Working with Youth Theatre

I've just finished a production with Ashfield Youth Theatre, called Older.

The production was written and performed by 12-16 year old high school students who live or are otherwise based around Sydney's Inner West.

Plot-wise, I found it to be influenced by Brave New World, Alice in Wonderland and a tiny bit of Equilibrium (minus the Gun Fu). A girl travels through time by accident to meet her future self who is scheduled to be euthenased as she's reached the end of her productive life and in the dystopian future, people are forced to "Go Gently" (that's the name of the drug in the play). Quite a mature story and really well put together into a 1 hour show.

http://www.myspace.com/ashfield_youth_theatre/blog/540685947

I was really impressed with how the show ended up. There's also something remarkably fulfilling in being a mentor to actors as they learn their craft. Even though I've never directed a show, I've learnt so much from putting together so many shows that I was able to teach a lot to the cast. I didn't realise how much I miss teaching and how good it makes you feel.

Crowded House

Last night I watched Crowded House's "final" performance on the Opera House steps.

Recently I decided to go back to listening to them . . . I found a greatest hits CD set from JB and have been  playing it nearly non stop while I'm at home.

Neil Finn's depth of emotion in his music and lyrics is awesome. I never really listened to the band when I was younger . . . I was always searching for something more obscure and unheard of, prejudiced against anything that might have too much popular appeal. I've gladly gotten over that kind of thing now (although there are probably a lot of good reasons to be prejudiced against music that has widespread popular appeal . . . there's a lot of marketing and not a lot of creativity going around).

Anyway, here's my favourite . . . enjoy:

Losing Chrome Tabs

I've become so used to my set of tabs popping up every time I start Chrome that when a tab disappears, I forget that it existed and I forget that I was in the middle of something on that very tab.

Occaisionally my blog is that tab . . . and two weeks go by without me posting anything . . .

I'll try to make up for that in the next couple of days . . . I've been reading a lot and listening to some music. More soon!

Nerdgasm . . . Burlesque Star Wars

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this.

A burlesque version of star wars.

It goes without saying that if boba fett had been a woman who took off her clothes instead of just falling into the Sarlacc, all of our childhoods would have gone in a completely different direction . . .

Jet Set Radio Future

Of all the games I've played over the years, there's one that always pops up in my memory as being one of the best I've ever played. It was a not so well known game based on semi-futuristic Japanese roller blading graffiti gangs.

Yeah, it's a crazy theme, but it's pretty awesome. It was a franchise on the Dreamcast and the Xbox and one of the earliest cel shaded games. The art style in the game is awesome, it's a stylized rendition of a near future Tokyo where your aim is to spray paint tag over other gangs' graffiti and take down evil corporations through the power of physics defying grinds and stunts coupled with defeating armed soliders using only spraypaint.

The movement was slick and fun . . . the soundtrack included Mike D from the Beastie Boys along with a whole bunch of J-Hip Hop inspired tracks. The suburbs and themed gangs look ultra stylized and cool and I always remember it with such fondness . . .

I think it might be time to brush the dust off the old Xbox and see if this game still runs . . . I can see myself buying an Xbox 360 just to play this one game in backwards compatibility mode . . .