I finally saw Watchmen today - only 3 or so weeks after it came out. I really liked it; there were some changes and deletions from the graphic novel - some I liked, some not so much. The ending changes in means, but the end is the same (hence, the end is met by different means). It bothered me that instead of aliens, the world is united against one of the protagonists (who is deeply flawed, so he may or may not care). All in all, I really liked the sub-plot of the Silk Spectre (II) falling for the Nite Owl (II); I thought that they were the most complex (and believable) characters of the entire movie. Likewise, I felt that Rorschach was music more... human. In the graphic novel, he's almost a stereotype - a Haemon-like character in his blind devotion to what he believes is moral and right. The movie softens him somewhat, and makes his ultimate scene a little more compassionate.
Sometimes people need to learn that you cannot be everything to them at once.
It does not make the relationship any less powerful, but it does shine a rather bright spotlight on the boundaries.
Same goes with pleasing everyone - and that's where it seems to hurt the most. When you can't be everything and you're held responsible for it, what kind of friend does that make them?
I have always had this fascination with thunderstorms. When I was a young kid in Tucson, I always remember the monsoon season we'd get - it would be sunny at 2pm, furious storm at 3pm, and sunny again at 4pm. The sudden appearance of the storm would be a treat in itself; the clouds would build straight up thousands of feet in the air (at the time I had no concept of dry lines or anything weather related like that) and produce massive storms. There were at least three times that I can remember of the street being struck by lightning. The downpours were bad enough that the city had build a series of aqueducts in the alleyways to handle all the runoff.
Then we moved to upstate NY, where there was a distinct lack of weather patterns conducive to lightning; they occurred, but not remotely the same way that they were in AZ. Most of the time the lightning was not visible, all you got was the rumble of thunder. Moving to TX for grad work give me the chance to see real lightning storms again - of course, now with the chance of tornadoes... interesting trade off.
The first three or so years we were down here, the weather in the spring did not disappoint. Then we had a couple of dry springs, and they waned a bit. This spring looks like it may turn out to be a nice one - we've already had a few, and they've been pretty good. In fact, we're having one right now - M says its freaking her out because it rattles her work windows - but I still like it.
In other friend's blogs, I've seen a feature called "Teaser Tuesdays" where books are previewed. So, I'll be a semi follower, but in my own way. Each Tuesday, I'll cover a different musical with a mini-writeup. Suggestions are welcome, as always.
Titanic
Story and Book by Peter Stone Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston
Winner of 5 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Book, Original Musical Score, Orchestrations and Scenic Design
TITANIC opened on Broadway, March 29, 1997 and played for 804 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Synopsis (from Tams Witmark):
TITANIC begins -Prologue as Thomas Andrews, the architect of the great ship, pores over the blueprints of his design -In Every Age. The curtain then rises to reveal the Ocean Dock in Southampton, England, where people are gathering to wonder at and to board the ship on sailing day: first a stoker - How Did They Build Titanic?, then additional crewmen -There She Is, officers and stevedores -Loading Inventory, the owner, the architect and the captain -The Largest Moving Object, the Third and Second Class passengers -I Must Get On That Ship, and finally the First Class passengers -The 1st Class Roster. Now fully boarded, the ship pulls out as the company sings a prayerful farewell -Godspeed Titanic. One by one, the dreams and aspirations of key characters are presented: Barrett, the stoker who wanted to get away from the coal mines -Barrett's Song; Murdoch, the ship's officer contemplating the responsibility of command -To Be a Captain; Kate McGowan and the Third Class passengers who yearn for a better life in America -Lady's Maid; Chief Steward Etches and the millionaires he serves who exult in the wonders of their world -What a Remarkable Age This Is! Barrett finds his way to the Telegraph Room where he dictates a proposal of marriage to his sweetheart back home -The Proposal in a telegram transmitted by Harold Bride, a young telegraph operator smitten with the possibilities of the new radio technology -The Night Was Alive. The next day, April 14, after Sunday morning church service, the First Class attends the shipboard band's spirited out-of-doors dance-concert -Hymn/Doing the Latest Rag, an exclusive event crashed by Second Class passenger Alice Beane, a hardware store owner's wife who wants more out of life -I Have Danced. That evening, as Fleet the lookout scans the horizon -No Moon and bandsman Hartley regales the First Class Smoking Room with a new song -Autumn, the ship sails inexorably towards her collision, which ends Act One. Act Two opens as the suddenly awakened First and Second Class passengers are assembled in the Grand Salon -Dressed In Your Pyjamas In The Grand Salon for life-belt instruction by Chief Steward Etches, before being sent up to the Boat Deck to board the lifeboats. In the Telegraph Room, Captain Smith, Mr. Andrews and Mr. Ismay, the owner, argue over who is responsible for the disaster -The Blame while Mr. Bride tirelessly sends out the S.O.S. Up on the Boat Deck, the male passengers are separated from their families -To the Lifeboats, and all express hopes of being reunited -We'll Meet Tomorrow as the final boat is lowered. Isidor Straus (the owner of Macy's) and his wife Ida remain behind together, as she refuses to leave his side after 40 years of marriage -Still and Mr. Etches utters a prayer -To Be a Captain (reprise). In the abandoned Smoking Room, Thomas Andrews desperately redesigns his ship to correct its fatal flaws until the futility of his actions leads him to predict, in horrifying detail, the end of TITANIC just as she begins her now-inevitable descent -Mr. Andrews' Vision. In an Epilogue, the survivors picked up by the CARPATHIA numbly retell what had once been Mr. Andrews' dream -In Every Age (reprise). The living are joined by their lost loved-ones in a tableau recapturing the optimistic spirit of the Ocean Dock on sailing day -Finale.
Orchestration:
Violins I & II
Viola
Cello
Bass
Reed I: Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute (or Clarinet) and Clarinet
Reed II: Oboe and English Horn (or Clarinet)
Reed III: Clarinet
Reed IV: Flute and Clarinet
Reed V: Bassoon and E-flat Contrabass Clarinet (or Bassoon)
Horn I & II
Trumpets I & II (both double B-flat Piccolo Trumpet -8 measures only)
I've moved over here because I'm a bit more fond of the Blogger layout and how customizable it is. Plus, I was primarily staying over at Live Journal because of friends - and they're not updating anymore so there was little reason to stay. To the three fantastic ladies that were following me over there - I hope you glance at this once and a while. If not - that's OK too, I know they're busy.
My goal here is to be a bit more open, a bit more free. As many of you know, I've been out of work for a little over 8 months now, and its starting to hit me like a ton of bricks. A few new openings have been announced over the last 24-72 hours, but the outlook for next year is still grim. And staying professionally active here is proving much more draining as well; the youth orchestra I was working for has pretty much abandoned me without a word, and the theatre scene is becoming more filled with politics - a game that I find myself having to delve into more and more to keep any chance of "working" alive. It just feels like I'm selling myself in it as well, and I don't like what kind of person that makes me.
