Friday, December 23, 2022

Sunday Post

via GIPHY

 

he Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme


 

LOOKING FORWARD to December



Happy Holidays everyone! This week it snowed a lot in Minnesota. It seemed like every day I was scraping off the car, or driving slow on the highway. At one point, I had to avoid an exit ramp because it hadn't been plowed.  
Fortunately with all the snow, it gave me a lot of time to stay indoors and read.


I also taught a sketch comedy class on ZOOM. We did an exercise where you answer these prompts
I hate… I love… I’m annoyed by… The best is when… I’m proud that… I’m terrified of… I’m embarrassed by… I’m obsessed with…

After you answer these questions, go back and validate your reason by stating "because" and write something absurd. This will bring out the funny in a future comedy skit.

  A few students told me about their favorite comedians including Eric Andre and Hannibal Buress. I also learned what animatronics are. This is something brought up often in improv so I was happy to learn. The characters at Chucky Cheese helped me understand this better.
Eric Andre-Comedian





This was my week, how was yours?  Let me know in the comments below.



 

ON THE BLOG


Reading

Nexus follows the protagonist Kaden Lane, a scientist who works on an experimental nano-drug, Nexus, which allows the brain to be programmed and networked, connecting human minds together.
The book discusses the strain in thought in Buddhism and neuroscience. It discusses whole brain emulation and uploading, and the War on Drugs and Terror.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively forward or backward through time. 

The book gives the example of how a cube exists with width and depth, but how it also exists with time-this is something we generally don't think about.


Klara and the Sun.  Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler The main thesis of the book is that we are very often not aware of our real reasons for most of our behaviors. Our behaviors are optimized for living in a social group and very often, from the point of view of natural selection, it is useful if we are not consciously aware of our real motivations.

In this book Simler discusses behavior a lot.  Simler gives the example of how men will cut into one another to show how they're close, and how friends will do something extra to stand out from acquaintances.



Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Sunday Post

via GIPHY

 


he Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme


 

LOOKING FORWARD to December



This week was cold and snowy in Minnesota. Somehow I got out of the house and went to do improv and work. I had to cancel my root canal appointment because I had to see two different dentists to see about crown lengthening and the appointments didn't align.

Scenes from a Hat Improv




I took part in Scenes from a Hat improv.  We do scenes and short form improv and the acting is recorded in a studio and streamed to YouTube.  I included some pictures of the event. In this week's session I did scenes where I was a reporter and a hula dancer. I was a little girl whose father was afraid for her life-she kept approaching animals in exhibits at the zoo.

Because I didn't get to drive for ride-share due to the snow, I read a lot of books.


This was my week, how was yours?  Let me know in the comments below.



 

ON THE BLOG


Reading



Ted Chiang, author of Stories of You Life and Others discusses the future of having an app that checks in on your inconsistencies towards others in a logging system, in an effort to improve your behavior. The app would note the behaviors in statistical graphs and charts.

During a talk with Ted Chiang someone asked: What is the difference between self logging your thoughts?  (using external life logs or smart phones) versus using an internal log (i.e. diary or Blog) How would it eschew one's sense of self if one part  of our life is recorded externally but the other part is inefficiently recorded?
Ted Chiang gives the example of smart goggles and how they observe where your gaze through day and information you were taking in, and how this information can be analyzed statistically and given in a table or chart more efficiently, than if you were to record your thoughts in a diary.

Friday, December 2, 2022

Review:Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy, State Theatre, Minneapolis

Re-post from 2021

 

December is perfect for watching a holiday show like The Nutcracker Fantasy. Minnesota Dance Theatre (MDT) is showing it until December 19th at the State Theatre in Minneapolis.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Review: Much Ado About Nothing at Mounds Theater



Two years ago Fearless Comedy shut down their production of William Shakespeare’s classic Much Ado About Nothing . Instead of tiptoeing around like most theaters, Fearless is braving through with this play and more ahead.

Much Ado About Nothing is generally considered one of Shakespeare's best comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with themes of honor, shame, and court politics. The play revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge, when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. Captain Benedick(Phillip D. Henry) and Beatrice(Suzanne Victoria Cross) are tricked into confessing their love for each other and Claudio(William Edson) has a misunderstanding about his love interest, the Hero(Nicole Laurenne). 

Theatre Review: ‘The Bungalow Loft’ at Historic Mounds Theatre

 Viv (Ambrosia Jasmine Webb) and Sam (Jenn Scott) pictured above (photo courtesy of Fearless Comedy Productions)



 Bridges of Madison County meets Nancy Drew: Girl Detective in The Bungalow Loft by Shanan Custer, directed and produced by Dawn Krosnowski. This heartfelt and funny mystery is a stage

Flash Back Thursday post Happy Wednesday! @ChioneQuintet #wednesdaymotivation

***Repost from 2020
Chione Quintet of Minnesota is with me today to talk about their music.  
















When was the Chione Quintet created and what is its mission?
"Chione had our very first rehearsal in October of 2016, so we are officially 2 years old.  

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