Sunday Post #amreading #amjoy @kimbacaffeinate @BillyCrystal

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Review

           LOOKING FORWARD TO march

This week I listened to Billy Crystal's audiobook. He talked about his idea for the 'pepper/popper' scene in 'When Harry Met Sally'

Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

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 This is a repost from last year 

           LOOKING FORWARD TO October

This week was my birthday  Lots of people joined me in the celebration on social media.  I also had my favorite food sweet and sour chicken and sushi. 

Magic zinged off the stage – a review of Frozen: The Musical

Photo courtesy of Hennepin Theatre Trust

If you're seeking family fun in October, head on over to the Orpheum to see Disney’s Frozen. This Broadway musical is directed by Michael Grandage and features songs from the original film plus a dozen new musical numbers.

On opening night, I had the fleeting notion of scooping up someone else's daughter to bring with me to see Disney’s Frozen, certain that there’d be dozens of children in attendance. And my predictions were right. There were more young girls in gowns than I remembered ever seeing in October.

Disney outdid themselves with this production. It was so powerful it felt like magic zinged off the stage with one wave of Elsa’s hand. Light cascaded across the frame of the set and icicles jutted the moment Elsa (Caroline Bowman) flew into a fiery rage. I never saw such a traumatic change to a setting. One moment the characters were preparing themselves for a Victorian-era coronation in the castle, complete with hanging chandeliers and bedrooms suited for a princess,and the next the backdrop transformed into a wintry storm with holographic snow and icicles. The set seemed to grow along with the climax and when Elsa unleashed her powers, it was like a rock star had shown up in a shimmery, glittery gown and said, “Are you ready to rumble?”

Caroline Innerbichler, as Anna, invited laughter with her lighted-hearted banter.  Her side kick Olaf reminded kids that frozen friends can save the day or a play, at any rate. Sound effects emanated from the aisles so that children were twisting in their seats to unravel a mystery.  But the real mystery was handled on stage with tricks of light by Natasha Katz (light design) and special effects by Jeremy Chernick.

The balance of humor with nostalgic moments from the film are sure to make a kid’s heart soar with delight. Come see Frozen through October 20th.  Tickets at https://frozenthemusical.com/tickets/

Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

 

 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO October

This week I got to read my work on Shut up and Write in NY (on ZOOM).  I enjoy reading my work out loud and getting instant feedback and I'd highly recommend it.  

Sunday Blog Post:All things Improv

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           LOOKING FORWARD TO OCTOBER

This week, I tried to get my passport documents in order which meant calling for an appointment. (no answer) They do have a local office and I was able to get my son's passport squared away, but for expedited services, I realize this may take more time than I expected.  I plan to travel to a few places like Ireland, Amsterdam, Iceland and maybe Australia.  

  Friday Delight (Improv) theater.  (Me bottom right)

Its been getting chilly in Minnesota but the fall leaves are beautiful as ever.

I also joined another improv group online and that as a blast getting to know other people. This improv teacher had everyone give a compliment to each other.  I didn't know anyone but I had a few ideas since I was the last person.  Improv has been a game changer for me.  And I found a motivation board in a local coffee shop and the first thing I wrote is "Hesitate Less,  try improv" .

 Each new improv group I've tried is like a breath of fresh air, and its helped me make tons of friends in a safe way (on ZOOM) 

You can see my son's (zulfiqar) face in the circle

My son built a fort at an Indoor Park

My Grateful list

Grateful for meditation

For fun days and plans

for writing notebooks 

and mornings sitting by the lake

Readers, please comment below.

 upcoming on the Blog

ffR

Reading

Someone recommended that I read this essay "The Lowest Animal" By Mark Twain

Night of the Living Dead! The Musical is a humorous blend of self-deprecation and fun at Phoenix Theater in Uptown Minneapolis

When you arrive at Phoenix Theater to see Night of the Living Dead! The Musical you might think you arrived at an uptown cafe. There’s plenty of space in the lobby before you meet the entrance to the theater and countless chairs and sofas to sit on. I took a window seat near the front entrance before going into the auditorium. I had to walk a good block to the theater after parking the car but that didn’t deter me.

I had read that the creator and lyricist, Jordon Wolfe, flew out to Minneapolis to see this musical adaptation and I was more than happy to see it myself, and was not disappointed.

The opening scene caught my attention: two characters, Barbara played by Rachel Schmidt and Johnny, played by Max Kile, drive out into the countryside to visit their father’s grave site. Rachel Schmidt's funny anecdotes and good humor set her as someone who was childlike and flirty. The makeshift car and the characters’ hilarious maneuvers in and out of it made me want to go home and make my own car.

I expected the plot to center around the brute zombies who would’ve made frequent appearances but I was happy instead to meet Miranda’s love interest, Ben, (Mitchell Douglas) whose charisma and energy made the scene light up. Mitchell’s costume and dance pants put the audience right where you were supposed to be: 1960’s, Pennsylvania. I was reminded of that numerous times in the musical, with self-deprecation and references to political and religious stereotypes.

I was introduced to Sheriff Tractor, (Christian Unser), who couldn’t be more country hick if he tried. His use of a squirt gun to commandeer zombies who threatened to take over the scene was too perfect.

Everyone of the actors played a zombie at least once, and I didn’t find the transition between characters to be alarming.

In fact, I cared so much about the twosomes and husband and wife characters, I felt the scene could go on and on past the two 45 minute acts. I said it right, two 45 minute acts, which may seem unusual to break a musical that runs just 90 minutes into two intervals but it made for a nice little break in between where I could stand and stretch my legs. My only gripe with the theater itself would be the uncomfortable chairs but I was glad for the little tables and leg and arm space, which is frequently not available in a lot of theaters, where I’m arm to arm with my neighbor and their critiques and laughter.

One of the most memorable scenes had to be when Mitchell Douglas and Christian Uncer started a dance off with the characters doing the sprinkler and running man. Mitchell Douglas did an awesome, five second break dance routine and I became more and more blown away by his talents at end of the night. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could pull off Lord of the Dance and Rent, the musical, in one night.

Start your night off right, I cannot recommend this musical enough.

Night of the Living Dead! The Musical runs through October 27th, tickets can be purchased through http://www.aboutmmt.org/ or at the door.

Prices are: $35 Premium seating $30 Regular seating $25 Partially Obstructed seating Students/Seniors 65+ Any seat $25

Sunday Post

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           LOOKING FORWARD TO OCTOBER

This week I gave a lot of writers feedback on their work on scribophile.com a place where writers of all skill levels come online to improve each other's

 work. There's a guy who is basing his story on the "12 monkeys" and it was interesting to

hear his travelling though time scenarios.

I drove UBER this week and I like to tell clients about improv from time or I’ll ask them to do an improv game. This week I told a guy about HUGE improv theater and he said he'd come and join, right after he told me how landed his T-Mobile Sales job.

"I tried to run a scam on T-Mobile and they in turn offered me a job," he said.

I like telling people about improv because it helps with hesitation and things like asserting yourself and boosting confidence.

Here are some popular Halloween things I've seen. Its seems to be all about the inflatables and spiders and ghosts this year.

Deer spotting while driving UBER.  Lots of Wildlife in Minnesota and lots of Turkeys

A cake I received for my birthday earlier this month

My Grateful List:

Grateful for there not being snow on the ground yet

For a guy fixing my headlight at the mechanic store

for the internet

Grateful for my workouts at the gym

for all of books I looked over this week.

Readers, please comment below.

 UPCOMING ON THE BLOG

"The Parallel Brain" and another book sounds interesting because its by Eran Zaidel a sciencetist who explores consciousness and reality. Which was a topic I had with several improvisers on ZOOM.

Sunday Blog Post

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 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO SEPTEMBER

I talked to writers about the Feast of San Gennaro which kicked off this month in New York. This 11-day celebration began in 1926 as a way for immigrants in New York to maintain the Italian tradition of honoring the patron saint of Naples, Saint Januarius, with a feast every September. Its honored with cannoli eating contests and religious processions.

I guess people make this giant cannoli and stuff it, and this intrigued me because I remember going to Little Italy in California just to buy some cannoli.

I love going to cultural corners of big cities and I've also been to Chinatown and Koreatown in Chicago.

Fun Fact about me: I’ve lived in ten different places in my twenties. Sometimes for as little as two weeks, or as long as two years. I lived in two apartments in South Minneapolis. A coworker also subleased her a half a million dollar home because she hadn’t moved in yet. I lived with my uncle, and I lived in north Minneapolis, Dinkytown and East St. Paul.

Photos from my week

Looking outside my Apartment

Readers please comment below

ON THE BLOG

'The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers.  I've read almost every book about dancing, so I thought I'd pick this up.

These are fun ones that you may want to pick up:

• Bunheads (Hardcover) Sophie Flack
• Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet (Hardcover) Jennifer Homans
• Ballet Shoes (Paperback) Noel Streatfeild.
• Tiny Pretty Things (Tiny Pretty Things, #1) ...
• Firebird (Hardcover)
• Dancing on My Grave (Paperback) ...
• Astonish Me (Paperback) 
• Flora and the Flamingo (Hardcover)

I also did improv on ZOOM with the writer who wrote the IMPROV EDGE, Joe Hammer

Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO SEPTEMBER

This week I talked to some writers about going to The Moth at the end of September.  The Moth is non-profit group dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. The organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad( Anyone can come with a story and compete with others telling stories.)

Ballet Co.Laboratory and Drive-In Forward

This is an event that showcased in 2020

Ballet Co.Laboratory introduced its third annual fundraising performance, Drive-In Forward, on Saturday, October 24th, 2020 in St Paul with a virtual silent auction, socially distance games and raffles.   The  company returned to stage after an unplanned seven-month hiatus.

Throughout this pandemic, we have missed many things, but performing for you is highest on our list, managing director Rachel Koep posted in the program notes.

In the parking lot, transformed into a 1950s drive-in style event, dancers prepared for a fall day in Minnesota with leg warmers and slippers to cover their toe shoes. Many dressed in sweaters and poodle skirts, their hair in high ponies.  The dancers often ran back and forth between the stage and a warm trailer.

As instructed by the attendant, I parked my car at an angle along with three dozen others in a circle around the stage. Then, another attendee distributed popcorn and refreshments. I tuned my radio station to hear the show’s music. My favorite number was 'Everything' by Buddy Holly. Dancers did the twist and the mashed potato while wearing white gloves; doing spins and two steps.

Company dancers included Jayson Douglas, Sage Engle-Laird, Zoé Henrot, Brittany Pate, Rosa Prigan, Anna Roehr, Rachel Seeholzer. There were also apprentice dancers, many of whom joined for the 2020/21 season from around the country.

“I’m excited, this is the first time I’ve performed since January,” said company dancer, Rachel Seeholzer.

Like the movie Cars, vehicles seemed to have more personality than ever as patrons tooted their horns and flashed their lights in applause fashion. I found myself doing the mashed potato and opening my window to engage even further.

Each of the dances incorporated an element inspired by the artists’ own experiences. In music number, The Great Pretender by The Platters, Jayson Douglas and Rachel Seeholzer, dancers of colors, were seated back to back in a show of civil unrest. 'The Great Pretender' considers the powerful effect of seeing one’s own struggles in someone else and the comfort provided in embracing shared identity when one feels defeated, this shared in the program notes.

In the finale, 'Let's Twist Again', dancers off stage two stepped until they too joined the company on stage, each taking a chance to bow and bid farewell. Until when? You might ask. Ballet Co.Laboratory’s virtual production of Snow Queen will be airing on December 19th and 20th and LABORATORY II will be airing March 20th, Tickets at https://www.balletcolaboratory.org/

 

Sunday Post

 

           LOOKING FORWARD TO SEPTEMBER

The weather this week was great.  I went to see Ali Sultan (the comedian ) at Camp Bar in St. Paul on Friday.  Ali has done his routines on Comedy Central and  performed for the Stephen Colbert show.  Originally from Yemen, this comedian references Yemenese culture and what its like to live in Minnesota.

Sunday post #amwriting #amjoy

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKINg Forward to September

My son with be starting kindergarten next week, and he seems excited.  He keeps asking me, "Mom, will I be going to Ms. Penny's class next week?" He wants to know if he'll be attending the same school as he did last year.  Which he will be, and he excited about going to the playground.

Our writers group, (Shut up and Write )got ZOOM bombed and random people showed up and talked in slurs to get everyone's attention, and there was no way to kick people out because they kept coming back.

I also went to a cosmetic event in St Paul with a friend and that was

Turkey Comes to Trin Carl's Blog

Here is another expat blog, aysulove.com This woman is writing from Turkey. She has a montage of beautiful city pictures of Turkey in her cover page and she has a post called Ex-Pats the TV show.  I like how she describes herself in her blog A married girl married and living in Turkey for 3 years, sadness to happiness. Here you will hear about the struggles and high points of living in another culture, learning the new ways to cook, speak, make friends along with many more.  Now I really thought I heard it all when it comes to reality shows but here we go folks another show to add to your list.  She posts a link of where you can find the show on her page aysulove.com/2014/01/19/ex-pats-the-tv-show-2/ .

Here is another Blog from Turkey called Post Cards from Istanbul.  But the actual site can be found at pointwhitedrive.wordpress.com and the writer has a cloud list of words related to Turkey.  One phrase  caught my mind Night Life in Istanbul.  Okay readers, what do we think we'll find here? Yes, of course clubs and more clubs  One of the clubs called Quick China looks very modern and romantic, dark and cavernous.

Theater Review: Reboot, a Virtual Production from Walking Shadow Theatre

Who says we can’t Reboot together?

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it's clear some shows will still be going virtual, as Minnesota is operating at seventy percent. Walking Shadow theatre has created an interactive hybrid play, combined with an escape room. It's a chance for a small audience to solve collaborative puzzles and unlock ethical conundrums.