Apology, Explanation, Disclaimer

Today's post is going to be an expansion, apology and disclaimer all rolled into one so get excited! Or do not, whatever suits you. First, I am very sorry for the lack of post yesterday but that was due to a busy day finishing with King Kong last night. Again, I am sorry for this but sometimes life gets in the way. Second, I wish to warn and apologise for a likely increase in these short phone-written posts. This is because every year Mum makes a year in review video and for this she uses the computer in the piano room. Since I had to return my school laptop the only other computer in the house is horrible because it is really slow and restarts every five minutes just because it can. This makes it very hard to write posts. However, over the next few days Mum is working so I will try to schedule some posts including a new segment (I was going to say exciting but that could be false advertising) as well as the usual ones. Basically, this post is my apology and explanation/disclaimer for these short post which I have to write on my phone which takes so much longer.

I hope these holidays provide me with some inspiration. See you tomorrow.

Relaxation at Last

Finally, after weeks of preparing for exams and studying for hours on end (obviously with some short breaks in between) my exams are over! Goodbye Year 10 and hello transition into VCE! I know that there probably should be a longer post tonight but I was out pretty much since I got home as we had a family event on. Still though, normal length posts should resume tomorrow. It is going to be such a great and relaxing weekend, I cannot wait. Excitingly, I am going to see Catching Fire tomorrow which is going to be AWESOME! It came out today in Australia by the way and I just can not wait to see this wonder on the big screen. Also in exciting news, I won a family pass to see King Kong Live on Stage in Melbourne again so hooray for that! I won it through Luna Park's Facebook Page. The competition was: "For your chance to win one of 5 family tickets to King Kong in Melbourne, simply comment on this photo with which ride you think King Kong would go on at Luna Park and why?" My submission was as follows:
"I would have to say The Spider. It would come from two instincts: One to be the king of the world (and a giant spider could really get in your way) and another to save his love, Anne Darrow. I can see how a Giant spinning spider could cause this giant ape to get a little territorial."

So much excitement in such little time! See you tomorrow!

Daily Lukey: The Journey to 200 (Part 3)

So we have come to Part 3 (June) of this series of posts to celebrate 200 posts on this blog. We began the month of June with a post about the importance of writers; the people who make the show great. I then continued my weekend of writing with a post about fan-fiction that can sometimes add extra elements to a show you love to watch or has finished its run on television. I then came to a day where I had nothing to write about so I did the 25 random questions tag which you can check out, like the rest of these posts, by looking through the archive down below to the right. I then discussed regrets and what they can mean to us before I moved on to how privacy has been lost in our society. I then got sick of people talking about people as if they only had one trait, or category, and wrote a post about it. Then I wrote a post about YouTube before moving on to horrible drivers after going on a late-night learner driving outing (I may have lost myself towards the end of that sentence). I then discussed the different types of spoilt people (and Sandy made one of his first appearances here) before going through some anecdotes of what our parents have taught us.

Source: http://doublehockeysticks.com/2013/06/04/id-love-your-help/

I then wrote a post about blogs before starting a new series where I went through my YouTube subscriptions to get rid of the channels I had subscribed to over the years but never actually use anymore. This went for a total of six parts where each part was posted every second day. I discussed how much I enjoyed rainy days and my reasons for it. Can I just say how two hours ago it was pouring and now you go outside to a sunny and clear-blue skies. Damn you Melbourne Weather! Anyway, after the next installment of the YouTube series I wrote a post about an emergency fire alarm that went off at Werribee Plaza and the horribly unsafe (and uncaring) response from customers and business owners alike. After another day of YouTube I wrote a post about a horrible experience I had waiting to watch Despicable Me 2 (Don't judge me). I then, after another YouTube post, discussed the wonders of blogging and why I, and so many others, find it so appealing. Another YouTube post later I wrote about how my school claims to be 'green' yet uses enough paper to save a forest. After the final YouTube subscriptions post I wrote about another experience I had with a fire alarm at a theatre (I mean, first a cinema issue, then a fire alarm issue, then both. I was cursed). I then wrote a post about free periods and what people do during them which was followed by another short post due to that stupid Science Timeline assignment. I then rejoiced when I finally found relaxation after the Science poster was completed before publishing another post a day later about that feeling of accomplishment we get when we complete something that either took a lot of time or a lot of effort. I then complained (what's new) about irresponsible dog owners leaving dog poop in the middle of the path (and they still do it). On the second last day of the month I wrote about the Social Network Population before giving my review of King Kong Live on Stage which I had just seen (and am still reeling at by the way). That was June, be sure to check back tomorrow for July. August is coming on Thursday, and the final two months (September and the start of October) on Friday.

Thank you all so much for your support over the last few months, see you tomorrow!

King Kong Live on Stage Review

King Kong, the infamous god of Skull Island, whose heart was tamed by the brave Ann Darrow has managed to tame the hearts of those who watch him. This show truly is something that has to be seen to be believed. It is no wonder that it has become known as the most technologically advanced musical in the World. The smart costumes, developed characters and hard-hitting musical numbers make up only part of the wonder that is King Kong. The incredible special effects really creates the atmosphere and the set itself is so technologically advanced you have things coming up from below and down from above. I give this show four and a half stars. It really was fantastic.

Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/KingKongStage

I attended the Matinee performance today and was very excited. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed by what I saw and recommend that people see it before it leaves Australia (Melbourne being the only place in Australia to host it). The moment when Kong reveals his face and the crowd goes silent is a theatrical moment that will stay with me forever. Just that sensation of everyone being in awe of this one puppet really shows how wonderful it actually is. I was curious as to how they would portray the story of King Kong on stage and again I was not disappointed by what I witnessed. It was such an immersive show and is something I will never forget. The seats literally shake towards the lead up of King Kong's appearance and his footsteps resonate around the whole of the Regent Theatre. Then there are the actual vocals which are incredibly powerful. From the soulful tunes of Full Moon Lullaby to the haunting beats of Rise King Kong does not disappoint. It will truly hook you from beginning to end and leave you in awe of the skill and creativity of the production team. My favourite scene from the show would have to be King Kong's rampage through New York City and how they show his destructive path and the people he kills in the search for his love. It really is wonderful how they show him climbing the buildings and tearing them down. The only thing I would be worried about as an actor on stage is being crushed by the 60 tonne beast that is King Kong. Even the background, a massive LED screen with millions of individual pixels, really creates another layer of depth to the show. It is so advanced that it even reacts to the characters on stage and each show is therefore different because of this. Of course it comes to a sad ending that is portrayed exceptionally well by the cast and creative team. It really brings out the main theme of a beauty and her beast because, at it's heart, King Kong is a love story. In short, King Kong is a show not to be missed and is set to be a world-wide hit. King Kong is a masterpiece. It literally redefines the genre.

Overall Rating: 4 and a half stars

Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/KingKongStage

King Kong is not to be missed, see you tomorrow!

Theatres and Fire Alarms

I have had very bad experiences with Fire Alarms and/or Theatres recently. I have started to think that there is some big conspiracy centered around me. As you can see, I am not very narcissistic. Basically, recently I have been having trouble with these locations/devices wherever I go and I guess it all started the week before last. I have written posts about the first two experiences which I will link in the next sentence, the third experience is one you will be hearing about first in today's post. The first experience was with a fire-alarm at Werribee Plaza and the next was a bad experience at the cinemas while waiting to see Despicable Me 2 which is hilarious by the way. The third experience happened yesterday so check the next paragraph for the story.

Image Source: http://www.mccurdyelectric.com/fire-alarm

In summary, the first incident was at the Werribee Plaza where I was shopping and suddenly a fire alarm went off but no one really did anything except continue shopping like nothing was going on. The second experience had nothing to do with fire alarms and more to do with cinemas/theatres. While waiting for Despicable Me 2 to start everything started going wrong and the movie did not actually start until fifty minutes after it was supposed to. The third experience happened yesterday at my cousin's Young Australian Broadway Chorus performance at the National Theatre in St Kilda. We were sitting in our seats and talking while waiting for the show to start and suddenly everyone started standing up and walking out and it was not until we could hear the sound of the alarm that we knew what was going on. In the end, after the MFB arrived, we managed to sit down and the show did not start until fifteen minutes after it was meant to which was nothing compared to the fifty minutes we waited the week before. I feel sorry for the girl who left her hair-straightener on that caused smoke to set off the alarm. So as you can see I am not having the best of luck with fire alarms and/or cinemas/theatres. At least we now know that the alarms at these places still work. Luckily, I sorted out the issue with Village Cinemas and managed to get free ticket vouchers which was good. As I am seeing King Kong next Sunday I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong because I am very excited about it. Also, the YouTube Subscription segment I did is now finished so tomorrow there will be another post like this one just so you know.

Remember, working smoke alarms save lives so stay safe and check your alarms, see you tomorrow!

King Kong

He is a six metre tall, one tonne beast and he's ready to take the world by storm. King Kong himself will feature in a never-before-seen musical premiering right here in Melbourne. It is an ambitious project by Global Creatures, the company behind such successful stage spectaculars as 'Walking with Dinosaurs' and 'How to Train Your Dragon'. After more than five years of development, six months of rehearsal and amazing new technology, King Kong is set to live up to its massive reputation.

Image Source: http://www.theloop.com.au/sschulze/project/88858

The puppet himself requires thirteen men, known as the "King's Men", to control his movements while 'voodoo' puppeteers at the back of the theatre control his facial features. Due to King Kong's lasting impression on the world anything half-done is simply not good enough and so Global Creatures has pulled out all stops for this multi-million dollar production. An all-Australian cast is set to lead this spectacle with Esther Hannaford as Ann Darrow and Adam Lyons, in his first ever musical, as Carl Denham. The show is set to be so large that in the first fifteen minutes alone over 100 different costumes are used. Audiences are sure to be amazed when the show premieres tomorrow night at the Regent Theatre Melbourne.

Image Source: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/musicals/monkey-business-20121018-27s6i.html

The music itself is a haunting and eclectic mix of genres that are sure to amaze. The music ranges from the grandiose sounds of "The Greatest Show on Earth" to the more subtle and longing tones of "What's it gonna take?" Musical masterminds have come together under the leadership of Marius de Vries (whose credits include Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann)) to create a score that will shock you and make you cry. If the Melbourne Production is received well (which I'm sure it will) then King Kong will set its sights on places around the world. Last time Kong went to Broadway he certainly left an impression but let's hope he leaves a better impression this time around. I already have my tickets for June 30 and cannot wait to see this spectacular come to life on stage.

Image Source: 

http://www.factmag.com/2013/05/09/hear-new-material-from-the-avalanches-taken-from-the-king-kong-soundtrack/

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Birthdays

Hey guys, only a short post today as it is my Birthday and I don't want to spend the whole day writing this post!

Birthdays are great things when we're young but when we got old we just want to forget they exist. I have some friends who really look forward to their birthdays but then I have family members who wish the day never came so that they wouldn't have to get any less young (see what I did there). Personally, I really enjoy birthdays and think they are a really great thing (aside from all the presents) because they bring people together and can really lighten your mood. It's hard to be sad on your birthday (unless you're a Goth or something) when you're younger because you just look forward to the presents, the atmosphere and the celebration. It's hard to have a celebration if you're sad. So I really do like Birthdays but I know when I get older I'll probably be one of the advocates for banning of birthdays.

It must also not be forgotten that Birthdays are not always occasions of joy. Some people don't look forward to their Birthday because they don't want to get older. This is especially prevalent on the big birthdays like 40th and 50th (don't even get me started on 60th and 70th) which tend to make people very melancholy. Some people are not like this and remain happy about their birthday but there are still just as many who don't look forward to these occasions one bit. Then there are the people who lost loved ones on these days or who have reached the birthday of someone who died recently. I know this happened last year when my grandfather died. His birthday was the day before mine (so yesterday [May 8]) and last year he died in the middle of April (he died on the morning of my Brother's 21st Birthday) and so come May 8 we were not so happy because we weren't celebrating a birthday we had being celebrating for as long as I can remember. This was especially hard on my grandmother who had being married to him for 54 years. So Birthdays may be happy occasions but they can also be very sombre ones too.

I love Birthdays but then there are those that don't enjoy them for a variety of reasons. I really enjoyed this Birthday because I got some really cool presents and (aside from other things) I got tickets to go see King Kong which is going to be AWESOME and I can't wait. June 30 (when I'm going) couldn't come fast enough!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Excitement

We all get excited from time to time. Even the most serious of us have had one moment of excitement in their lives. Excitement can make us anxious and nervous but in a 'good' way. I put good in quotation marks because I can as this is my blog and I can write what I want. Why am I writing about excitement? Because tomorrow is my Birthday (YAY!) and I'm turning 16 (I can get a  Second Life account now!) which is super exciting. So in today's post I am going to talk about the things that excite me because I'm too excited to do a deep and meaningful post about excitement. How many times can I write excitement in this post about excitement? Check at the end for the final excitement count for this post (about excitement)!

One of the main things that excites me is THE HUNGER GAMES! If you don't know what the Hunger Games is where have you been? The moon perhaps. I just totally LOVE The Hunger Games and got super excited when the teaser trailer for CATCHING FIRE was released. In fact I wrote a blog about it where the whole first paragraph was a link to the trailer. Hell, let's do that again. Click anywhere on this paragraph and you can watch the Catching Fire Trailer again! Then watch it a few more times while you're there AFTER you finish reading my blog. I don't know why I like The Hunger Games I just do and I get really excited about it and I can't wait until November 22nd! If you don't know the significance of this date, click anywhere on this paragraph! I get so excited about The Hunger Games that anytime The Hunger Games Adventures (a Facebook game) updates I have a little fan-girl-ing  session for a little bit because I get to play it again! It's so exciting and I just love how it ties into the movies and books  and even has its own parts and adventures! PLUS it has a map of Panem! So yeah, I get pretty EXCITED when it updates and I get to play it. I guess I just get excited about The Hunger Games. I got the movie soundtrack from my cousin for being her Confirmation Sponsor the other week and as soon as I got home I was listening to it. I was so EXCITED! I'm sorry if I use caps-lock too often or too many exclamation marks, I'm just really excited!

Language Perfect! Need I say more? I just really love Language Perfect (but not in the love way but as in I really like Language Perfect, don't get any MORE ideas Xavier) and find it a very useful tool for my French Studying and it also makes it fun and I get my friends involved (mostly Xavier) who want to beat me. One of my friends tried to beat me last year but whenever she got ahead I got even further ahead of her. Language Perfect is really a great resource and I get really EXCITED when I get to 'play' it. For me Language Perfect equals excitement and one of my friends can tell you the story of my face when I couldn't access it one day last year, priceless. I was just so excited! Language Perfect, go check it out!

The final thing I am really super duper (did I just type duper?) excited about is King Kong Live on Stage which is the new King Kong musical premiering next month (well, actually the preview shows start at the end of this month) which I have been super excited about since October 8, 2012 when I saw the ad for it on Facebook and saw the announcement they did (on October 7, so I've been excited about it for almost the whole time it's being announced) and I just got really excited for it and can't wait to see it because I know it is gonna be awesome! I'm really excited about it and I know I'm getting tickets to go see it for my Birthday (which yeah, is tomorrow [EXCITED]) and I'm just so excited to see the musical that I have been looking forward to for so long. It's from the company Global Creatures who did the ones like Walking with Dinosaurs except this time they're doing a musical with its world premiere at the Regent Theatre Melbourne which is going to be awesome and I am just super excited about it! I can't wait, the excitement is killing me (figuratively of course).

So that's just some of the stuff that really excites me and I know today's post isn't as meaningful or as well-written as some of my previous ones but I'm just so excited I can't think straight!! I just can't wait for all these things and I am really EXCITED!!!! Now for the all exciting, word count for the word excite. The word excite (and all the words that can be made from it (i.e. excited)) has been used 38 times in this blog post, have fun finding them all or just be satiated by using the find (ctrl+f) function.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!