Here, There be a Writer

Sunday, August 18, 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013 - It's getting close!!!!

Ever wanted to write a novel, but were afraid? Didn't know where to start? Or what to write about?

Fear not!

Some of my favourite novels!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo 2013) is coming up this November! What is National Novel Writing Month?. Well, it's a place where you can participate in the novel writing contest. It's free, although they gladly accept donation to help there website and other program to keep running.

It's easy, just go  to NaNoWriMo's website. There you can sign up and create a profile. When November 1st rolls around you start writing. You clock your number of words you write each day, the goal is to reach 50,000 words by November 30th, but not limited by only 50,000 words. The breakdown by day is about 1300 (to 1400) words per day, roughly). it can be about anything, any genre, any topic. It's a great adventure in writing with literary zealotry! I pushed myself, even when I wasn't sure I would make 50,000 words. I had support from fellow NaNo writers: Vickie, Becky, and Allison. It an amazing feeling to write and write and after a month see a complete novel. i still have my first one. I have  plan to try to revise it and maybe self-publish it and see if people are interested in it.

I am not one to always have an idea to write about, but if I am in need of writing prompts to help boost  the creative juices, I go to Toasted Cheese Literary Journal. Often I just write without purpose, with a reckless abandon, and that has worked to my benefit; but I have also wrote and not gotten anywhere. That's okay too! Sometimes a false start is just a slight sidetrack to the real story.

I did not get to NaNo last year due to directing and stuffs, but the plans are in the works to do it this year. I am excited. So very excited!! Been stockpiling little ideas, places, names for inclusion in this years novel. Might try a light science fiction novel this year. I have hang ups about writing Sci-fi/Fantasy, I start out great, but then get too caught up in the details and forget that I have a plot to focus on. What NaNoWriMo did for me, I can barely put into words. It goes something like this. When you do NaNo you end up putting your fears and doubts aside to the benefit of the story being told, your character will come to life and start tell you their story.

So, we shall see! Hope to see you there!! My name on NaNo is draconicwitch, look me up. I also tweet about my writing, so check out my twitter draconicwitch. Check out my writing page on Facebook at Here, There be a Writer.

here's a little from today's writing exercise: "Drop what you’re doing and write for 15 minutes! Go!"

She was sitting in the living room bay window. The sky, she noticed, was a pale grey, nit quite a slate, but not white either and there seems to be very little breeze. She sighed a deep sigh. Here sketch book was next to her, but the ambition seemed to have disappeared. There didn’t seemed to be a thing moving outside, not a bird, nor breeze.


“Nothing seems to be alive out there,” she mumbled to herself, as she scanned the landscape, nary a bush or tree moved. It felt like there was an oncoming storm, but the air smell of freshly cut lawn and of corn from the fields across the road. “Today would be better if I cared,” she said to the old grey Persian that was also sitting on the window seat. She turned her head out to the outside again, “there’s Uncle Oedipus. He must have finished the mowing.” She paused, the ennui seemed to over take her, turning to the cat, “really Misty, I guess there is nothing to do but sit here and stare out the window.” Misty, the Persian glanced at the girl and let out a wide yawn and blinked, “yeah, I feel the same way,” as she also yawned. “I probably should go help uncle Oedipus with the yard work, but really…” she leaned back against the window, “I just don’t care…’ turning back out to the yard.



Oedipus was hauling out a large basket with a great deal of effort. He was struggling to free it from the shed. There seemed to be a fishing pole caught on the lip of the basket that was also dragging a garden hose with it. The girl watched as Oedipus struggled, she seems bored. When sudden Oedipus dropped the basket and tried to walk away, but only ended up tripping, with the girl watching the tangled interplay. “Looks like he’s gonna fall…”



“You might want to go help me,” a voice said in her ear. She turned abruptly to Misty, who just blinked and turned her head to look out the window.



“Who said that?” The girl whipped around; there was no one else in the living room. She turned back to the window just in time to see Oedipus stumble and start to fall. “Uncle Oedipus!” she called, arms reaching out, and she saw Oedipus freeze in position, in mid fall. “Crap!” she muttered, and then stopped to see that Oedipus was frozen in mid tumble. “Wait! What the hell?” Blinking back her vision she saw that indeed her uncle was frozen in mid fall. “Misty? She asked, “How did I do that?” she said looking at the cat who seemed clearly intent on a fly buzzing around her head. “Wait! How is it that I’m moving and the fly is moving, but not Uncle Oedipus?”



“Are you gonna stand there all day, Young Lady?” the voice returned.



“Uncle Oedipus?” The girl stood looking out the window at her uncle, who was not moving, but she clearly heard him say…



“Child, I appreciated that to stopped my fall, but I cannot hold this position much longer.”



“Uncle Oedipus, is that you?” The girl placed a hand on the window pane, as she stared at her uncle.



“Who else would it be, Walela? Now kindly let me go, so I can fall and get it over with.”



“But Uncle, if I do, you will fall…”



“Not now, Walela, as soon as you let me go, I can tuck into a roll and avoid an injury.”



“But, Uncle how am I to let you go…” Walela said, “And how am I am talking to you?” turning away from the window to star at the Persian, who was now dozing in the pale sun light.



“Walela, you are the one that stopped me; you have to be the one to release me.”



Still stunned by this recent event, Walela, turned to the window and stared at her uncle, confused, she was at a loss for what to do. She pointed her finger at her uncle and said, “Let him go,” and waved her finger. Nothing happened.



“Walela, what are you doing? This is not your Harry Potter mumbo jumbo! Release me, this instance! My calf muscles are tensing up,” chided Oedipus.



“Okay, Uncle.” Walela was confused and began freak out. She turned back to her uncle and whispered “move.” Oedipus became mobile and she watched as he tucked into a ball and rolled out of the way of the tangle of basket, fishing pole, and hose. She turns and runs toward the door trying to thinking clearly about what just happened.



“Thank you Walela,” said Oedipus.

Have you written a novel before? Have you wanted to? What would you write about? Drop me a comment below:


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Mix Tape....What is this....the 1990's?

Alright, I missed a few days! Oops! :-)

I had a stage crew gig this weekend and was overly busy in general. It happens. Been thinking of ideas for this blog, such as reviews to do in the future, or topics of interest to the internet public. I still want to review "The Golden Compass", both the movie and book, but I need to time re-read the book again (and as I am still reading the "Inheritance Cycle", it'll be a bit before I get to that). I have another super secret review that I am planning, but it's also not ready. I think all y'all will enjoy it, but it's so secret, so don't ask! ~wink~ It's some GOOD trouble, as my Mentor is often fond of saying. I like that phrase. I also want to interview a couple of people and feature some of their stuff on "Here, There be a Writer". These are also in the works. So, what does that leave to feature today?

Well..... ~pause~
A number of ideas spring from a a single source have exploded in my brain lately. About a week ago friends-Amy and Richard-came down to visit (they live in Rochester) and one of the many topics discussed while during this said visit was our love of our old mix tapes. After all, we (the four of us) grew up in the era of cassette tapes and often this only way to get/discover new music when you were a poor college student; was to trade mix tapes with your friends. Of course this also goes for collecting concert tapes and rare tracks, something my husband was ever so fond of doing in the 1990's (still does actually, just different format). The CD burner had yet to come out, or was so new that it cost close to 200 dollars to purchase. Yeah, Chitlins, your parents, aunts and uncles used to not be able to burn a copy of their favourite band new album for their friends. We had to listen to the radio (gah!), or cassette tapes. Most of us had only the radio and whatever cassette tapes  we had lying around (sometimes record albums, although they hadn't made the come back yet). This was part of the reason, no doubt, how mix tape were born, because when you were bored you would make the mix tape and not be bored (at least that how it was for me). Often I had more fun making the mix tape, especially if it was for someone else.

This was the age of the late 90's, when you would hook your computer to your boombox (is that ever the right term now-a-days?) to record mp3's that you had gotten from Napster, Audio-galaxy, Scour, or Morpheus so you could record digital media onto cassettes. I used this method quite a bit, that and the CD to tape method to create my mix tapes; sometimes I would use tape to tape, if I could borrow my parents dual tape deck player, that is (mine had only one tape deck).

I made mix tapes not only for my friends, but also for myself. There is a kind of magic in popping in a mix tape and listening to the often eclectic track list boasted on most of these tapes, singing along, usually to the dismay of your suite mates or siblings (no one really cared). Songs that you grew up with, or that friends introduced you to and then they became your favourites, or those guilty pleasure songs (you know which ones).

In this modern age when most music is digital and  cassette tapes are hard to find anywhere, I like to harken back to my own cassette tape collection. It doesn't get a lot of use much lately, but I find comfort in listening to these very same tapes from late high school through college. I even brought one such mix tape into the 21st century and made a CD version of the track list. The tape which has been a crucial part of my car driving experience in the post college years. It is feeling the years and may not last much longer. I made this conversion in order to save the history of this particular tape. While the old tape still works-and it'll probably last until the cassette breaks or implodes, whichever comes first-I wanted to remember the awesome time and good feelings it sparks in my soul.

Featuring the track list from this famous mix tape that is lovingly dubbed, "Amy's College Mix", is a collection of tracks from my friend Amy. Because of her, I now know these song so completely that I think they are knitted into my DNA now. It also brings back a bit of nostalgia for me, "Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable/And lightness has a call that's hard to hear..." from the depths of the boring real world, I have a little ray of hope and sunshine calling to me to sing along. From this tape I learned to love Great Big Sea, I discovered the musical-Scarlet Pimpernel, understood what RENT meant, hated U2 a little less, understood Amy a bit better, learned that the Indigo Girls had other songs out there that weren't "Closer to Fine", and discovered some new/new to me artists.

Amy's College Mix, Circa 1999ish

In the House of Stone and Light - Martin Page
Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root
Ordinary Day - Great Big Sea
Uptown Girl  - Billy Joel
Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Roam - The B-52's
Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls
Soul Cages - Sting
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Nightswimming - REM
You're My Home - Scarlet Pimpernel
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
Kid Fears - Indigo Girls
Gimme One Reason - Tracy Chapman
Mari-Mac - Great Big Sea
Jesus' Brother Bob - Arrogant Worms
Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
Tell Her About It - Billy Joel
Angel of Harlem - U2
RENT - Rent
I Will Not Take These Thing For Granted  - Toad the Wet Sprocket
I'm Going to Go Back There Someday - Gonzo
Into the Fire - Scarlet Pimpernel
Last Dance - Sarah McLachlan

This brings up the point that I wanted to make. I want to make a new mix tape for Amy (as she herself said there was a volume 2 in the works of the above mentioned mix tape). Well, if she makes me a new one, then I will make her a new mix tape (using actual cassette tapes too) of my current favourite songs/new stuff that I think she would like. What to look for? Maybe some Annie Lennox, She and Him, Celtic Woman, maybe a little Great Big Sea, Bare Naked Ladies, or even some of Hannah-Rei and Sophie Madeleine (two very talented British Lassies), might even put some Paul Simon or Indigo Girls (but different tracks on this one).

Question Time: Has anyone made a mix tape before? If so, then what have you included? What would you put on a mix tape? Comment below, in the Comment Section....

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Birthday Weekend 2013

I had a few ideas for things I wanted to write about this week, but couldn't really settle on enough to make a blog worth while. It is almost like over the last 2 weeks I got some great snippets of neat nostalgia and inspiring things, but not enough for a full blog, or so I thought.

I am sitting here in my study, listening to "Welcome to the Neighborhood" by Meatloaf, second time through actually, drinking coffee I starting thinking. Why not just blog about the last 2 weeks. There is a lot of stuff that can be connected and sometimes it's nice to see what I've been up to. Today is my low key lazy day, filled with running some choreography for the parts I am in "Best in Little Whorehouse in Texas", drinking coffee and catching up on life. It rather a quiet day, but the perfect day for reflection and chore doing. But, that's not relaxing, is it? For me, doing laundry and putting the dishes away is completely relaxing. And since my dryer still hasn't been replaced, it's line drying for me, but today is breezy and partly sunny. So, while the clothes are 'drying' in coffee and dancing for me, followed by Meatloaf. ~SIGH~

What have I been up  to lately? Well, first of all, you all should know by now that (from the above paragraph) I am currently rehearsing for a production of "Best Little Whorehouse". It is definitely in my top 10 of musicals (see previous post about musicals). I am in the chorus with a slew of other talented folks and some freaking talented leads too. Often the choral parts are more demanding, having to learn more songs and dance steps than the lead (although not always). Today's work includes "Texas Has a Whorehouse In It" and "24 Hours". I haven't dance and sang together this heavy since the Lake Country Player's production of "Beauty and the Beast" in 2006.



"Watchdog's gonna get you. He's gonna shine his light on you...."

This weekend was my 34th birthday weekend. I am not ashamed of my age, I prefer to live and NOT be worried about a number. My birthday was August 2nd, a Friday. I got to sleep in and in the afternoon visit some of my favourite people, the Love's (Ryan, Sara, Wendy, and newborn Daphne), where I got a birthday cake, a balloon, and sung to by some of my best theatre friends. I even placed Candyland with Wendy Love, Sara's adorable 3 year old daughter. The game board has changed quite a bit from the 80's, there a few characters added and a couple have been removed, while others have been re-tooled. I guess my nostalgia really kicked in when I saw the Queen Frostine is now Princess Frostine and looks more like a tweaked up version of a Bratz doll/Disney Princess. Also, there no Plumby, Grandma Nutt or Mr. Mint, having been replaced by the likes of Grandma Gooey, Duke of Swirl, and the Gingerbread Kids. I guess it's a sign of the times, but wow! It was still fun to play, and I never thought I would be playing Candyland on my birthday.














I also drew a picture of Maximus (from Tangled and Wendy's FAVOURITE movie) in Banana Pants. I am working on a full colourized version for all to see (I've included the pencil sketch here).



Me and Sara Love

Carousel Shot
Carousel Shot
Yesterday my friends Amy (from college) and Richard came down from Rochester to play Putt Putt, ride the Dragon Boats and the Carousel at Eldridge Park in Elmira, NY. It felt great to be a kid again. After being an adult for far too long, it's nice to revert back to childhood, the good parts at least, and play skeet ball, pinball, ride the Carousel (picking your favourite animal to ride is a tough choice), and laughing. This is the second such day of youthful shenanigans I have had with DAScottJr; last weekend it was Darien Lake. Where we rode the Viper, Sleighride, and Grizzly Run to name a few. It was only the fourth time going to Darien Lake in my life and the first since Six Flags left...eh, oh well, it still look basically the same since the last time I had been there. There were new rides and what not, like the wilderness area with the GIANT wooden rocking chair and the Motor-Coaster (that was a fun ride), but I still knew where most of the rides were located, like the Predator, the Carousel, Grizzly Run, and the Pirate Ship. It was a blast!

Some shots from Darien Lake.




Some shots of our day at Eldridge Park.



Hole-in-One David
Weeping Amy
Lake Eldridge

Riding Eragon
Dragon Boats



The Ladies on Eragon
The Men on Eragon

Meet Gaspara the Red!
Cute!



I love these guys!!!





Saphira the Indigo Dragon
And today, the 12th Doctor is revealed! Oh, the excitement!

Thanks The Doctor Who Hub for the picture

It's been a fantastic weekend! Not read to go back to work, but lots of exciting stuff coming up. The summer is going by really fast, but I guess I am not surprised, it seems to happen every year.It was the best birthday ever! Thank you!!!

"Y'all come back now, Y'here!"

Sunday, July 28, 2013

What will you do with your life...?

On the drive to Darien Lake yesterday-on a much needed day off-I had some random thoughts running through my head. It's kinda of like highway hypnosis, but you are still aware of the road. I was thinking about my life and where I came from, who I am now and where I am going. It's a lot to think about, but when you are driving for a long distance it's easier to focus your mind on other things (yet still seeing the road).

I came up with a few realizations.I don't know how this happened, but suddenly I was like HEY, do you realize?.....and Hoo Boy! Did I realize! The first and the biggest realization was I have only just begun to live. When I started doing theatre (in the smallest sense of the word) with the Market Street Irregulars in 2006, I started to become the Cindy that you know now (if you actually know me). You see, while on the drive I was thinking about the different times in my life: Childhood, High School, College, Post-College/Car Accident, Dallas, Post-Dallas, Theatre Life. The time that I really focused on were the Post-College/Car Accident, Dallas, and Post-Dallas.

After I graduated in 2001, I moved to Corning, NY, after a quick trip to see my parents I ended up in a the hospital for a week and spent 3 month of recovery time following my car accident on Interstate-86, just outside Falconer, NY. I had fractured my ankle in 2 places and cracked/fractured the tail of one of my vertebrae. The irony here was I had just had  physical and a gotten a clean bill of health from the doctor. The me from college was a naive, not super world savvy, but ready and itching to leaving her small home town for something bigger. I was headed to Corning, NY, 3 hours away from the hometown I grew up in, Fredonia. I was ready to live and grow up. After the accident, I spent 3 months recuperating. Those 3 months were pretty horrible. I couldn't go anyway and I felt very alone, after all I had just moved to Corning to be with David my then boyfriend. I had very few friends, those I had were mostly through David and no social life. After college, this was really rough on my mental state. I feel that late May 2001 (after graduation) to April 2002 was my lost weekend, something akin to a dream or being encased in a cocoon.

When I moved to Dallas the playing field changed, and thus I changed. No longer was a shy and quiet. I had to work and work hard. I did. I proved that I could sustain myself for 2 1/2 years, but I was not really happy (didn't realize it at the time though). I thought I had it all. I did not! It was no mistake to move. It was a life lesson, that came with many a price, but I now would not change those lessons. After thinking about it yesterday I realized that while in Dallas, I lived without purpose, almost self-serving. My best friend in Dallas Joey, he said is best about Dallas-a city of mostly transplants from other areas-that Dallas has it's own lifestyle and attitude, dubbed "Dalitude" (by who, not sure). It's a selfish, pompous way of seeing the world. I wish I could say that I was stronger, to resist tit, but no, in some ways I fell to the mercy of the Dalitude. My time is Dallas was brief, but I doubt I left any mark on that city. I barely wrote and aside from my job as a Barista at Crossroads Market (it does not exist anymore) I did very little with my life. Not quite a lost weekend per se, but more like I was back in college and not taking life seriously.

Upon my arrival back in Corning, I had to get a life, get a job. From October 2004 until June 2006 I was temping and eking out a mere living. We lived with David 's parents until Spring of 2005 when we found an apartment and started to be adults again. The jobs I worked at that time were lousy and I was miserable for many of the same reasons that people are today: shitty pay, terrible hours, horrible boss or co-workers. It wasn't like I wasn't trying, but I guess I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, so a seetled. I worked as a receptionist at a Vet Clinic, a Cashier at a Grocery Store, a Lab Tech in a Factory, and finally landed a temporary Admin Clerk position at Schweizer Aircraft in June 2006 that turned into a permanent position. I lasted there until August of 2011 when I was laid off. Also, during that time David had started doing theatre again with ELT (Elmire Little Theatre) and met some people in a little organization called MSI (Market Street Irregulars) who did Dinner Theatre on Market Street at the restaurant on Market Street: Sorge's and Fat Cats. It was with them that I auditioned for my first ever show, at David's urging. He had already worked with them on "The Last Dance of Dr. Disco". "Audition for Murder" was my first show, I had three lines as the Stage Manager (the beginning of it all...).

This, I feel was the beginning of the REAL me. See, I think at that time I needed something and I think  told myself to get out, find friends, and make a life in Corning. I wasn't going anywhere. Corning was my home now. I couldn't just stay in a cocoon, like I did the last time I lived in here, nor could I run around without a care in the world as I did in Dallas. I had to earn my wings. Although the realization of what I wanted to do with my life had yet to surface. Almost like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon.

They say that to succeed at something/anything you must put in 10,000 hours to reaped any success. Now on the week of my birth (this Friday I turn 34), I have only just started clocking hours for my new plan, to be a writer. I have made a few accomplishments so far, but I still have a LONG ways to go. I am not giving up hope though. I have some great friends from High School, College, Dallas, and long distance friends that  have helped to give me support on this trek. My local friends has been wonderful, mostly theatre nerds, Whovians, and book worms. They are the best kind! But also the long distance friends are just as important, those are some of my strongest supporters as well.  I also have an awesome Mentor that reminds me that it is totally worth it to go for it. I may have only started living in 2006, but in that time much has happened and  surprised me and continuous to surprise me. "This looks familiar, vaguely familiar... There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met. Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place? You can just visit, but I plan to stay."  I do plan to stay and now I have purpose.

I am still clocking hours for my writing. Everyday I try to write something, anything. It might not always happen, but I keep at it. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I write. Other times, it's crap, but as least I wrote something. Right?

You bet!

"If you want something, nobody can stop you. If you don't want something, nobody can help you." ~James Owen

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Sonnet of Steam Pipe Alley

You know what's harder than writing a sonnet about Green Day, it writing a sonnet about the 80's kid's show Steam Pipe Alley and all in iambic pentameter too. Seeing as I knew next to nothing about the show, it wasn't one I watched with regularity, but from clips that David has shown me. It seems to have been a kid's game show with silly tasks to do to win prizes, some skits, and cartoon. It reminds me of Double Dare, Weinerville, and Commander Tom, but on crack! Hope you enjoy!

Screen shot of the show



Steam Pipe Alley (or A Long Time Ago…)

A long time ago the television
Saw the likes of one, Mario Cantone.
The games that were featured were the reason
For other such shows that were to be shown.

Do you remember that time when Mario was…
Imitating the great Sammy Davis?
When he introduced the game because…
All were there and waiting for the bonus.

You see, she had to find the hidden prize,
Somewhere deep inside a dish of stuffing
But there are rules; this is not a surprise,
She cannot use her hands and so she is laughing.

The funniest thing that has been conceived--
To see, because I wouldn’t have believed.

7/20/2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Okay, after stage managing a children's production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" I realized that I knew nothing of the original story. This is my closure for the summer of Tom Sawyer.

I am NOT blogging about the original 1876 Mark Twain novel, but the 1999 animated movie rendition by MGM called "Tom Sawyer".  I discovered the DVD  in the $5.00 bin  at Wal-Mart. I couldn't help but buy it and hope that i hoped it was going to be delightfully terrible. listen to this, it features a cast of country singers and anthropomorphized animals. Sounds wonderfully awful, right? It also features Betty White and Don Knotts. Also a selling point, right?  All these things were enough for me to fork over my $5.00 dollars to buy it.

Note: let me say that I do plan to read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain in the near future, so I can understand the original story.

I am basing most of this review/blog off of the theatrically production that I was recently involved in, while it is also for children, it still retains a fair amount of the original story, as does this movie oddly enough. The theatrical production includes a slew of songs (different form the movie). It was written as a musical, but the songs can be removed and it  performed as a straight play as well. Our production (available through Dramatic Publishing) we did as a non-musical, it was a fun story. I really enjoyed it (makes he want to read the novel now) The kids really did a fantastic job learning the 1850's southern dialect, by the way.

Plot (includes changes found in both the theatrical and the movie version): Tom Sawyer is a boy and includes his adventures going to school, getting into fights (theatrical version), getting into trouble (with ticks or frogs depending on the version), and playing with his best friend Huckleberry Finn-a free spirited child of the world. Tom falls for Becky Thatcher (a new girl in the movie), after he already having been in love with another girl, Amy Lawrence at school. Tom and Huck discover the plot of Injun (Injurin') Joe, Muff (Mutt) Potter, and Doc Robinson (in the play version) and witness the death of Doc Robinson (Deputy Bean) by Joe. Muff (Mutt) is framed and Tom and Huck have to keep mum. They end up running away and are perceived as dead, until they crash their own funeral. Tom saves Muff (Mutt) from hanging and Joe is discovered as the murderer/thief. After the congratulatory party, Tom and Becky wander off into MacDougall's Cave (Dead Man's Cave) and discover the treasure. Joe is killed/dies and the kids find they can go back for the treasure. Happy Ending! The end.


Now, the movie is fairly similar to the novel, at least based on the Wikipedia plot synopsis. To be fair, each version is different, and each version has made changes, as I'm sure some of the other movie versions that also exist out there. For a kid's movie, it's oddly accurate to the original. Some of the changes made to the movie that clearly stand out for me, I can at least understand why.

First, is renaming the characters of Injun Joe (Injurin' Joe) and Muff Potter (Mutt Potter). It's a small pet peeve, but still. Makes it lose something just to get use a gag. Then there are other characters that are completely changed, like Doc Robinson, who is now Deputy Bean and without the same motivations. Doc Robinson was grave robbing (implied) with Injun Joe and Muff Potter in the theatrical version. I'm sure that the reason Injun Joe got changed, simply because of the racially sensitive nature of the world in 2013.

Characters that are perceived as different, or poorly represented. Muff Potter in the theatrical version is a shiftless loafer and the town drunk, but harmless and often helps the townsfolk. In this movie he is portrayed very poorly, with little to no back story and a bad memory. It makes his character less important in this version than the play version (and possibly the novel). As for  Deputy Bean, who is visiting his wife's grave-the scene in the graveyard plays different in the theatrical version, but with the same outcome, murder (in a kid's movie too). I realized that the changer in character means that the murder has to be adapted into the new scenario with just Joe and Mutt, whereas the theatrical version has Doc Robinson grave robbing with the help of Injun Joe and Muff Potter and Injun Joe betraying Muff by killing the doctor.

As a movie, it is pretty cohesive and falls within the 90 minutes time frame (for a children's movie), but that's doesn't mean that I consider this a great movie. After contemplation, I give it a 6 out of 10. It's not a classic, but it's not down right terrible, yet not completely boring, just slightly above average.

Most animated kid's movies seems to fall into the musical realm.n Why? Not entirely sure! Music is a great way to engage kids, but if not done well, it falls by the wayside. While this is not always a bad thing, when the songs fall flat in their delivery then it makes the movie much weaker. The movie falls into the county vein as 90% percent of the cast are county music artists. This means that the soundtrack is also country heavy, oh screw it, it's a various artists,country album. I am not normally a country fan, but that has nothing to do with why I can't stand the music in this version. All of the songs feel thrown in. It feels like someone said, we have songwriters in the cast let's have them write and sing some songs. Half of these songs tat are not even needed, like "Leave Your Love Light On", which is sung by the Preacher. It could have been cut out and the story still remained in-tacked. Of the 8 songs, only 5 are even really songs that support the movie. The last song "Never, Ever, and Forever" is the standard end-of-the-movie song and not really needed either. It's felt awkward when the 2 lead females (Amy Lawrence and Becky Thatcher) are double cast, having different speaking and singing voices. It feels like overkill or they were appeasing someone, somewhere.

I know I am being harsh on a kid's movie, but some many animated movies get made now-a-days that I think people forget that you still need a decent plot , good voice actors, and you don't always need musical number to support your storytelling. Show don't tell!

There are things that could have been cut out and things that should have been left in and it still could have been with the 70 to 90 minute time limit. To me, Mutt Potter (played by Don Knotts) deserved a little more than a poorly developed bit part. In the play version, at least, he saves Tom and Becky from MacDougall's Cave (called Dead Man's Cave in the movie). Betty White was Aunt Polly and while she did a fantastic job with what she could have been showcased more. She seemed like her character was just there and not part of the story. She is just Tom and Sid's Aunt, or when Tom's been bad she punishes him and makes him paint the House Boat to teach him a lesson.

Hey movie, way have talented voice actors and not use them! I certainly hope it wasn't because they weren't country artists.

Not to down play anyone, but Rhett kins and Mark Wills, who can obviously sing-they  played Tom and Huck-did not sound like kids of 11 or 12 that go to school, play hooky, and go on adventures. From a realism perspective, it didn't feel convincing. I know they needed real singers who could see their songs, but why have to grown men in their 30's play children who are 11 or 12?  At least men in there 30's who can play 11 and 12 year olds. I know I mentioned the double casting of Amy Lawrence and Becky Thatcher (Clea Lewis and Hynden Walch), but really they sound like younger girls and both of whom are voice actors. Hynden has played Starfire in Teen Titans, Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time, and Harley Quinn in Batman; while Clea Lewis has appeared on Spongebob Squarepants. These are voice actors that sound young and while their singing voices might not fit the songs. Truthfully, I actually had no problem with Alecia Elliott and Lee Ann Womack singing for Amy and Becky. To me, would may have helped the general feel of the show double casting the 4 lead: Tom, Huck, Becky, and Amy.

As for the over all quality, as I said earlier, it felt average. It was just good enough to be enjoyable, but not stellar. I could enjoy watching it for it what  cheese factor it did have. I love watching really bad or cheesy movies. I love to see over acting when possible, as Christopher Eccleston did in the movie "The Seeker". That is a case of bad movie and one that I would watch again, because of all things they got wrong (and there were plenty), but also there were things that they got right, or at least utilized right, like Christopher Eccleston. Man, I love those blue eyes!



"Tom Sawyer", you are not the best movie out there, nor you are even the most decent one. You are very average as a whole, but you do have Betty White and Don Knotts! You also have Rebel the Frog, who is the Tom's pet, is clearly the comic relief of the show. Something else, Injurin' Joe's, he was interesting, a violent sort and his death scenes, yes he dies about 2 or 3 times, are worth watching this movie. The animation is 'purty good', by 1999 standards anyway, but the CGI river boat at the beginning and end really looked out of place. Not very well done. I figured what they were trying to go for, but it didn't quite get there.

Is it a good children's movie? Yes, I think they made something that kid's will like. Will it be memorable? For me, probably not so much.  For $5.00 dollars, it' wasn't terrible, just average.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Hot Summer Nights and Green Day!

It's been a long week and even longer weekend. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" has come and gone. The kids were wonderful, the building hot and stuffy, and I am still sore for the friggin' Courthouse. The wind down feel less obvious this time as I am already starting another show, this time I will be onstage in a production of "The Best Little Whorehouse is Texas". I find future blogs might spring from this adventure, or when I watch the animated-using anthropomorphized animals-musical movie adaptation of "Tom Sawyer" made last year and found in the 5 dollar bin at Wal-Mart. It looks terrible. I cannot wait to watch it. Gonna be fantastically horrible.

But anyway, it's been a long and busy weekend with the three performances of "Tom Sawyer" and the "Whorehouse" read thru yesterday. I chose to take today, Monday, off fro  work to decompress a bit.

Of course this weekend is also the weekend when FULL ON SUMMER kicks in the Twin Tiers! Today was in the mid to upper 90's in Corning. I did not do much today. In fact I and the cats chose to nap or do very little today, but that left a blog to still be written. I had nothing really lined up, most because I was moving courthouses and giant Styrofoam rocks, but I still belief that you lovely reader like to have something to read. So, after a bit of deliberation, I decided to cash in my Poetry Topic Contest winners on my Facebook page Here, There be a Writer (I post various writing adventures there. stop on by to see what else I am up to) and write a sonnet with the topic that had the most votes. There was a tie between Green Day and Steampipe Alley, so I am going to write sonnets about both topic, today is Green Day. Tomorrow will be Steam Alley, a game show from the 1980's starring Mario Cantone.


*Thank you Google image search for the pictures.

For Moo and Sara Love!

Sing of Green Day (or You Hear the Guitar)

You hear the guitar and it starts thrumming,
The sound waves resemble a living thing
In a miasma of pulse and strumming,
Pushing out in time they begin to sing.

The volume picks up and the singer moves,
Calling out across the liquid rhythms
Of heart, truth, and inner wisdom that grooves;
A soul that breathes of musical theorems.

You echo back as though a reply to
The voice singing to you on the other side
That is familiar with the old haiku
Of emotions that he too will confide.

Like a long distance call that is gritty
Is all that is needed of this ditty.

7/15/2013