ahead of me in the standings so really I need to finish ahead of him in the races, but to be honest I am not completely focused on that; my aim is to go out and win all three races.

“I have nothing to lose because I am not currently in the top six, so my aim is to win and be fighting for podiums. I am just going to go about my business as usual, but for sure it would be great if we can be in the title fight so I can try and be the youngest ever winner!

“It was frustrating to end Cadwell Park with a crash but I am ready to come out all guns blazing at Silverstone.”

Christian Iddon Tyco BMW Championship position: 8th “I was happy to narrow the margin in the points to the top six at Cadwell Park, but it still wasn’t as much as I would have liked and I did feel disappointed that we couldn’t capitalise more. Silverstone is going to have to be exceptional for us or at least very good because we desperately want to make the Showdown.

“It is going to be a real dog fight and it is a really interesting quartet in front of me; Jake has such a super raw talent, Josh who everyone will expect to be in the Showdown, Luke who comes back from injury, but it is a strong track for him and Jason is just ahead of that.

“We have to take it race by race; that’s the thing with racing you don’t know what will happen and so the best thing to do is nothing different to any other round. I’m in control of my destiny and how I ride and together with the team we can control how we set the bike up for the races. We just have to be collectively better than the guys ahead of us, because one thing we can’t control is what they all do.”

James Ellison McAMS Yamaha Championship position: 9th “I am feeling really confident coming into Silverstone, we picked ourselves up after Thruxton because we knew it would still be mathematically possible to make the Showdown and we arrived at Cadwell Park with the bit between my teeth. We came out with a solid race in the first one and then we scored McAMS Yamaha’s first race win in the championship. That was a pretty big deal.

“After Cadwell Park the championship is pretty much back on track; nobody is secure in the top six, not Shakey, not Haslam, and so we come into Silverstone with three races and 75 points up for grabs and there isn’t much between us. I am coming into the decider with a heck of a lot more confidence than I had before Cadwell Park.

“I am relaxed; the last couple of races I have been pushing for the win and I was a bit more cautious because I didn’t want to lose anything, but at Silverstone I have nothing to lose now.”

Shakey leads Dixon by just 0.030s with the pair under the lap record in Cadwell Park free practice

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#British Superbike #Silverstone

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translationandbetrayals · 7 years

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Discovering the woodblock carving and printing process behind Ukiyo-e images

Print of Utagawa Kunisada dated of 1857; it shows the woodblock printing process (I am a little confused about the name of the print)

Discovering the woodblock carving and printing process behind Ukiyo-e images

I have to begin by telling that I’ve never written in a blog so I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. It says here in this blog that we are supposed to write about what we think or love about topics regarding anime and manga (or about some cultural Japanese aspect we enjoy) so I was thinking about that lately… I often get very obsessed with Japanese related things, especially with animes or manga. My last big obsession I believe was with reading Berserk (I miss the Golden Age Arc so much) and before that with watching Haikyuu!! (it got me to playing volleyball again!). But lately I was just watching regularly some Japanese animated movies not obsession attached at all. I was doing fine… at least until that last Ukiyo-e class we had a couple of weeks ago.

The problem with liking something a lot is that you necessarily need to talk about it…with anyone, and not just talk about it, but you need to feel that the other person starts liking in too, it’s a very ambitious feeling that takes hold of you. Now my problem recently was that whenever I tried talking about traditional Japanese woodblock carving and printing with my family (even with one of my little brothers who shares obsessions with me and heard carefully to my two hour sponsorship talk about Haikyuu’s team values and friendship), everyone reacted as if I was Juan Carlos Bodoque from 31 minutos showing a 5 hour German documentary of how cactuses grow… (I personally don’t have anything against growing cactuses, neither German documentaries so I hope I am not offending anyone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu6Vi7GN_rM

The thing is that they didn’t hear me at all! Maybe I’m just not good at talking or maybe…I wasn’t talking about it in the right place! (I think it’s actually both but let’s try writing about it here anyhow!)

I think it was two or three classes ago that we discussed about Ukiyo-e, the “pictures of the floating world”, this woodblock prints produced in Japan during the XVII and XX centuries. The common topics displayed in them where things as flora and fauna, landscapes, scenes from daily life, sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, beautiful women, images from history and folk tales, even erotic scenes! We talked about how amazing they were, the colors they had, the perspectives, the ideas they wanted to represent about the Japanese culture and even how can we relate them to Japanese animation and manga nowadays. Three years ago…I was Internet browsing about this same things… until I realized that all of this detailed colorful images I liked so much were actually carved before printed. Now, you can say, “of course they were first carved, they are woodblock prints, wasn’t that the first thing you knew about them?!” well… I guess I never actually understood what that meant.

Let’s take a look at a triptych I like a lot called in english “Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre” designed by Utagawa Kuniyoshi in the XIX century (Thank you Wikipedia!).

Now, it’s an amazing design, we can see that there are a lot of colors in the picture, a lot of lines, and textures…and details! If they are all printed from applying color to woodblocks that were previously carved for them then the question is HOW? How can you make those details in the woodblock at the first place? How can you get everyone of the colors printed? Wouldn’t they mix? How many different woodblocks do you need then? How can you make everything fit so perfectly in the end?!!!!! I was losing my mind…I knew nothing about woodcut crafting whatsoever, I just knew there were different styles and techniques around the world and not just the Japanese style, but I ended up researching about the latter anyhow. I felt the desperate need to watch the process, but this technique dated of way back, I wasn’t going to get YouTube videos of artisans carving woodblocks for Ukiyo-e prints in the Edo period… so I ended up reading stuff in the internet until I found some very interesting and related YouTube videos that kept me up and online all night.

One thing that I learned was that Japanese woodblock print implies different stages. First we have the actual process of designing an image, could be a drawing or a painting, then it comes the process of carving the woodblocks from where that image will be printed (you need to paste the design in the woodblocks for this), and finally the actual printing process done by water-based inks (so then you have the painter-the carver-the printer, doesn’t mean necessarily they have to be different people). Each stage is as important as the other because is just one single thing at the end but… I have to admit that I was (and I am… I THOUGHT I WAS OVER THIS!) a little bit more obsessed with the second part since its precision is so important for the printing of the final image (doesn’t mean that that is the best part or anything just shows where my mind is at). Could you imagine that for each color of the picture you have to carve a different woodblock (not forgetting the main drawing and its lines), and each part has to be carved precisely at the right place if not then the whole image would be moved, the colors would get overlapped and nothing would fit right! My stomach gets twisted just be thinking about it (which is good…and bad in some way)…

I found I picture that kind of explains it better than I do and it’s with Hokusai’s Great Wave! (I took it from http://japancraft.co.uk/blog/japanese-woodblock-print-guide/)

You first have the outlines of the drawing, and then, you see how you have to print each color separately but in the same image? For doing that there has to be a mark that is a carved at the same place in one corner of each woodblock. There you can know the exact place where you need to put the special paper (called washi) so you can print it right by using a tool called “baren”, that is some sort of flat and round knotted hand tool used to rub the back of the paper in order to get the ink from the woodblock (that process has to be made many times, one for each color and the paper resist through it all!) Then you…

WAIT…I think I am getting out of topic here. I was supposed to show the videos I found because maybe it’s not (it’s definitely not) so interesting reading about all of this and my post is already painfully long. The thing is that I discovered some videos of a collaboration project between US-illustrator Jed Henry and craftsman (woodblock carver and printer) David Bull, I know neither of them is Japanese but that doesn’t mean they can not like this form of art. David Bull has lived in Japan for more than 30 years and has a publishing venture that’s like a woodblock-crafting workshop called Mokuhankan in Asakusa, Tokyo (it attempts to see if traditional woodblock printmaking can find a place in contemporary society). Their project together is called “Ukiyo-e Heroes”. It started a couple of years ago and its still going on. It consists in pumping vitality into the art form of Japanese woodblock printing by giving it a modern appeal while maintaining its ancient traditions (this is kind of a quote taken from the website of Ukiyo-e Heroes). The illustrator defines himself as a lifelong gamer and Japanophile, so he decided to bring his favorite game characters to life in an Ukiyo-e style placing them in ancient times, while David Bull (who is the one who carves the images) with the help of craftswomen and man of Mokuhankan brings them to life with the beautiful traditional woodblock printing techniques. Here is an example of their work called “Rickshaw Cart” (I took it from their webpage… I name it below in the sources!)

(How can I make this Image smaller!!!!?? Help D: )

I thought it was rather interesting mostly because they are so many videos of the amazing process of woodblock printing in David Bull’s YouTube channel for everyone to watch and learn and also because the designs done by Jed Henry are pretty cool! You can see this technique applied nowadays and it is very admirable. I discovered that in these 3 years that I had forgotten all about this they also appeared lots of new videos of new woodblock printing projects and collaborations that had been done in the Mokuhankan venture; even one of the Great Wave! and a lot of new videos in David Bull’s channel, I have to check them out.

Anyhow I just wanted to share these videos because I really enjoy the fact that someone took the time to record and show the process behind Japanese handmade woodblock printing even if it is a long one (especially if it a long one (?) ) because it helps people like me who understood nothing about it to at least understand a few…I know that there might be a lot of different videos about this too done elsewhere, a lot of other information I do not know, a lot made in Japanese, and a lot of things that have changed back from the Edo period, I am not saying that this is the reference for it, but at least this can be a small and interactive opening of a door to the world of this beautiful subject of woodblock printing.

If you see the number of the video it says “Ukiyo-e Heroes (12)” which means there are another 11 videos that come before it and I guess there are another 10 that come after it. Don’t panic. I am NOT going to put them. I actually feel like Bodoque now. I will just put one where David Bull shows how to carve the key woodblock for the print (you don’t have to watch it till the end if you don’t want to, but you know…the next two show how to carve the color blocks and then how to print them, you can get a better idea with them…anyone? no?...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGe06AOy-Jg

Here are also some carving images from different videos of the same Heroes saga. Look at how the details are treated!

If you want to see like a reduced version of each part of the whole process and not just the carving here is a link http://ukiyoeheroes.com/printmaking-process.php

As for me…3 years ago I tried to learn by myself how to design an Ukiyo-e style inspired image for woodblock printing… I even made it with some cute ravens and all but then, when I tried to carve it…it was a complete failure. I picked the wrong wood and I ended up all finger splintered. Now, recovered from that traumatic experience, I pretend to try once more. Thank you Ukiyo-e class of Translations and Betrayals from 3 weeks ago for reminding me this :)

Ps. I am soooo sorry for the long post. I got excited :( I just wanted to say thank you to whoever resisted reading it till the end!

-Elisa Schulz

-Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e (I know that in school and in University they don’t allow you to use Wikipedia as a source…but it can be very relievable sometimes)

http://ukiyoeheroes.com/about-us.php

http://mokuhankan.com/index.php#

https://www.youtube.com/user/seseragistudio (This is David Bull’s YouTube Channel)

-I’ve got three things to say about this post, first I don’t care about the length of the post as long as they are fun... or interesting, so don’t worry and write, all you want... or all you need in this case until you think the theme is covered.

Second, you get your seven and hope to get more post like this.

And finally, I want to congratulate you for signing your post.

#Japan #personalstory #essay #submission

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