salutations and bonvenon! thanks for dropping by, I am the salubrious bean. I suck at interacting with people so if I seem weird maybe that's why. Also yea I usually mostly type how I speak stuff irl
"Let our hearts and hands be stretched out in compassion toward others, for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf
my pinterest account: https://pin.it/1NNV9VU3T
star wars rp blog with a clone trooper oc, go check it out! : @ct-7045 🫡
writing ask game thing! (with Screw!) ✨ (trying something new, send in something if it pleases ya!)
25 follower "celebration" thing! 🫶🏼🤟🏼
The 495th Division!
fandoms I am in: STAR WARS, EPIC: The Musical, LOTR, about every Brandon Sanderson book, Urinetown (the musical), also been revisiting my childhood with Roald Dahl recently, Moon Knight, Bluey!, Curious George? (one of my fave childhood shows), Gravity Falls, Ranger's Apprentice/Brotherband Chronicles, Carmen Sandiego (2019), Wild Kratts, Octonauts, Amphibia, other assorted fandoms
While asks/messages are always welcome (I love asks!), please keep them appropriate. I will do my best not to follow/interact with any NotSFW & explicit, etc. blogs. I want this blog to be a safe space for everyone (like minors) and I'll do my best to keep it that way! I'd rather not say my age but I will say that I always feel older than I actually am (and a lot of the time I'm reminded of my actual age and am like what the actual heck how am I still x years old)(so yeah mentally I feel a lot older).
A post/reblog chain I found if you're having a bad day: https://www.tumblr.com/fiddlepickdouglas/644601820180840448/in-case-anyone-is-having-a-bad-night?source=share
other stuff under the cut so this post isn't too kriffing long:
I like getting tagged in things so feel free to tag me in (appropriate ofc) things (like those get-to-know-you reblog things or those picrew things)
Apparently I really like the words "thing" and "things" hehe
Yea also I'd love to post more of my art but 1) I don't always have access to a device where I can upload the pictures of my art, since I'm a traditional artist (but would really really love to get into digital art), and the device I use for tumblr won't let me upload a pic for some reason, and 2) I have wack schedule so I don't always have time to draw and then I stay up late to draw anyways so maybe that's not very good but whatever
✨MY PERSONAL TAGS✨ (I added colors bc I was bored) (they're all at the bottom of this post so you can click on them) (yea they are kinda redundant) (i just wanted tags that were uniquely mine) :
art: #salubriousbean art
writing: #salubriousbean writing
answering asks: #salubriousbean answers
posts I had in my queue: #salubriousbean queue
polls: #salubriousbean poll
POSTS WITH MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS WOOO: #salubriousbean oc
tags I might use again?:
music rambling: #salubriousbean talks about music
rambling posts about other stuff: #salubriousbean rambles
things I declare Salubrious (which in this case means I really really really love it): #IT HAS BEEN DECLARED SALUBRIOUS
huh, pretty self-explanatory tags I guess, I'll try an tag all of the posts I make
i use star wars swears but not actual real life ones 👍 those might be in reblogs tho so sorry bout that
when I use omg it equals "oh my grapes" or "oh my goodness"
other information about me: music nerd, I play piano and double bass. I also dance but that doesn't mean I have balance lol. I'm in my second year of pointe. also I like hoarding the cardboard tab thingies you rip off of tissue boxes. I also like trying to balance those Cadbury chocolate eggs so they're standing up.
languages I am currently learning: ASL (American Sign Language), Esperanto (on Duolingo), and Italian (also on Duolingo)
lol the capitalization on literally everything original except my writing is so wack, sorry but also not sorry. also sometimes I forget to tag all my original posts and then they disappear into the void so I'll try and tag all of them with one of my tags at least.
** Initially united in 1854 by the promise to abolish slavery, the Republican Party has always stood for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Today, as those principles come under attack from the far-left, we are engaged in a national effort to fight for our proven agenda, take our message to every American, grow the party, promote election integrity, and elect Republicans up and down the ballot. The principles of the Republican Party recognize the God-given liberties while promoting opportunity for every American.
Candidates
Aaron Day (A: 1/24/23; Insufficient Funds)
Adam Michael Dunn (A: 1/17/22; Insufficient Funds)
Adam Michael Hougland (A: 3/3/23; Insufficient Funds)
Alan Spears (A: 4/4/23; Insufficient Funds)
Albert Harshaw (A: 3/23/23; Insufficient Funds)
Alexander Chatfield Smith (A: 10/23/23; Insufficient Funds)
Alexander Hooper (A: 4/23/22; Insufficient Funds)
Amos Timothee (A: 8/1/23; Insufficient Funds)
Andrew L. Everett (A: 5/27/23; Insufficient Funds)
Andrew Robert Kwiatkowski (A: 8/8/22; Insufficient Funds)
Angela Marie Herring (A: 6/30/23; Insufficient Funds)
Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser (A: 1/1/24; Insufficient Funds)
Angela Redovian (A: 11/20/20; Insufficient Funds)
Angeline Payne (A: 3/1/23)
Angel Michael Crockford (A: 4/29/22; Insufficient Funds)
Anthony James Richardson (A: 7/29/23; Insufficient Funds)
Anthony Jason Hudson (A: 1/17/24; Insufficient Funds)
Anthony Llanes (A: 4/3/23; Insufficient Funds)
Anthony Primo Darpino (A: 1/25/23; Insufficient Funds)
Asa Hutchinson (A: 4/6/23; E: 1/16/24)
Audrey Conrad (A: 6/4/22; E: 6/10/22)
Big Dwock (A: 4/14/21; Insufficient Funds)
Bradley Scott Hartliep (A: 12/22/22; Insufficient Funds)
Brandon Gonce (A: 4/11/23; Insufficient Funds)
Brandon Lee Campbell (A: 6/7/23; Insufficient Funds)
Brian Jerral Wesson (A: 11/6/22; Insufficient Funds)
Brian Michael Friend (A: 12/6/22; Insufficient Funds)
Brian Patrick Stack (A: 4/17/23; Insufficient Funds)
1st: Inspire School of Dance-’Despicable Me’
2nd: Inspire School of Dance-’Zooma Zooma’
Junior Jazz
1st: Impact Dance Studio-’One More Time’
1st: Academy of Dance Arts-’Perfect Harmony’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Dummy’
3rd: Embody Dance Company-’I Want To Love You’
1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’
2nd: Inspire School of Dance-’It’s A Hard Life’
3rd: Inspire School of Dance-’Tightrope’
Teen Jazz
1st: Inspire School of Dance-’Free’
2nd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Santa Maria’
3rd: Inspire School of Dance-’Somebody to Love’
Teen Ballet
1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Welcome to the Jungle’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Concerto’
3rd: Steps Dance Center-’Ascension’
Teen Hip-Hop
1st: Steps Dance Center-’Magnets’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Get Low’
3rd: Steps Dance Center-’Back It Up’
3rd: Inspire School of Dance-’Give It Away Now’
Teen Tap
1st: Steps Dance Center-’Brain Stew’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’In The Air Tonight’
Teen Contemporary
1st: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Recomposed Summer’
2nd: The Colony-’They Don’t Love You’
3rd: Steps Dance Center-’Ripple Effect’
Teen Lyrical
1st: Inspire School of Dance-’Son’
2nd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Then You Look At Me’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Nicest Thing’
3rd: Embody Dance Company-’Turning Tables’
Teen Musical Theatre
1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’
2nd: Elevate Dance Experience-’A Chorus Line’
3rd: Embody Dance Company-’Nowadays’
Teen Specialty
1st: Steps Dance Center-’Flight of Fancy’
1st: Inspire School of Dance-’Ya Nas’
2nd: The Colony-’Said and Done’
3rd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Highest Flood’
Senior Jazz
1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Cleopatra In New York’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Forget Your Troubles’
3rd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Fade’
1st: Academy of Dance Arts-’Creep’
2nd: Academy of Dance Arts-’Bird Song’
Senior Contemporary
1st: Inspire School of Dance-’Confessions’
2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Uninvited’
2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’What Happens to the Heart’
3rd: Academy of Dance Arts-’Calamity’
Senior Lyrical
1st: Academy of Dance Arts-’Epiphany’
2nd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’How Do I Live’
2nd: Steps Dance Center-’Empty Space’
3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Vagabond’
Senior Specialty
1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes The Rain’
2nd: Artistic Edge Dance Centre-’Moonlight Presto’
3rd: Steps Dance Center-’Gimme A Beat’
Jagged Little Pill - Broadway - February, 2020 (StarCuffedJeans's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Elizabeth Stanley (Mary Jane Healy), Celia Gooding (Frankie Healy), Sean Allan Krill (Steve Healy), Derek Klena (Nick Healy), Ezra Menas (u/s Jo), Kathryn Gallagher (Bella), Antonio Cipriano (Phoenix), Logan Hart (Andrew Montefiore), Nora Schell (Pharmacist/Therapist), Kelsey Orem (s/w Jill/Teacher), Heather Lang (Courtney), Jane Bruce (Denise), Ebony Williams (Barista), Zach Hess (Drug Dealer), Max Kumangai (Doctor), Annelise Baker (Kelsey), John Cardoza, Kei Tsuruharatani, Kelsey Orem, Ken Wulf Clark, Nora Schell, Yeman Brown
NOTES: Begins in the middle of the opening number. Clear picture and good sound throughout.
Jagged Little Pill - Broadway - November, 2019 (Preview) (StarCuffedJeans's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Elizabeth Stanley (Mary Jane Healy), Celia Gooding (Frankie Healy), Sean Allan Krill (Steve Healy), Derek Klena (Nick Healy), Lauren Patten (Jo), Kathryn Gallagher (Bella), Antonio Cipriano (Phoenix), Logan Hart (Andrew Montefiore), Annelise Baker, Ebony Williams, Ezra Menas, Heather Lang, Jane Brusch, John Cardoza, Kei Tsuruharatani, Ken Wulf Clark, Laurel Harris, Logan Hart, Max Kumangai, Nora Schell
NOTES: Stunning HD capture of the Alanis Morrisette musical in Broadway Previews. Filmed from the left orchestra with a mix of wides, mediums, and closeups. Fantastic performances all around with the action well-followed.
Jekyll and Hyde - Broadway - December 19, 1999 (Major's master)
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Joseph Mahowald (u/s Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Coleen Sexton (u/s Lucy Harris), Christy Tarr (u/s Lisa/Emma Carew), Stuart Marland (u/s Gabriel John Utterson)
Jekyll and Hyde - Broadway - 2000 (Pro-Shot's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Rob Evan (Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Coleen Sexton (Lucy Harris), Andrea Rivette (Lisa/Emma Carew), George Merritt (Gabriel John Utterson), Robert Jensen (Simon Stride), Corinne Melançon (Lady Beaconsfield), Martin Van Treuren (Lord Savage), Stuart Marland (General Lord Glossop), Bill E Dietrich (Sir Archibald Proops/Spider), David Chaney (Bisset)
Jekyll and Hyde - Dortmund - October 18, 2019 (Rumpel's master)
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: David Jakobs (Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Bettina Mönch (Lucy Harris), Milica Jovanovic (Lisa/Emma Carew), Morgan Moody (Gabriel John Utterson), Tom Zahner (Sir Danvers Carew), Florian Sigmund (Simon Stride), Johanna Schoppe (Lady Beaconsfield), Mario Ahlborn (Bishop von Basingstoke), Georg Kirketerp (Lord Savage), Georg Kirketerp (General Lord Glossop), Jessica Troncha (Nellie)
Jekyll and Hyde - Lancaster, Pennsylvania - 2020 (Pro-Shot's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Randy Jeter (Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Molly Grace B (Lucy Harris), Madison Paige Buck (Lisa/Emma Carew)
NOTES: A special 90 minute version made with the collaboration of MTI and Wildhorn, streamed officially due to the novel Coronavirus.
Jersey Boys - Las Vegas - December 22, 2007
FORMAT: VOB (no smalls) (SD)
CAST: Rick Faugno (Frankie Valli), Bryan McElroy (Tommy Devito), Jeff Leibow (Nick Massi), Andrew Rannells (Bob Gaudio), Joyce Chittick (Mary Delgado), Jonathan Hadley (Bob Crewe), Ken Krugman (Gyp De Carlo), Jonathan Gerard Rodriguez (Joey), Jason Martinez (Norm Waxman), Julia Krohn (Lorraine), Lauren Tartaglia (s/w Lorraine), Natalie Bradshaw (Francine), John Salvatore (Billy Dixon), Michael James Scott (Hal Miller), Kristofer McNeeley (Hank Majewski)
NOTES: A little shaky at times, and a little obstruction from some heads downstage. Great energy from this cast, which became the original Las Vegas cast, from master. A-
Jersey Boys - The Netherlands - 2013-, 2014 (Highlights)
FORMAT: MP4 (SD)
CAST: Maarten Smeele (Frankie Valli), Martijn Vogel (Frankie Valli), René van Kooten (Tommy Devito), Robbert van den Bergh (Nick Massi), Dieter Spileers (Bob Gaudio)
NOTES: Minimal highlights includes: Walk Like a Man (Martijn), Walk Like a Man (Maarten), Sherry (Maarten) and Big Girls don't Cry (Maarten).
Jersey Boys - The Netherlands - July 27, 2014 (Closing Night) (Highlights)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Tim Driesen (Frankie Valli), René van Kooten (Tommy Devito), Robbert van den Bergh (Nick Massi), Dieter Spileers (Bob Gaudio), Barry Beijer (Bob Crewe), Hugo Haenen (Gyp De Carlo), Willemijn de Vries (Lorraine), Myrthe Maljers (Francine)
NOTES: Highlights from the last show in The Netherlands. Highlights include Beggin, Bye Bye Baby, Cant take my eyes of you, Dawn, Oh what a night, Sherry, Working my way back to you. No good quality at all, heads in the way, sometimes focused on the heads )the obstruction ones' instead of the stage, no zoom at all
Jesus Christ Superstar - 50th Anniversary Tour - February 18, 2020 (screechout's master)
FORMAT: MTS
CAST: Aaron LaVigne (Jesus Christ), James Delisco Beeks (Judas Iscariot), Jenna Rubaii (Mary Magdalene), Tommy Sherlock (Pontius Pilate), Alvin Crawford (Caiaphas), Tyce Green (Annas), Paul Louis Lessard (King Herod), Eric A Lewis (Simon Zealotes), Tommy McDowell (Peter), Brian Golub, Brittany Rose Hammond, Chelsea Williams, David André, Erick Patrick, Garfield Hammonds, Jacob Lacopo, Jasmine Schmenk, Keirsten Nicole Hodgens, Pepe Nufrio, Sandyredd, Sara Andreas, Sarah Parker, Sheila Jones, Wesley Barnes
NOTES: Some blurriness and washout, especially when not zoomed in, but mostly complete and unobstructed.
Jesus Christ Superstar - Live In Concert (NBC) - April 1, 2018 (Pro-Shot's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Jason Tam (Peter Patrone), John Legend (Jesus Christ), Brandon Victor Dixon (Judas Iscariot), Sara Bareilles (Mary Magdalene), Ben Daniels (Pontius Pilate), Norm Lewis (Caiaphas), Jin Ha (Annas), Alice Cooper (King Herod)
Jesus Christ Superstar - UK Arena Tour (2012) - 2012 (Pro-Shot's video master)
Format: MP4(SD)
CAST: Ben Forster (Jesus Christ), Tim Minchin (Judas Iscariot), Melanie C (Mary Magdalene), Alexander Hanson (Pontius Pilate), Pete Gallagher (Caiaphas), Gerard Bentall (Annas), Chris Moyles (King Herod), Giovanni Spano (Simon Zealotes)
NOTES: Proshot of the UK Arena Tour at Arena Birmingham. It was broadcasted to cinemas worldwide on the 29th October and 1st November 2012
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Los Angeles, California - February 16, 2002 (House-Cam's master)
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Roger Befeler (Joseph), Eden Espinosa (Narrator), John LaLonde (Pharaoh), Matt Logan (Simeon), Jennifer Rias
NOTES: Single camera house-cam recording
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Tecklenburg, Germany - 2014
FORMAT: VOB (no smalls) (SD)
CAST: Alexander Klaws (Joseph), Sandy Mölling (Narrator), Julian Looman (Pharaoh), Reinhard Brussmann (Jacob), Alexander Bellinkx (Reuben), Marco Herse Foti (Napthali), Thomas Hohler (Simeon), Andrew Hill (Levi), Sebastian Brandmeir (Gad), Jürgen Brehm (Issachar), Benjamin Witthoff (Asher), Jan Altenbockum (Dan), Florian Theiler (Zebulun), Sebastian Smulders (Judah), Cihan Demir (Benjamin), Sebastian Brandmeir (Butler), Jürgen Brehm (Baker), Juliane Bischoff (Mrs Potiphar), Benjamin Witthoff (Potiphar)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Netherlands - 2009 (Pro-Shot's master)
FORMAT: VOB (no smalls) (SD)
CAST: Hein Gerrits (u/s Joseph), Renée van Wegberg (Narrator), Paul Walthuis (Pharaoh), Leo Hogeboom (Jacob), Robin van den Akker (Issachar), Mathijs Pater (Zebulun), Yves Adang (Benjamin)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Netherlands - March 4, 2009
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Freek Bartels (Joseph), Renée van Wegberg (Narrator), Leo Hogeboom (Jacob)
NOTES: Recorded from the mezzanine. Restricted view due to some heads in the way and wandering by master. Wide shot on an angle. Audio is good.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Netherlands - April 14, 2009 (Highlights)
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Freek Bartels (Joseph), Renée van Wegberg (Narrator), Leo Hogeboom (Jacob)
NOTES: Good zooms but sometimes the camera is a bit unstable and there are some heads in the way. It's recorded between two seats so you cannot see the full stage. Unfortunately, it's only Act 1.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Netherlands - April 14, 2009 (Highlights)
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Freek Bartels (Joseph), Renée van Wegberg (Narrator), Leo Hogeboom (Jacob)
NOTES: Good zooms but sometimes the camera is a bit unstable and there are some heads in the way. It's recorded between two seats so you cannot see the full stage. Unfortunately, it's only Act 1.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Netherlands - July 26, 2009
FORMAT: video
CAST: Mathijs Pater (Joseph), Renée van Wegberg (Narrator), René van Kooten (Pharaoh), Leo Hogeboom (Jacob), Robin van den Akker (Issachar), Mathijs Pater (Zebulun), Yves Adang (Benjamin)
NOTES: Recorded from the left balcony. Decent quality, decent audio. Some zooms but restricted.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Vienna - June 17, 2000
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Hannes Muik (Joseph), Lucy Thoulds (Narrator), Uwe Kröger (Pharaoh), Peter Faerber (Jacob), Peter Faerber (Potiphar)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Vienna - June 17, 2000
FORMAT: VOB (with smalls) (SD)
CAST: Hannes Muik (Joseph), Lucy Thoulds (Narrator), Uwe Kröger (Pharaoh), Peter Faerber (Jacob), Peter Faerber (Potiphar)
& Juliet - Manchester Opera House - September 14, 2019 (Matinee) (Preview) (Highlights) (queenofthedead's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (SD)
CAST: Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Ivan de Freitas (Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Grace Mouat (Judith), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy), Dillon Scott-Lewis (Richard), Kerri Norville (Susanna)
NOTES: This is PARTIAL. Only a few minutes are missing from act 1 but video ends mid-way through act 2. An hour and a half of footage split into 8 mp4 files. Minimal heads obstructing view, however has problems with focus and washout. This was the show’s 5th ever performance in Manchester.
& Juliet - West End - January 2, 2020 (Matinee) (wheredidtherockgo's master)
FORMAT: AVI (SD)
CAST: Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Ivan de Freitas (Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Christopher Parkinson (s/w Fletcher), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Sophie Usher (s/w Gwynne), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Grace Mouat (Judith), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Kerri Norville (Susanna)
NOTES: 28 files. I was seating next to a speaker so the sound isn't great especially during the songs. filmed with a spycam so not a good quality. Filmed blindly and I was holding the cam near my face so you can hear my ugly laugh. Date stamp wrong.
& Juliet - West End - December, 2019 (queenofthedead's master)
FORMAT: AVI (SD)
CAST: Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Ivan de Freitas (u/s William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Christopher Parkinson (u/s Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Grace Mouat (Judith), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy), Dillon Scott-Lewis (Richard), Kerri Norville (Susanna)
NOTES: Video occasionally has minor obstructions at the bottom of the screen but no action is missed. Doesn't include the ‘can’t stop this feeling’ finale.
& Juliet - West End - February, 2020 (hitmewithyourbethshot's master)
FORMAT: MTS
CAST: Grace Mouat (u/s Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), Ivan de Freitas (u/s Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Christopher Parkinson (s/w Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Sophie Usher (s/w Gwynne), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy), Dillon Scott-Lewis (Richard), Kerri Norville (Susanna), Josh Baker (s/w Thomas)
& Juliet - West End - March, 2020 (queenofthedead's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (SD)
CAST: Grace Mouat (u/s Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Alex Tranter (u/s Romeo), Dillon Scott-Lewis (u/s Francois), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (u/s May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Ivan de Freitas (Lord Capulet/Sly), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Billy Nevers (s/w Cuthbert), Sophie Usher (s/w Gwynne), Josh Baker (s/w Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Kerri Norville (Susanna)
NOTES: Lots of wide shots with some nice close-ups too. A good video for seeing the set and choreography. Grace has really grown into the role since her debut!
& Juliet - West End - March, 2020 (2) (Highlights) (queenofthedead's master)
FORMAT: MP4 (HD)
CAST: Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Kirstie Skivington (u/s Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Billy Nevers (s/w Lord Capulet/Cuthbert), Jaye Marshall (Margaret/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Grace Mouat (Judith), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy), Kerri Norville (Susanna), Josh Baker (s/w Thomas)
NOTES: 2.53GB in mp4 files/1:06:55 Notes: Mostly very obstructed but a fun cover show with Kirstie as Anne, Billy’s Debut as Lord Capulet, Josh as the bathroom attendant and Jaye as Benvolio.
& Juliet - West End - November, 2019 (queenofthedead's master)
FORMAT: MTS
CAST: Grace Mouat (u/s Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Ivan de Freitas (Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Sophie Usher (s/w Gwynne), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy)
NOTES: First video released of the show in London and Grace’s amazing Juliet debut! Sophie swings on in her track. Video wanders a little bit in the first 5 mins but then great. Not obstructed by any heads. Includes HQ bows. Nft until 1st april 2020
& Juliet - West End - November, 2019 (2) (hitmewithyourbethshot's master)
FORMAT: MTS
CAST: Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Tim Mahendran (Francois), Arun Blair-Mangat (May), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse "Angelique"), David Bedella (Lance), Jocasta Almgill (Lady Capulet/Nell), Ivan de Freitas (Lord Capulet/Sly), Kirstie Skivington (Eleanor/Benvolio), Antoine Murray-Straughan (Augustine), Nathan Lorainey-Dineen (Gregory), Sophie Usher (s/w Gwynne), Alex Tranter (Henry), Rhian Duncan (Imogen), Kieran Lai (Kempe), Danielle Fiamanya (Lucy), Dillon Scott-Lewis (Richard), Kerri Norville (Susanna)
How the coronavirus is forever changing the way MLB connects to fans
IT BEGAN WITH the hype video that was supposed to introduce the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Day. Organist Dieter Ruehle followed by playing the national anthem and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" from his home piano. Third baseman Justin Turner, closer Kenley Jansen and manager Dave Roberts shared updates on their suddenly monotonous lives. Comedian George Lopez cracked jokes at the Houston Astros' expense and country musician Brad Paisley wore a Dodgers sweatshirt that described the team as "2017 World Series Champs."
Along the way, the Dodgers' first live Zoom event provided its fair share of predictable glitches -- ringing cellphones, awkward silences and buffering videos, one of which distorted an uplifting message from Vin Scully. Joe Davis, the Dodgers' play-by-play voice pressed into virtual hosting duty, cringed through some of the technical difficulties. He thought social media would be as unforgiving as usual. He was wrong.
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"The people appreciated whatever we were able to do, even if the video was skipping a little bit, or there were audio issues, or somebody dropped out at some point," Davis said. "The general sense was that it was like, 'So what?' There was an appreciation, it seems like, from the fans that there was something baseball-related to be able to cling onto and distract them for a night."
The Dodgers initially planned to host 1,000 fans at their first "Zoom Party" on April 27. They ultimately opened it up to 11,000 people. Over the next couple of weeks, the guest list increased to 12,000 and then 15,000, proving two key points about this unimaginable period: Teams are trying anything and everything to fill a massive void amid the coronavirus pandemic, and their fans are here for it -- a dynamic that could change the fan-engagement experience forever.
There have been re-airings of old postseason games, broadcaster calls of home movies, training tips from coaches, bedtime stories from players and bracket-style tournaments for items such as jerseys and bobbleheads, all in an effort to create content in a time when baseball's main content pipeline -- live games -- is shut off.
Ryan Zimmerman interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, a diehard fan of the Washington Nationals. Miami Marlins catcher Francisco Cervelli taught viewers how to make focaccia. Kansas City Royals director of behavioral science Ryan Maid hosted "Mindfulness Mondays" to provide tips on living in the moment. The Cleveland Indians offered instructions for creating games out of items in one's sock drawer. And former Astros infielder Geoff Blum hosted a series called "Feel Good Stories For The Heart" in hopes of providing some much-needed positivity.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association also teamed up to create an MLB The Show Players League, where big leaguers went head-to-head in video game matchups that were livestreamed on Twitch and broadcast on television during the virtual playoffs, culminating in a final showdown between Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell and Chicago White Sox ace Lucas Giolito that aired on ESPN.
From making pancakes to playing baseball with Charley, follow @ClaytonKersh22 and his family in this episode of A Day in the Life with the Kershaws.
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"We want to give everybody sort of a relief from what's going on, and if we can help them and we can entertain them, we've succeeded," Dodgers chief marketing officer Lon Rosen said of his own team's strategy. "We're in a really difficult time right now. We all feel like we're gonna come out the other end and life will come back to some normalcy, but until then, we wanna make sure that we're connected to our fans and our fans are connected to us. And that's our mission."
In pursuit of that, the Dodgers arranged for their director of player performance, Brandon McDaniel, to guide fans through in-home workoutstwice a week. They handed a smartphone to Ellen Kershaw so that she could record her husband, Clayton, flipping pancakes and playing Pop-A-Shot. And they utilized Ross Stripling, their agreeable right-handed pitcher, for an interview series with some of his teammates. Davis himself has hosted his own cooking show and also started a podcast with his broadcast partner, Orel Hershiser. The response floored him.
"We've had multiple people tell us that it brought them to tears to hear us, multiple people tell us that it's the best part of their week when that comes out, and their favorite thing during the quarantine," Davis said of the podcast, called "Off Air." "Man, we're just trying to have a fun conversation. We started it realizing the void that everybody was feeling with no baseball, but I don't think we fully appreciated how big that void was."
MARCO GONZALES LEFT Arizona shortly after MLB effectively closed spring training complexes on March 15. He hopped in the car with his wife and their dog and drove 1,400 miles to his home near T-Mobile Park, returning to Seattle -- the country's first coronavirus epicenter -- for the first time in more than a month.
Gonzales, the left-hander announced as the Seattle Mariners' Opening Day starter less than a week earlier, was struck by how a bustling city could feel so desolate. Parks were empty, traffic was nonexistent, stores had shuttered, and the few people he saw, usually at the local supermarket, dressed as if they were "going into surgery." The anxiety was palpable, omnipresent, and it helped spur Gonzales into action. He donated blood, partnered with a local hunger-relief agency and stepped outside of his comfort zone to help entertain a populace desperate for levity.
The best of MLB social media
Here are just 10 of our favorite recent social media plays from around MLB.
Just for fun:
A's: Broadcaster calls home movies
Cubs: "Parks and Rec" crossover
Dodgers: Zoom parties
Marlins: Cervelli makes focaccia
Phillies: Story time with Bryce & Fanatic
Quarantine-inspired:
Astros: Feel Good Stories For The Heart
Indians: Sock-drawer sports at home
Nats: Zimmerman interviews Dr. Fauci
Orioles: Phone Call Fridays
Rockies: Out-of-context quarantine tips
The latter morphed into a weekly interview podcast called "Inside Corner," which Gonzales co-hosts alongside Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith through the team's YouTube channel. Catcher Tom Murphy and fellow starters Taijuan Walker and Justin Dunn have made up the first three guests. Murphy spoke from his dining room, which features a 400-pound black bear he snagged on a hunting trip. Dunn, now 6-foot-2, revealed he was shorter than his 4-foot-11 grandmother when he entered high school. Walker estimated owning 400 pairs of sneakers.
"I miss baseball, I miss that interaction with my teammates," Gonzales said. "And I think the goal of this, ultimately, is for fans to get to know us a little bit better away from the field, and to feel like they're a little more connected to us."
It's part of an ironic twist in all this -- a time that is keeping fans from baseball is also allowing them, in some respects, to feel more connected to those who play it. During the season, their time is precious. During the offseason, their time is sacred. But now athletes are stuck at home waiting this out, with unkempt hair and a dwindling supply of toilet paper, just like the rest of us. To pass the time, many have offered rare glimpses into their personal lives and have seemingly become more willing to reveal their true personalities. Gonzales has acted as a willing tour guide.
"The guys that I've dealt with, they want people to get to know them as people," Gonzales said. "Because a lot of times when we're on the field, we're in a mindset, we're in a mentality, that is rare to us as a person. We're in a competitive, testosterone-driven mindset, whereas right now, when we're stuck at home, and we have a chance to talk to each other, it's a lot different communication. And I think that people will hopefully see that."
Our video editor has been itching to make a hype video.
Behold...
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Kevin Martinez has been overseeing the Mariners' marketing efforts for the past quarter-century. Four days after MLB suspended its season, Martinez led a meeting that served as a brainstorming session for how the team could pivot in its content strategy and fill an unprecedented void in a reeling city. Martinez saw it as "an opportunity to innovate and think differently."
It led to a hype video of home movies, a series of tutorials from Mariners coaches, an MLB The Show tournament pitting fans against players, and Gonzales' podcast.
"Seattle has been one of the most affected by this, and one of the first for sure," Gonzales said. "We're trying to get behind the notion that we'll be one of the first to overcome it and really show the rest of the country what it looks like. Right now, all we can do is try to fill everybody up with some optimism, put some good content out there, and try to just give people that hope that we're gonna get back to normal as soon as we can."
#NewSociallyDistantProfilePic
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BY NATURE OF their status in local communities, sports teams can often serve as information hubs for regions. The Boston Red Sox, for example, represent the baseball team for all six states in the New England region, making Twitter -- where the team has more than 6.1 million followers -- an ideal platform to distribute factually verified information regarding the pandemic. Kelsey Doherty, senior manager of digital media for the Red Sox, says the team has kept in touch with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the State House to stay up to date on the best official safety measures.
"It's a little nerve-wracking every time I put out any of that messaging, because especially early on, things were changing so rapidly about what was or wasn't good for you or how you're supposed to go about things," Doherty said. "We were linking a lot to the Mass Department of Public Health, but we're also trying to put the Red Sox spin on it. This weekend we put out, 'How far is 6 feet really?' And it's like, 'It's one Rafael Devers away.'"
The Red Sox are far from the only team to use its social media accounts to pitch in. Zimmerman's interview with Fauci, via the Nats' Facebook page, delved into plans for slowly and safely restarting the economy. The Colorado Rockies are one club that sponsored a mask-making project, reaching out online to distribute free team-branded masks to front-line workers. New York Yankeesfirst baseman Luke Voit connected with medical staff at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The Baltimore Orioles have been holding Phone Call Fridays, when members of the team check in on fans and first responders.
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There have been other notable effects. With no games on the calendar for the near future, each team's social media account now represents the primary connection clubs have with fans on a daily basis. Typically at this point in the regular season, an internationally iconic team like the Yankees is focused on building hype around the club, selling individual game tickets and targeting tourists who might be coming into New York. Stephi Blank, senior manager of digital and social strategy for the Yankees, says the pandemic has flipped the team's social focus upside down.
"Especially when thinking about targeting individual game ticket buyers, tourism in New York City is something that is a massive industry, and talking with our colleagues at Broadway and others, you see that so much of the individual game, the individual ticket buyers, come from people who are outside of New York who don't live there," Blank said. "That had been a big focus of ours prior to this, but New York has been the epicenter, and we've been focusing a lot more on our local fans."
With no team to root for or games to play, teams are reframing their social media presence to think about fandom as a lifestyle.
"It's new territory," Doherty said. "I always joke that I am so grateful that I work in sports because our content can change day to day based on a win or a loss or who had a big night, and now suddenly I'm in this uncharted territory and everyone in sports is, where it's like suddenly we aren't dependent on that and we're dependent on our history, the lifestyle, the fan base and the culture around the team."
Luke Voit recently surprised frontline medical heroes from our partner @nyphospital to show his appreciation for their strength and hard work. @LLVIII40
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THE LACK OF day-to-day, game-centric content leaves more room to experiment. The Yankees have dabbled in more player personality-driven content, posting intentionally lo-fi workout videos from the likes of Giancarlo Stanton and Luis Severino, shot in vertical video on an iPhone. Yankees head of communications Jason Zillo says the lack of wins and losses allowed baseball's most traditional brand to let loose and have some fun.
"[Player-personality content] is not only a neat concept, but I think this has legs to live long beyond the pandemic," Zillo said. "The thing that constantly is a push and a pull during a baseball season is that games matter so much. And you have to temper 'fun' things up against the fact that every day, there's a game that you're trying to win at all costs. There has to be a measure of caution. If you've lost six of eight games, my first mindset isn't, 'Let's do something fun.' It's like, 'Let's kind of scale back and then when we've won six of eight, then maybe we can push more of the fun stuff.'"
Social media follows for shutdown
From Twitter to Twitch, these 10 players are providing a window -- often silly, sometimes serious -- in an unprecedented time in baseball history. Joon Lee »
Baseball is unique among sports in its challenge of creating inclusive, compelling social media content. The schedule is arduous -- nearly every single day, often for about 10 hours, from the middle of February until at least the end of September -- and the culture can often feel repressive. Marketers have mostly found players to be less motivated to promote themselves, both because of the volume of their workload and the guaranteed nature of their contracts. Teams, in some respects, have taken a relatively conservative approach on their digital platforms.
But maybe that'll be different now.
"It has been a challenging time," Martinez, the Mariners' senior VP of marketing, said, "but it's been a time for innovation, and a great opportunity to create fans with our players in ways we haven't explored before."
While baseball has been slow to adapt to the new age of social media, the pandemic plopped a mirror in front of many teams. Many took that as an opportunity to try something new -- and have seen it bear fruit.
"You hear a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life saying, 'Use this time to get better at something,'" Zillo said. "I think baseball, as a whole, has, when it comes to looking under different rocks, now is really using social media and all of its tentacles to reach as many fans as possible."
Bull, Michael, and Les Back, eds. The Auditory Culture Reader.2 ed. London - New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Cox, Christoph, and Daniel Warner, eds. Audio Culture. Readings in Modern Music. New York: Continuum, 2004.
Daniels, Dieter, and Sandra Naumann, eds. See This Sound: Audiovisuology: A Reader. Köln: Walther König, 2015.
Sterne, Jonathan. The Audible Past. Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2003.
Sound Studies and Sonic Arts Monographs
Dolar, Mladen. A Voice and Nothing More. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006.
Kahn, Douglas. Noise, Water, Meat. A History of Sound in the Arts. Cambridge - London: The MIT Press, 1999.
Kane, Brian. Sound Unseen. Acousmatic Sound in Theory and Practice. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2014.
Kim-Cohen, Seth. In the Blink of an Ear. Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art. New York - London: Continuum, 2009.
Sterne, Jonathan. The Audible Past. Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2003.
Voegelin, Salomé. Listening to Noise and Silence. Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art. New York - London: Continuum, 2010.
Holmes, Thomas. Electronic and Experimental Music. Pioneers in Technology and Composition [1985]. 2 ed. New York [etc.]: Routledge, 2002.
Julius, Rolf. Small Music (Grau). Edited by Bernd Schulz and Hans Gercke. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 1995.
Kubisch, Christina. KlangRaumLichtZeit. Arbeiten von 1980 bis 2000. Aust. Kat. Opel-Villen Rüsselsheim. Edited by Kulturamt der Stadt Rüsselheim. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2000.
Kuhn, Hans Peter. Licht und Klang. Edited by Bernd Schulz. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2000.
LaBelle, Brandon. Background Noise. Perspectives on Sound Art. New York - London: Continuum, 2007.
Licht, Alan. Sound Art. Beyond Music, Between Categories. New York: Rizzoli, 2007.
White, Sylvia. Music as organized sound. An introduction to basic music theory. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
Audio Technology
Ballou, Glen M., ed. Handbook for Sound Engineers. Oxford: Focal Press, 2015.
Döbereiner. Luc. Models of Constructed Sound: Nonstandard Synthesis as an Aesthetic Perspective. Computer Music Journal, MIT Press Journals, 2011. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/COMJ_a_00067
The term “standard approach” is used for dif-ferentiation. Its counterpart is the “non-standard approach,” in which “the computer acts as a sound-www.mitpressjournals.org
Giri, Maurizio. Cipriani, Alessandro. Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice Volume 1. Contemponet, 2010.
Giri, Maurizio. Cipriani, Alessandro. Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice Volume 2. Contemponet, 2014.
Wishart, Trevor. Audible Design: A Plain and Easy Introduction to Sound Composition. Orpheus The Pantomime Ltd., 1994.
Xenakis, Iannis. Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition. Special issue of La Revue musicale, nos. 253–254. Paris: Editions Richard-Masse. 1963.
Ozzy, beset on all sides by the eccentricities of the artists around her, meets Jack, a city-dwelling forest sprite jazz singer. Together, they escape Dante's, the jazz club Ozzy manages, and losing herself, she finds something else. Starring: Stella Schnabel, Peter Greene, Leaphy Wyndragon and Eloisa Santos Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams and Hunter Zimny Casting: Eléonore Hendricks Produced by: André Bojanic, Eléonore Hendricks, Rebekah Sherman-Myntii and KJ Rothweiler Exec Producers: Dieter Addison, Josh Raykhelson, Wes Reid, Khalifa Sultan and Brandon Golden Co-Producer: Leon Morabia, Devyn Fusaro and Sam Guest Camera Assistant: Jordan Tetewsky Score: Wyndham Baird, Dean Torrey, Antoine Brown, Orange Julius and Faron Tillson Casting Assistants: Aidan Mclellan and Marie O'Connel AD: Sam Guest Gaffer: Arseniy Grobovnikov Grip: Joshua Ryujin and Aris Panagis Sound Recordist: Nico Osbourne and Maaike Snoep Production Design: Audrey Turner Art Department: Chas Pooley and Leon Haouzi Wardrobe: Bruno Dicorcia Ozzy's Wardrobe by Stella Schnabel Edit: Aré Bato and Stephen Gurewitz Sound Designer/Re-recording Mixer: Lucio Westmoreland Music Studio: Subdecibel Sound Music Producer: Chepe Beltranena Color Services: The Mill Colorist: Elias Caravaggio Nousipoulos Color Producer: Evan Bauer Post Production Supervisor: Ben Federman and Paulette Agnes Ang DIT: Ian Rothweiler Poster Art: André Bojanic Production Company: B Flat Pictures + Simone Films Written + Directed by Sam Stillman
Ozzy, beset on all sides by the eccentricities of the artists around her, meets Jack, a city-dwelling forest sprite jazz singer. Together, they escape Dante's, the jazz club Ozzy manages, and losing herself, she finds something else. Starring: Stella Schnabel, Peter Greene, Leaphy Wyndragon and Eloisa Santos Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams and Hunter Zimny Casting: Eléonore Hendricks Produced by: André Bojanic, Eléonore Hendricks, Rebekah Sherman-Myntii and KJ Rothweiler Exec Producers: Dieter Addison, Josh Raykhelson, Wes Reid, Khalifa Sultan and Brandon Golden Co-Producer: Leon Morabia, Devyn Fusaro and Sam Guest Camera Assistant: Jordan Tetewsky Score: Wyndham Baird, Dean Torrey, Antoine Brown, Orange Julius and Faron Tillson Casting Assistants: Aidan Mclellan and Marie O'Connel AD: Sam Guest Gaffer: Arseniy Grobovnikov Grip: Joshua Ryujin and Aris Panagis Sound Recordist: Nico Osbourne and Maaike Snoep Production Design: Audrey Turner Art Department: Chas Pooley and Leon Haouzi Wardrobe: Bruno Dicorcia Ozzy's Wardrobe by Stella Schnabel Edit: Aré Bato and Stephen Gurewitz Sound Designer/Re-recording Mixer: Lucio Westmoreland Music Studio: Subdecibel Sound Music Producer: Chepe Beltranena Color Services: The Mill Colorist: Elias Caravaggio Nousipoulos Color Producer: Evan Bauer Post Production Supervisor: Ben Federman and Paulette Agnes Ang DIT: Ian Rothweiler Poster Art: André Bojanic Production Company: B Flat Pictures + Simone Films Written + Directed by Sam Stillman
Ozzy, beset on all sides by the eccentricities of the artists around her, meets Jack, a city-dwelling forest sprite jazz singer. Together, they escape Dante's, the jazz club Ozzy manages, and losing herself, she finds something else. Starring: Stella Schnabel, Peter Greene, Leaphy Wyndragon and Eloisa Santos Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams and Hunter Zimny Casting: Eléonore Hendricks Produced by: André Bojanic, Eléonore Hendricks, Rebekah Sherman-Myntii and KJ Rothweiler Exec Producers: Dieter Addison, Josh Raykhelson, Wes Reid, Khalifa Sultan and Brandon Golden Co-Producer: Leon Morabia, Devyn Fusaro and Sam Guest Camera Assistant: Jordan Tetewsky Score: Wyndham Baird, Dean Torrey, Antoine Brown, Orange Julius and Faron Tillson Casting Assistants: Aidan Mclellan and Marie O'Connel AD: Sam Guest Gaffer: Arseniy Grobovnikov Grip: Joshua Ryujin and Aris Panagis Sound Recordist: Nico Osbourne and Maaike Snoep Production Design: Audrey Turner Art Department: Chas Pooley and Leon Haouzi Wardrobe: Bruno Dicorcia Ozzy's Wardrobe by Stella Schnabel Edit: Aré Bato and Stephen Gurewitz Sound Designer/Re-recording Mixer: Lucio Westmoreland Music Studio: Subdecibel Sound Music Producer: Chepe Beltranena Color Services: The Mill Colorist: Elias Caravaggio Nousipoulos Color Producer: Evan Bauer Post Production Supervisor: Ben Federman and Paulette Agnes Ang DIT: Ian Rothweiler Poster Art: André Bojanic Production Company: B Flat Pictures + Simone Films Written + Directed by Sam Stillman
A collection of Don Simpson's Border Worlds was just collected as a book by Dover Books. The majority of it was drawn in the mid-eighties, but the story never concluded. The collection includes a new ending, freshly drawn. It is very hard to talk about the comic, as its own thing, divorced from this context. While the final chapter wraps things up, it's unlikely the initial serialization was made with an end in mind: Most serial comic books are designed to run indefinitely, and a science-fiction premise continually seems to promise that there are more stories of the world to explore.
Much of Dover Books' line of graphic novels has a similar pedigree. Commercial comics has produced plenty of work not designed with an end in mind. Plenty of projects have been undertaken with ambitious goals, only to find the market won't bear it. These works, being commercial failures, then go uncollected.
Don Simpson is best known for his superhero parody comic, Megaton Man. It seems pretty bleak to have the vast majority of your work be in the well-trod territory of superhero parody, but before Border Worlds was back in print, he had to suffer the double indignity of his second most-famous work being a porn comic done under a pseudonym. Its title? Wendy Whitebread, Undercover Slut. If you haven't heard of either of these, that's totally reasonable: I bring it up to gesture at the idea that it seems pretty unreasonable that, with a library like that, he wouldn't have finished Border Worlds. But that's the market.
Border Worlds is pretty good! I once tracked down another 1980s science-fiction comic because Chester Brown said he liked it in an interview in a contemporary issue of The Comics Journal. I do not remember its title, and it was a fairly tedious read. Border Worlds is easily better than that. It's pretty difficult to talk about the book without just parroting things Steve Bissette says in the book's afterword, as he enumerates all of the book's reference points. The premise is working dudes in space, stiffs just trying to hustle. Bissette mentions Dan O'Bannon's stuff but somehow I never saw Dark Star so I can just say "yes, like Ridley Scott's Alien." Or Futurama. The approach to science fiction is not particularly high concept. These are adventure stories, taking place in the future. The author regrets calling the book Border Worlds, and thinks he should've just titled the book after the space station where the whole story takes place, but to me the title makes it seem like all the time being spent on the space station was just a way of saying the story was going to eventually going to get going and dive deeper into its world. It never does, which is fine: That sense that the story is supposed to go somewhere it never gets to keeps to themes of a working class milieu, a feeling that inertia creeps into life, and the big changes to make in life are always being put off in favor of practical concerns.
The comic seemingly made a smart formal decision during its serialization, also. After the initial short stories, it seems like the issues themselves were broken into chapters, of differing lengths, which is pretty smart. I imagine it made reading it serialized feel satisfying, getting multiple chapters in a given issue, each tightly structured; but also it goes a long way to making the collection read like a book. It seems vaguely possible the new conclusion might read a little better-paced if it had been decided to have the ending be two chapters instead of one, but this is just backseat driving on my part.
The ending isn't satisfying, particularly. There are no surprises. It's an adventure comic: It ends happily for everyone. The satisfaction of the book doesn't really come from any literary aspect: The drawings are good. I'll make a separate post of nothing but black and white images that will pitch the book solely on those merits. I first saw color pages online years ago at Brandon Graham's wordpress blog. Brandon captures the appeal of the drawings: The naturalistic figures have the same weight of his cartoonier figures carried in their lines. The ending, drawn in a different style, pen instead of brush, can't help but be disappointing. (Sidenote: the same wordpress post also has pages by Ruben Pellejero, which were what convinced me to buy that Dieter Lumpen book IDW put out last year.)
It's readable, as a story, easy to follow. The only time it's hard to read is when the serialization betrays the book, by recapping stuff you just read pages before. The first issue's recap of the short stories that preceded it feels particularly egregious. Not only is it happening early on, in terms of the scope of the book, but it's not even done using dialogue. There is narrating text, running alongside an image. Simpson says in his introduction he imagines the story as a film, a slow-paced one. Letting images run without text would go a long way towards approximating the sort of stillness you get in something like Solaris or 2001, but as it is the tone feels more like TV than anything.
That's one bit of text that could've easily been deleted. So too could the bits, originally appearing at the end of an issue, announcing the title of a chapter that would run in the next issue. (This probably won't bother anyone: The beginning of an issue might go a few pages without announcing its chapter title, and in these instances the table of contents gives the chapter as starting on the page the title is displayed.) There's also the Border Worlds logo, running over the opening pages, as it appeared in the first short story. These are things where the erasure would essentially be a design decision rather than an editorial one.
Dover is also publishing a similar "All of the content from over a decade ago, plus an ending" edition of David Hahn's Private Beach, a comic I read in high school, and liked, but have no idea who would read it. If you want something better than Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise, but not as good as Jaime Hernandez, this is a variation on that kind of thing where in a movie adaptation you would try to get the main woman played by Courtney Cox. It's not that bad, but the most accurate way to describe it is also the meanest way.
It's interesting, in a way, that they're books. I think they should be available digitally, because they're the comic book equivalent of a TV show, and people watch TV online now. It doesn't contend with literature and art. The audience for it is people who like a lot of comics. I do not imagine the comics Dover put out sell very well. That said, they are almost certainly better than… let's say 85% of the comics currently being published by Image, which they essentially prefigure. Honestly, the main lesson to take away from this line of comics is: If you start telling a story, finish it. Maybe the book's editorial/design decision is that, after that final chapter, drawn decades after the preceding chapters and not being nearly as interesting to look at, an "end book one" appears when it's finished, implying an intention to do more of these comics which it's difficult to imagine the author would want to make, or the audience would want to read. A moment in time passes. The future a comic aspires to create for itself does not necessarily come to pass. We're stuck on the space station yearning to explore the depths, and then come to regret ever telling anyone that was what we wanted to do in the first place, the older we get without achieving our aims.
Unfortunately, Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines is no longer with us, he died a few years ago. I met the band in 2004 when they came to Germany and I was fascinated. They did a version of ‘Deluxe’ by Harmonia that I thought was charming because they tried to sing German with their American accents. They were lovely lads, really great musicians and I joined them on stage when they did a promo gig in Hamburg and then a year later Benjamin joined me and Josh Klinghoffer at my first ATP festival at Butlin’s in Camber Sands, which was a very important episode for me.
He was a really wonderful guy, I considered him a good friend and a very talented musician. I was looking for my choices for your piece and I put on that track ‘Nowhere Again’, and I had to stop because I was a bit overwhelmed. The positive energy of that track and the knowledge that he’s no longer around was a bit too much. Strangely enough his brother sent me an email this morning. We are connected, sort of, but I hope to meet him again and talk about his brother. The list is getting longer unfortunately, Dieter Moebius, Jaki Liebezeit, Klaus Dinger, but especially in the case of Benjamin Curtis it was terrible, he was a wonderful person.
Just :3 at Michael Rother’s description of Benjamin and Brandon singing German with their Texan accents. What a lovely man.
There’s also stuff about Brian Eno and Ralf und Florian (the album) and Cluster and some assorted classic rock in there, if you page backwards through his list.
Ozzy, beset on all sides by the eccentricities of the artists around her, meets Jack, a city-dwelling forest sprite jazz singer. Together, they escape Dante's, the jazz club Ozzy manages, and losing herself, she finds something else. Starring: Stella Schnabel, Peter Greene, Leaphy Wyndragon and Eloisa Santos Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams and Hunter Zimny Casting: Eléonore Hendricks Produced by: André Bojanic, Eléonore Hendricks, Rebekah Sherman-Myntii and KJ Rothweiler Exec Producers: Dieter Addison, Josh Raykhelson, Wes Reid, Khalifa Sultan and Brandon Golden Co-Producer: Leon Morabia, Devyn Fusaro and Sam Guest Camera Assistant: Jordan Tetewsky Score: Wyndham Baird, Dean Torrey, Antoine Brown, Orange Julius and Faron Tillson Casting Assistants: Aidan Mclellan and Marie O'Connel AD: Sam Guest Gaffer: Arseniy Grobovnikov Grip: Joshua Ryujin and Aris Panagis Sound Recordist: Nico Osbourne and Maaike Snoep Production Design: Audrey Turner Art Department: Chas Pooley and Leon Haouzi Wardrobe: Bruno Dicorcia Ozzy's Wardrobe by Stella Schnabel Edit: Aré Bato and Stephen Gurewitz Sound Designer/Re-recording Mixer: Lucio Westmoreland Music Studio: Subdecibel Sound Music Producer: Chepe Beltranena Color Services: The Mill Colorist: Elias Caravaggio Nousipoulos Color Producer: Evan Bauer Post Production Supervisor: Ben Federman and Paulette Agnes Ang DIT: Ian Rothweiler Poster Art: André Bojanic Production Company: B Flat Pictures + Simone Films Written + Directed by Sam Stillman