with sound in our ears we play endlessly…

week two of the colorado shakespeare festival has begun. huzzah.

despite being absolutely knackered and kindof wishing i was in an empty studio by myself and rolling on the floors… ive been surviving. the road to recovery from such an emo-tastic post has been rather arduous, but the harrowing journey has been soundtracked quite fabulously, and often allowing moments of hope and reverie.

currently ive been listening to Coldplay’s new album “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends”. (oh yes… ive got a naughty sneaky copy…muahahah). the title song(s) are absolutely amazing… Viva La Vida being my favourite due to its pulsing orchestration and intriguing lyrics.

in addition to the new Coldplay… ive been balancing myself out with “með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust” which roughly translates to: with sound in our ears we play endlessly.

…or so i think.

this is the new Sigur Ros album, and its absolutely incredible.  the first single from the cd is Gobbledigook, and the song is very uptempo and energizing and amazing.  the band has it up and streaming freely from their website as well as other places like lastfm and myspace… so… check it out!

annnyways… if any of you out there reading this is in colorado this summer… you should come see the Colorado Shakespeare Festival! go to www.coloradoshakes.org for more info.

oh… and if anyone has a good “life-plan” that they’re thinking i should follow after my contract is up at the end of august… let me know! im open to all suggestions and submissions

 

lookit ‘im bein’ a fancy lad!

(note: read the title of this blog with a ridiculous cockney accent…)

so.  ive got some media to post… so i hope you enjoy!

first up is my new swanky headshot!

then… a video clip from youtube of fight choreography stuff ive been helping work on for “3 Musketeers” for CSF

booyah!!

 

milestones and turning points

so… i graduated.

YAY!!!

as of May 11th, 2008 i now hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Performance with emphasis in ensemble physical theatre/dance theatre from Naropa University.

its pretty wonderful being graduated now, but its also kindof terrifying.  although… ive got awesome news!

ive been cast in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival this summer, so i’ll be appearing Three Musketeers and Henry VIII!

(booyah for being employed in my field right after graduation!  in your face, world! im a Big Fucking Artist now!)

but annnnyways… after my contract is up at the end of August… i have no idea what im gonna be doing or where i’ll be.  its funny how my buddhist university was constantly teaching me and training me about groundlessness and “not-knowing”, but now that im in the thick of it… its kindof terrifying.  but… the good news is that now, the world is my oyster and for the first time ever… im not tied down anywhere.  i think that for the first time in my life… i dont *have* to be anywhere.  i guess its an odd sort of freedom that im not used to, but i like it.

so yeah… thats whats been going on in my life since i last blogged.

and now that im a college graduate, all i know is… this summer is gonna be great!

 

this is what i do… pt. 2

Pictures from my thesis production entitled: Peripeteia

Peripeteia: (Greek, Περιπέτεια) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point.

The show revolved around the ideas of “beauty” and “violence”, and the thematic question was “Can beauty be violent? Can violence be beautiful?”

The show itself was a self-scripted original dance/physical theatre piece that incorported authentic storytelling, improvisation, music, and dance.  hopefully i’ll get to put up some video as well, but until then, enjoy these lovely photos.

 

break update…the second

so dear readers… when we left our intrepid hero, he was… “going slowly batty 40 miles east of…cin…cin…nati…” (name that reference, folks! if you do you win a fabulous prize and oodles of my respect!). actually, replace cincinnati with chicago and you’ll get the general idea…

now… since the last post… wonderful and exciting things have happened to said hero:

i went to see a fantastically wonderful movie. (Juno)

i went to one of my favourite places in the city (Samah, the hookah bar off belmont)

i got to see some of my friends (nick, kevin, chia, ashley, charlie)

i went to a RIDICULOUSLY bourgie (a shortened form of “bourgeois” pronounced “booh-zhee) party last night on the gold coast

i got to spend most of the day with my best friend (charlie)

so yeah… things are lookin’ up! especially since tomorrow is new years eve and i *actually* have plans! training it into the city tomorrow afternoon, grabbing dinner with the best friends, hanging out around belmont/clark area, and then going to a (what is being predicted to be a “kick-ass”) party hosted by two of my favourite ladies.

and no… i didnt go on my date tonight… there were some transportational difficulties, but… it has been rescheduled to thursday!

…and i know this sounds really sappy and kindof weird, especially coming from me… but i *really* like him.

::sigh::

now… the main thing i want to relate to all you out in blog-reader-land is the sheeeeeer hilarity that was last night.

now… let me paint a picture…

imagine earl (me)… now im pretty “interesting” looking (to put it nicely). ive got a white/blonde mohawk, lip ring, an… “intimidating” size, and im asian. for those of you who dont know me… in social situations/parties/fun gatherings, im rather outspoken, entertaining, loud, silly, and quite often become the center of attention (what?! im a theatre kid… i cant help it…)

now… in your minds eye… picture me at a party on the gold coast in chicago, in a fancy apartment on lake shore drive, overlooking lake michigan, and seeming *almost* completely out of place.

now tweak it a little, and imagine me in a room filled with rich, mousy, incredibly awkward, white (many of them jewish), privileged as FUCK north shore chicago suburbian neo-yuppies.

oh yeah… this really happened.

present at this party, there is an entire spectrum of people… from the girl sitting on the couch, who i think was *actually* frightened by my being in attendance at this party, to the guy who kept looking over and giving charlie and myself dirty looks, to the fantastically drunken and absolutely fabulous hostess of this terribly awkward shindig, molly.

molly is the epitome of “chicago-north-shore-rich-jewish-american-princess”… and yet not, at the same time. she’s a fun loving sorority sister (as well as everything that the title emplies) and simultaneously she is a talented artist/graphic designer who always does things “her way”.

annnyways… it was a fantastic character study and look into the world that i so vehemently wanted out of that i had to leave the country…

it was also a good reminder that boulder is *such* a bubble. people in the real world dont *really* care what your name is and dont expect you to remember theirs… nor do they care to introduce themselves or even engage you in conversation. people also get frightened when you *do* remember their name and try to engage in conversation… apparently i missed the memo that its socially acceptable to just look aloof and apathetic while you slowly drink yourself into oblivion in a roomful of people you arent going to talk to.

…i guess i reaaaaallly missing out on alot of stuff living in boulder…

moral of the story: surreal and hilarious experiences seem to make up most of my life…

::sigh::

 

…break is odd…

so… im back in the suburbs of chicago for 3 weeks, on holiday.  and its incredibly surreal.

having been here for a total of 4 days, i can already say that im rather done with being here.  im just imagining the next 16 days… and im kindof frightened.

::begin rant::

just to give everyone a bit of context… before i came back out here from colorado (my current place of residence) i did some calculations… and just realized that this 3 weeks that im here (until january 14th) will be the longest time i have been back in the chicago suburbs, under my parents’ roof since i was 17.

i hope this is providing the context for my current situation.

Also… it is good to note that almost all of my closest friends are either 1) stuck in the adult world with *jobs* and what not,or 2) far… far away.  and ive basically fallen completely out of touch with everyone i knew from when i was a young’n… (before i ran away to europe…)

so yeah… its been a rather family-filled few days… which is always nice… but my parental units are grating on me.  its funny… even though ive lived by myself, in a completely different country, for long, extended periods of time… they still treat me like im just a little tyke.  i mean, i understand that i’ll always be their “little boy” to them… but seriously??  the 2 nights ago, the day after christmas, i ended up re-connecting to an old friend that i used to do theatre with/went to school with, and we hung out… and at 2:30 am… i received a phone call from my father who was quite perturbed that i was “out so late”.

yeah… its been like that…

*and* what makes it worse… is that i dont have a car.  so if i want to get anywhere… i need to borrow one of my parents’ (because… its impossible to get around the suburbs without one… grrrr!!!)  but annyways…

::end rant::

the only things that have made this week rather nice:

christmas!  it was pleasant, and my family was rather functional all day.  cooked all     day with mom and eat tons of delicious foods and get nice gifts from family

new phone!! yayyyy… my old one was… rather brok’d but now i need everyone’s numbers cuz not all of them transferred…

date!!! i think im going on a date with a really cute guy on sunday (maybe?)!! im really excited… namely cuz i havent been on an actual *date* with anyone in… well… wayyyyyy too long…   its funny… i think i had kindof forgotten what it felt like to get nervous to talk to someone on a level like that… butterflies and all.  talking to him is definitely a good reminder. hehe.

ugh… im also feeling kinda gross and out of shape… as i normally feel about myself… but yesterday… it got so much that i took a good hour just stretching and doing yoga (which i hadnt done since the end of the term… and damn… i was tight.  doing sun salutations after 2 weeks of being lazy (after doing yoga/intense stretching every day for an entire semester…) will definitely kick your ass.  ::sigh:: i dont have my yoga mat with me here, but at least theres a nice wood floor and lots of space for me to sprawl out!

this break is especially nerve wracking, because… i graduate in may.  and the one thing that stands in the way of that… is my thesis!

the whole  “developing an original piece of theatre” is a rather difficult undertaking…

but yeah… more on that later.

i’ll be updating this ALOT more during my weeks at my parents’ so… stay tuned dear readers!

 

so… something fun to do!

so… has anyone heard carrie underwood’s hit country-pop song “jesus take the wheel”?

nod if you have…

…and if you havent… just nod anyway.

putting this poor girl’s very unfortunate patronymic aside… if you’re ever incredibly bored, or just looking for a good laugh… think about replacing the line in her song that is… shockingly… exactly the same as the title of the song… with some other series of words that ends rhyming with “wheel”

so… for example…

“jesus ate some veal”

or… “jesus clubbed a baby seal”

now… the trick is to sing it out loud, as if you were carrie underwood, asking for the sweet lord of lords and king of kings to commandeer her vehicle.

so… once again…

replace the words

belt it out to your hearts content

…and let the hilarity ensue!

 

oh look… a new blog…

…as if the world needed any more of these…

annyways… welcome to my new blog. for those of who who dont know who i am… im earl. performer/entertainer/artist extraordinaire. im currently finishing my final year of undergrad at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. hopefully… if everything goes well, i’ll be graduating in may ‘08 with my BFA in Theatre/Dance performance focused on ensemble physical theatre and dance theatre.

as this blog progresses, im sure you’ll hear more about Naropa as an institution of higher education, and more specifically about the BFA program… as well as my senior thesis project. i’ll try to keep my ranting and raving to a minimum and hopefully some of my musings will hold your attention and keep you somewhat entertained…

and with that… i guess ive got my first post!