| *sporfle* |
[May. 7th, 2008|09:19 pm] |
Apparently on a talent show on ZDF this spring, they had a musicals theme and Uwe Kröger as a judge. This makes for entertaining clips of him making faces as people torture German and English musicals.
But this is something else. They had Villazon as a guest star, because apart from being Caruso Jr, he's also done Man of La Mancha. Which he did admirably - guy's got a siege weapon of a voice on him.
And then he and the host went and did Always look on the bright side of life. Yes, from Spamalot. Monty Python. My brain!
(Video under cut, because I refuse to be the only one traumatised.)
( Bad and wrong and yay ) |
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| Elisabeth in Berlin |
[May. 5th, 2008|12:20 pm] |
I saw two shows in Berlin, May 1 and May 2. The cast was almost the same - the only exception was Sophie, with the understudy the first time and Christa Wettstein (first cast) on Friday. The shows, however, were dramatically different, mostly because on Thursday, Bruno Grassini (Lucheni) was phoning in his role, while by Friday he had recovered.
( Detailed review )
End verdict: I'm glad I've gone, for reasons of Uwe (and to a lesser extent, Annemieke and Oliver), but this production is craft rather than art. And I'm very happy I have tickets booked to Elisabeth in Budapest next month, with the full second cast (Máté, Bernádett and Nikolett, Ádám Bálint and Tamás Szaraz) confirmed for both shows I'm attending. |
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| *falls over* |
[May. 4th, 2008|08:24 am] |
Got back yesterday near midnight and was so exhausted I fell into bed without even touching the computer. Reviews will be up tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, highlights of my Berlin trip:
- seeing Uwe Kröger, twice. No Pia, but oh, UWE. No more watching certain Hungarians for you, the set'll fall apart!
- Spargel - height of the season, and oh, they were delicious
- lovely Roman-inspired sandals and a jacket that cost far too much
- stuffed alligator O.o |
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| Missing in action |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|08:13 pm] |
I'm off on Thursday morning for Berlin, back on Saturday night. Have decided not to lug the computer around, since it's just two nights and a rather busy schedule of shopping and two shows to catch. If anyone has anything urgent, speak now, or hold your peace for four whole days ;)
Incidentally, this will be the first time in three years or so that I'll be incommunicado from e-mail for over 24 hours - even when I was net-less, I monitored things via mobile phone. Wish me luck! |
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| Sometimes, a voice makes you flail |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|09:17 pm] |
I'm watching the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert (more on which, and the book, later), and after Act 1 I made the mistake of looking up Michael Maguire on Youtube.
His voice in Music of the Night has left me spellbound
There's something about his emotion... oh gods, why doesn't this man act more? |
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| Meta: Live performance fandom versus media fandom |
[Apr. 21st, 2008|02:33 pm] |
I started out in media fandom, where by media I define books, series, films, comics – any creative work that is performed once and communicated via media, a one-to-many single-time-point form of creation. For the past two years, my primary fandoms, the defaults I scribble about in my free moments, have been live performance fandoms. Involvement in the two is a very different experience.
( Media fandom versus live performance fandom: an analysis )
And now, I should probably write another analysis for the fascinating in-between creature that is Takarazuka fandom ;) But at 1,700+ words, this will be enough for now. |
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| FIC: Blood of Salmacis (Greek Mythology, gen) |
[Apr. 17th, 2008|06:37 am] |
Fandom: Greek Mythology
Characters: Hermaphroditos, Thanatos
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Inspired by the story of Hermaphroditos in Ovid's Metamorphoses
Prompt: 546. Mythology - Greek: Hermaphroditus. How does his assimiliation with the nymph immediately affect him and his sexuality?
Summary: After Hermaphroditos pronounces his curse.
Author's Notes: With great thanks to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) shriker_tam for beta-reading. Written for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lgbtfest.
( Blood of Salmacis ) |
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| I need more Phantom icons |
[Apr. 15th, 2008|07:41 pm] |
Apparently there was a promotional event for the Warsaw Phantom of the Opera recently. This would be the lovely Raoul, with the third Christine (the one I saw the second time).
( All I ask of you ) |
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| Laptop shopping |
[Apr. 14th, 2008|05:23 pm] |
Out of curiosity, has anyone had any experience with a Lenovo ThinkPad R61?
Our office has the T60s, and while I'm on a Dell, the ThinkPad squad like theirs. Since my home computer is hitting the 6 year mark this June, it's time for something new. And June 30 will be the stop-mark for new computers with Windows XP - I can definitely do without Vista for the moment, though the R61 is Vista-ready.
The configuration I'm eyeing would be 2GB of RAM, 2GHz dual Intel, 160GB hard drive. I think this would last me a while - not necessarily another six years, but at least three - considering my main home tasks are done in Firefox, MS Office (2002) and the now elderly Paint Shop Pro 8, plus whatever forays I make into GIMP and Inkscape. I'd miss the smooth Dell curves, but somehow the ThinkPad seems to have more personality to it. I think it looks like a Bob, or possibly a Logan. |
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| Phantom of the Opera, Roma theatre, take two |
[Apr. 11th, 2008|08:33 am] |
On Wednesday, I found myself in the possession of someone else's media passes to Phantom. It would have been somewhat foolish not to go, even though it was Damian on again as Erik. Mind you, the rest of the cast was entirely different - I think only Madame Giry was the same one I saw the first time.
( Huh. They got better. )
I have my next set of tickets for the 23rd. Don't know if I'll go yet, waiting for the cast to come up. Wanna 'nother Phantom. |
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| Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort |
[Apr. 6th, 2008|09:57 am] |
I first noticed Bruno Pelletier in Notre Dame de Paris, as recommended by fyrie, about two years ago. On Youtube, there were clips of him doing various things, including appearing in something that looked... strange. The music was great, the French lyrics had vivid imagery, but the costumes? The flames? I googled it and came up with Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort.
The CD has been out for a long time, and it gets regular airtime in my house. The DVD of the musical was recorded in November 2006 and came out last month. I now have it in my hands and all I can say is: Whoa. This is what a Dracula musical should be.
( Rambling review, hampered by my half-fluent French )
And some Youtube clips to whet your appetite:
Dracula and Lucy's meeting (promotional video)
Concert version of the philosophical discussion between Dracula, Jonathan and Renfield
Digest of DVD scenes |
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| LiveJournal support |
[Mar. 30th, 2008|10:18 pm] |
For the past week or so, I've been toying with volunteering on the LiveJournal support board. It's fun, it lets me practice formal business English, and I've already learned a lot about LiveJournal.
However, the fact that the Support v-gift of choice is PINK PONIES is driving me absolutely bonkers :P I've got two of them now!
Note to self: add a profile note along the lines of "Hate Pink Rar". (Appreciate the sentiment, but still.) |
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| Phantom of the Opera - Warsaw Roma theatre |
[Mar. 29th, 2008|10:58 am] |
Obligatory pre-review disclosure: I like Phantom of the Opera, a lot. I adored the small stage version put up by the Palladium Stage theatre (clips available here), and after the first two rounds of auditions for the full Roma theatre non-replica production, I was overjoyed to hear that my favourites were also the judges' favourites for Erik and Raoul. Then they were abruptly cut, due to in one case "not enough acting ability" and in the other, current engagements keeping him from attending the audition. On top of that, I heard a lot of rumours that the musical's main sponsor fancies himself a director and meddled immensely in both casting and directing.
I saw the show yesterday. Verdict: Very good show. Can someone put the first Phantom out of his misery?
( Detailed review ) |
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| Meringues |
[Mar. 22nd, 2008|09:47 pm] |
For some reason, I've always regarded meringues as something fiendishly difficult; consequently, I rarely bought them and hunted without much success for something that was not 90% sugar.
We had 4 egg whites left over from other baking. The whole thing took 15 minutes, and half of that was sifting the caster sugar because I'm an obsessive perfectionist sometimes.
*crunch*
:D |
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| The wonder of creativity |
[Mar. 21st, 2008|05:51 pm] |
Half the fun of visual design, for me, is getting sidetracked in all the little things. After a whole day devoted to layout (conclusion: width fixed in ems, single-column, sidebar widgets in a horizontal container between the banner and the main layout), now it's colour choices and colour theory. For the LJ redesign I'm considering, I've promised fyrie that I'll have a Maki Ichiro layout to match her Saki Asaji one. To match the picture, I'll need colours a little more varied than my current black and white. Cue way too much fun with online Pantone swatches.
Below, a quick mockup of the current top-runners. Saturation may still get put down, and I think I might opt for a grey background with the deep purple used for flourishes on it.
( Read more... )
Now to come up with matching colours for visited, hovered-over and active links. Then I can actually open a graphics program ;)
This has been your Content Nonstrike post for the day. And boy, is my f-list rocking. |
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| Black Ships: review proper |
[Mar. 19th, 2008|03:59 pm] |
I've finished reading Black Ships by jo_graham for the third time. I've a feeling it won't be the last.
( Thoughts and analysis )
Incidentally, I'm currently working on a story set in Greek mythology for lgbtfest. Re-reading Black Ships, I was reminded of two major issues about that pantheon - how powerful and mysterious was the female, and how dreary, thought-losing, the afterlife. Endless fields of grain under an eternal sun. I hope no-one will mind if I swipe that sentence. |
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| CSS Nostalgia |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|02:11 pm] |
I've been reading A List Apart, because at some point, I do have to do something about my website. The fanfic portion is fine, but the code could use a cleanup. The Discworld site will stay up as-is, for non-link-breaking, but I should add a disclaimer that it's no longer updated. Main index, of course, needs updating. Additions
And while my Greymatter installation broke ages ago, maybe I could use another blog. This "Wordpress" thing sounds interesting, even if learning another structure and language to play with its layout will be daunting. Does anyone have a Wordpress blog and can tell me how difficult it is to design it properly as opposed to designing a non-dynamic HTML/CSS site?
And as I read about things that changed in the last four years, since I last seriously took an interest in webdesign (no 4.x browsers, hallelujah), I find myself thinking about my LJ. Style systems are a bitch and a half, but Expressive *is* CSS-compatible.
I designed my first site in 1997. I've never dabbled in anything but the simplest Javascript, but otherwise I've gone through all the phases, tables, rollovers, image maps, you name it. CSS, once the browsers are halfway compatible, has a logic and beauty to it.
My fingers itch to code something. |
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| Oh look. LJ's at it again. |
[Mar. 13th, 2008|09:11 am] |
In the interest of doing the community thing and spreading the word - it is no longer possible to create a new Basic (free and ad-free) account on Livejournal. Existing Basic accounts remain ad-free, existing Plus accounts can be degraded to ad-free Basic.
I can't say I haven't been expecting this. LJ remained one of the very, very few places online that offered something both free and ad-free.
I've been around for more than a decade, and I remember when this happened to webspace. I migrated from Geocities (free to banner to popup) to Fortunecities (free to gigantic banner) to the space I was getting with my ISP (limited) to paying for my own domain and has it really been six years? It's a natural progression of the online evolution: at first it's free. Then it's ads. Then you realise that if you don't like ads and you use a service frequently, paying for it is quite an attractive option.
I use LJ daily as my main source of internet-community news and my main path of communication with many dear friends. Out of the clones, it's the most stable and the one with the most attractive array of options and layouts. I've had a paid account for years now, and each year I reconsider signing up for one more year, just like I reconsider the value-for-money of any other subscription. (I'm dropping Usenet this year, for example. It's time.) So far, I still see benefits.
In other news, you can create an ad-free community, still, which was the one thing I was worried about. |
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| Pre-review: Black Ships |
[Mar. 11th, 2008|08:05 pm] |
Since the Amazon US publishing date was yesterday and jo_graham's first reading and signing is coming up, I think it's time to post this. Or at least the first part ofit. I've read the book twice now, once piece-meal as it was created and once in its whole bound form, but now that I've sat down to write about it, I see I'll have to re-read for a proper analysis.
The book is Black Ships.
It's a story of the Aeneid, narrated by a priestess of the Lady of the Dead. It's a whole and more than a whole: it's the first meeting with characters I've had the privilege of reading about in at least four other incarnations throughout history. It's a woman's story, and a mystical journey. The quiet narrative paints ink sketches that catch you and come to you again in dreams, months later. And did I mention it's all historically accurate Age of Bronze Greece?
You can't nail this book down as just historical, fantasy, roadtrip (seatrip?), literary. It's all of these. And it'll haunt you, but it's a beneficial spirit.
In the interest of full disclosure: I know jo_graham and I've had the privilege of following the tail end of the creation of Black Ships and now the next book, chapter by chapter, providing comments. I was wholly unsurprised it got picked up by a publisher. I have a review copy, but I was damn ready to buy my own thrice over.
(And yes, I recced it here when it was still nascent, two years ago. If you remember, she prefers her other name unmentioned ;))
Now, to force someone to cough up my copy and give it another read :) |
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| Travel plans |
[Feb. 29th, 2008|10:24 am] |
Two weeks ago, I had no plans for the summer at all. Now it turns out I'll be out of the country two, possibly three times between May and June:
- May 1-3 in Berlin (Shopping and Elisabeth. Mostly shopping.)
- May 23-26 in Edinburgh (fyrie's birthday party and uh, more shopping?)
- Tentatively, June 21-25 in Budapest. Again. For the same purposes as last time.
Since the only other plans I have are for Vienna in the autumn, I need to find some new countries to travel to. Spain, possibly? Or Mallorca, I adored selenak's photos of her trip there. |
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| Elisabeth in Berlin |
[Feb. 17th, 2008|10:22 am] |
So, cast for Elisabeth in Berlin is all but set. It's less dreadful than what I was fearing, but again they went for people who know the musical by heart.
Death: Uwe (who's looking and sounding very good on the promo clip) will be later replaced by Felix Martin, with Oliver Arno as understudy to both. Tried and true, but I like them both enough.
Elisabeth: Pia in the beginning, later to be replaced by Annemieke van Dam. I have to admit I'm in two minds about Annemieke - I've seen her in clips of 3 Musketiere, and while she's got great acting skills and a sweet voice, voice control could use work, and I'm not sure she's up to being first cast for such a demanding role.
Franz-Joseph: Markus Pol - he was FJ in last year's Japanese tour. Decent, though not one of my favourites. Cover's Peter Stassen, Louis and Richelieu in Stuttgart.
Rudolf: Oliver Arno - looks like a high point of the cast, judging by previous performances. I wouldn't mind seeing him as Death, either! Cover Rudolf is Martin Markert, cover on the Japan tour - looks decent, can't find any clips.
Still no news of Sophie or Max. Guess I should get around to reserving tickets... |
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| Sell-out (but for silky hair, wouldn't you?) |
[Feb. 14th, 2008|09:51 am] |
For the past few years, I've heard people praising a singular hair product. There were tales of how hard it is to obtain, how expensive, and how you must use Just A Single Drop to make your hair absolutely fabulous.
Yesterday, I gave in and tried a sample Mother brought back from her new hairdresser's.
Farouk Systems' Biosilk Silk Therapy Serum is, indeed, magic.
The amount of oil that covered the tip of my index finger when I poured it was enough to make my hair a waterfall of silk. For the record, my hair is waistlong, thick and very fine, wavy to the point of rebeliousness, 6 months without a trim, and recently dyed with a commercial non-permanent colour. Just making it fall down without major frizz usually requires heavy-duty conditioner, mousse and hair wax. With just the tiny bit of serum, it's now down, still wavy, and utterly controlled.
I think I have a new addiction. |
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| Books: Diana Gabaldon |
[Feb. 13th, 2008|11:35 am] |
One of the things that helped me last through the week in bed I had to undergo recently was the fact I had just received a stack of books. To wit, almost the entire Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, plus the two Lord John spinoffs.
I first read Outlander/Cross-stitch (depending on the US versus UK edition) when I got it from he library, in Polish. I do read silly romance novels on occasion, but the plot - a time-travelling woman from the 20th century ending up in the 18th century and marrying a Scottish rebel - sounded far-fetched even for those standards. If not a recipe for Mary Sue disaster flavoured with faux-Scots. It was only because I'd already read and adored Lord John and the Private Matter that I decided to give it a try.
Not only are the books readable, they're addictive. The mix of romance and adventure tilts heavily towards the latter, with political plotting added in Dragonfly in Amber. Then just as that formula threatens to tire, the series becomes a Caribbean adventure, then one of the American frontier. I'm missing The Fiery Cross, and I can't wait to read it and the last book. And then wait impatiently for the next volume in the series.
The one thing I appreciate about Outlander is that the usual romance tropes are either ignored or subverted. Rape is one (non-graphic, though chilling); LGBT themes are another. At first I was rather miffed by a certain gay villain, but the way he was developed was so non-stereotypical that I have to applaud. And then there is Lord John Grey.
Lord John, I gather, was supposed to be a brief cameo in Dragonfly in Amber that reappears in Voyager to explain Jamie's survival. The plot device turned out to be a lovely, sarcastic and elegant blade who incidentally is also gay (and this fact is a facet, not the entire definition of his character). As a slash writer, it's amusing to see the signs: "Look, I've got a nice plot device." "Look, there he is again." "You know, I should add him here, too." "I know, I should write a short story where he solves a mystery." "That was fun. I'll write another." "And it's 400 pages long.... ooops?" "And he wants another one. With smut. Quick, who can beta-read a gay sex scene for me????"
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, in particular, is a delightful tapestry of emotions and adventure. It catches on so many themes, and manages to define the emotional web that supports high-class eighteenth-century males, from family to love to duty. It's a book I will read and re-read, and not only because the dachshund is perfectly characterised. It's a jewel.
(And for the record, I ship Lord John/Stephan von Namtzen. I really, really want to write a story where they're beautifully broken together, but it'd kill me.)
If you're interested in more:
Diana Gabaldon site
Excerpts from the Lord John series |
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| Tanz der Vampire / Vampirok Balja: 50th show |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|08:45 am] |
You have to be special to randomly stumble on a 50th show of a musical, and one with a signing to boot. Fortunately, we are special.
( Show )
Before the show, I wandered over to buy the new shiny programme and live CD (even though I accidentally recorded the same show that's on the CD while I was over the last time). I managed to keep my feet when the teller told me that after the show, there would be a signing upstairs.
( Signing ) |
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| Tanz der Vampire #28 |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|12:07 am] |
I think I managed to break Von Krolock's brain.
SCORE. |
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| Elisabeth-related incoherence |
[Jan. 5th, 2008|07:38 pm] |
I think fyrie called dibs on the post title of "Warning: Low-Flying Lucheni", so this one is going to be much less coherent ;)
I didn't get to see Máté Kamarás, because the git went and got a cold. Hopefully he'll be on tomorrow, so if the stagedoor people are as friendly as they were today, we can get them to haul him in by the ear. But still, not all was lost.
I am more convinced than ever that Máté's bounciness is due to a special drug, because it looked like Szilveszter Szabó drank it by mistake. I mean, I've seen this guy on video at least three times, and he's always been nice, but very muted and aloof. This time... not so much. Crackling energy, emotional spill-over and an actual dynamic with Rudolf. Either he was on crack or someone took him over telepathically ;)
And then there was the Amazing Bouncing Lucheni. Honestly, the guy should have a circus act. And it didn't hurt that he's handsome, has a great voice and a charisma that means you look at him exclusively. (Unless Death is onstage, in which case their interaction is - let's just say I have bunnies with very sharp teeth.) But hey, don't take my word for it:
( Youtube: Tamás Száraz in Milch )
Bernadett Vago was a lovely Elisabeth (and her voice is gorgeous!), Ádám Balint was the best-acting Franz-Joseph I have ever seen, and Dávid Szabó presented a Rudolf with believable power, which is a first.
More impressions later, I think. Once I have a comparison ;) Not like I'm seeing the show tomorrow again... oops. |
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| It's alive! |
[Jan. 4th, 2008|09:45 pm] |
Just a note that I'm safely tucked away in Budapest, in a gorgeous (and grandiose) apartment with fyrie :) Tomorrow, the Wacky Musical Adventures start. |
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| New Year 2008 |
[Jan. 1st, 2008|09:00 pm] |
Not a bad party, surprisingly :) Now, two days of work to get through before I'm off to Budapest.
And now that Yuletide authors have been revealed, I can tell you which one I wrote. It's an utterly obscure fandom, but I've tried my best to make it outsider-accessible in a way that might make the story enjoyable also for someone unfamiliar with it.
Chasing Titania - based on Boris Akunin's Fandorin novels (in particular the first one, Azazel/Winter Queen).
(And incidentally, I feel utterly inferior. That brilliant Neverwhere story I recced was written by calliope85, my recipient. I am significantly unworthy.) |
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