#gene ashman
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fun fact about the monkees is not only do they have the same stylist and costume designer between the show and Head, but he also gets a shoutout BY NAME in the movie, which is HIGHLY unusual for a costume designer to get that amount of recognition and credit, even if it is just because it plays into the plot and theme of the movie (the moment is when Peter is fighting against being seen hitting a woman, and someone yells to “Gene Ashman” to put his wardrobe in his room) Especially during the 60s, costuming was a highly under appreciated and often uncredited department. For example, I can’t find note of a single costume designer for MASH, although they obviously had one. Gene Ashman was the Monkees designer, and he created their iconic shirts and pants from scratch, completely custom, which is beyond awesome, and had a lot of great thoughts and ideas on how to separate their characters and create a visual language that defines each of these guys to you. to put it simply he did his job INCREDIBLY well, and deserves more recognition from the fans as well as the costuming community.
#he was the head of our costuming union!!!!!!!!!!!!! and worked at the same costume house that I have worked out of for the last few years#fun facts about me and my job I work in tv costuming#op#gene ashman#the monkees
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"I can't help it if mirrors love my face
It's genetics, yeah, I got these genes from outer space!"
I haven't watched Wish, but does this line remind anyone else of Twoey? Specifically the song Mean Green Mother From Outer Space?
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken worked on The Little Mermaid and Little Shop of Horrors, so this could plausibly be a purposeful reference
Does anyone have any additional insight into this like potential parallels between Magnifico and Twoey/additional references/etc?
#proship#proshipper safe#lsoh#little shop of horrors#disney wish#wish 2023#wish disney#wish movie#lsoh twoey#king magnifico#wish magnifico#both songs seem to be about the villain feeling betrayed by the hero#but Magnifico seems more genuinely offended while Twoey is gleefully and homoerotically toying with Seymour#Asha and Seymour presumably both try to avoid getting killed by the villain singing the song#from what I know about this movie it doesn't seem like Magnifico is connected to space which strengthens my theory that this is a reference#personal post
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Fwd: Graduate position: UPittsburgh.EvolutionOfPolyploidy
Begin forwarded message:
> From: [email protected]
> Subject: Graduate position: UPittsburgh.EvolutionOfPolyploidy
> Date: 16 September 2023 at 06:53:44 BST
> To: [email protected]
>
>
> PhD opportunity in Evolutionary Ecology
>
> The Ashman and Turcotte labs at the University of Pittsburgh are looking
> to co-advise a PhD student interested in ecological and evolutionary
> impacts of whole genome duplication (polyploidy). The student will
> utilize our rapidly growing experimental duckweed system to test
> various hypotheses concerning the benefits and limitations of this
> widespread important major evolutionary change. Projects will involve
> species interactions and will especially appeal to those interested in
> plant-microbial, plant-herbivore, and plant-plant interactions, as well
> as of intraspecific variation in these. Additional opportunities exist
> for involvement in genomic and gene expression studies.
>
> Please visit our lab webpages for more information:
> https://ift.tt/acjxOdR
> www.martinturcotte.net
>
> The Department of Biological Sciences is a dynamic and growing team of
> enthusiastic researchers and educators. All graduate students in the
> department are provided with a competitive stipend and benefits for
> 5 years through a combination of fellowships, TAships, and research
> assistantships.
>
> Prospective students should email us: [email protected] and
> [email protected] to express interest and describe your past research
> experience. Please include your C.V., any publications, and contact
> information for a few references.
>
> Tia-Lynn Ashman, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor
> Martin Turcotte, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
> Department of Biological Sciences
> University of Pittsburgh
>
> "Turcotte, Martin"
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Semi-Intimate Facts About Davy Jones by Gene Ashman, Judith Sims from TeenSet (September 1967)
By Gene Ashman as told to Judith Sims
It seems that everybody and his brother (and his second cousin of a distant great aunt) are writing about the Monkees these days. It occurred to us (we have occasional--very occasional--flashes of brilliance... sometimes we even have ideas...) that no one had asked Gene Ashman to talk about the Monkees. We did just that, and he did...
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wish rising??
huh. wasn’t expecting it to suddenly appear!! here’s my wish rising!! my onsite wishlist has yet to be entirely updated but....
apparel:
- any and ALL of the snake apparel. i desire snakes
- ferret buddy!! i love ferrets and i especially love the ferret friend
- reaper guise
- winter wolf cape
- journeyman satchels because they’re pretty neat
- any gem apparel!! surprise me!!
skins/accents:
- ashmane chimera
- calico ferberus
- heckling hydrena
- hydra
- portal watcher
festival apparel:
- frigid fugitive shackles because i love shackle/chain apparel
- trickster’s magic cards
- boneyard tatters
- skeletal chimes
breed/gene scrolls:
- snapper breed change x1
- spiral breed change x1
- wildclaw breed change (i don’t need it atm but i’d love to get my hands on one at some point)
- ridgeback breed change x1
- coatl breed change x1
primaries:
mosaic x2, lionfish, pinstripe, starmap, wasp, slime, stitched
secondaries:
bee, noxtide, constellation x2, saturn, trail, patchwork
tertiaries:
capsule x4, crackle, ghost, okapi, opal, runes, stained, veined, blossom
misc:
- gem eye types
- EGGS. any and all eggs. i’m always looking for them but i’d love to have some for the new year!
- permababy scrolls x2 (i believe? i just have a permababy addiction)
- gems and treasure!! even if it’s a single gem or treasure, i don’t mind! i just really need money,,,,
- art of my dragons!! i’m ALWAYS looking for art of my dragons, especially of the elements!!
i’ll see what i can do about gifting other people, but i’m low on money so i’ll try my best!
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Warcat, Poodle and Ashmane from team Arena are all finished! Level 25, genes and apparel. Sadly no apparel set in Arena, so I just went with a sandy gadiatorish vibe. I only really like Ashmane from this team.
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Let’s talk heroes\inspirations in life
For me having heroes is something that I don’t really do very often. I’m a little bit different and I think in a different way than I think most people would. To me what makes a true hero is somebody that I can admire. Whether they’re funny, talented, unique, weird themselves or they just do whatever they do\did so well that it changes my life for the better. A lot of these people you might not really understand and they are more people that I idolize that have changed my life and helped me become more confident than actual heroes. I will be counting two that actually has since passed away but he is a huge part of my personality.
The first person to me is the easiest, he’s the person that I try to emulate the most and he has helped me out in so many different ways through the characters that he’s played. My biggest hero is Rob Paulsen voice actor extraordinaire. This might come as a surprise to some of you who don’t know me in real life but I love cartoons, and when I say I love them I mean I LOVE cartoons. They are my main special interest and something that I study in my free time. The character who spoke to me when I was seven years old and lonely was Yakko Warner. If I watched his skits, I was no longer alone. I could laugh and if I could laugh that would mean eventually I would be alright. Most of what I know about the business comes from Rob’s Talkin’ Toons podcast that I listen to all the time the same episodes (I recommend the Richard Horvitz one, Billy West one and Charlie Adler one I learned the most from these three.) He has this saying that on the bad days I just say to myself and I start to smile “Laughter is the best medicine and the best thing is you can’t OD and the refills are free.” If I were to meet anybody on this list of six people I would want to meet him hands down. I would just want to thank him for everything that he has done for me.
Alright second hero out of six I idolize Lin Manuel Miranda writer lyricist for Alexander Hamilton and In The Heights. He also played the main character in both musicals. A lot of musical theater fans admire him but for me this is more of a personal story than anything else. I sent Lin a letter through snail mail around four years ago as something that I needed to do for school to graduate. I kept running outside to check the mailbox everyday after I got home from school and would see that the mailman came. Everyday I came back flipping through the bills, letters and other articles and my heart broke a little bit more every time. I thought that I wouldn’t hear anything so after two months I eventually gave up checking. Little did I know that right after Tonys season I would get my response. I ran inside screaming excitedly that it had finally came and my dad has been telling me to get it framed ever since. I feel like if I frame it though it will become a lot less real.
This next one is going to seem really stupid since I can’t ever have a conversation with him. For the reasoning that he does not speak English. I am speaking of course of Hayo Miyazaki-san the head of animation for Studio Ghibli. This man basically is like the Japan Walt Disney to me. I grew up with his films especially Totoro that was my favorite when I was really little. I would watch the opening scene and just die laughing at the little creatures making the silly faces. Over the course of my life he has given me relatability through his characters like Kiki who showed me that girls don’t just have to sweet and kind but can also save the day at the end of it. I have been so inspired to become a writer through his movies and even if he thinks that anime is essentially a mistake I couldn’t really care less because without him I wouldn’t have one of my biggest heroes in the world.
The first hero that passed away has been a massive part of my life for as long as I can remember even if I’ve only ever seen one film with him in it in a major role. I watched the movie Singin’ In The Rain with my grandma that I’ve since had to cut out of my life when I was four. She is where I get my love of musical theater from since my parents while they enjoy it they don’t love it like me. Most of my friends that know me probably find this hero really weird but if I were to want to thank any of these men it would be this one. Since I was four I have been obsessed with the tap dancing of Donald O’Connor. To me, even though he was around during the 40′s 50′s and 60′s when dancing was a huge deal since you had Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and probably man more he is the one that has most inspired me. His enthusiasm when you got a pair of tap shoes on him is something that’s infectious. He is easily one of the handsomest celebrities to me as well there’s just something that he gave me when I was younger. It was this inspiration to be yourself even if that self was somewhat weird and spazzy he never once was anything other than the same goofball that always was. To me he is Cosmo the character that he played in Singin’ In The Rain. I’m going to watch I Love Melvin tomorrow, this year I’m making it a goal for myself to watch all the musicals that he was in. I also adore him in Out To Sea even though he has a bit of a minor part it was still one of my favorite parts of the movie. He makes just about everything better for me and I couldn’t be happier that I was introduced to him at such a young age.
My final one is probably right behind Rob Paulsen in terms of how much my life was changed thanks to him. He’s a man that everybody seems to have forgotten about but he worked for Disney during the 80's and 90's before he passed away. He was a songwriter who hit the bigtime when him and his writing partner made a little musical called Little Shop of Horrors. I am, of course talking about Howard Ashman. He gave me the confidence to always speak my mind in a sort of funny way. He didn’t take anybody’s bullshit and that spoke to a shy and socially awkward 15 year old me. I first learned about him through the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty. I knew his name but I never really thought about the man that wrote the music I grew up with. He was very opinionated and usually knew best about music. We certainly wouldn’t have Part Of Your World or the Beast’s complex backstory if he hadn’t been writing and working so closely with the crew.
That was my very long winded list of heroes. Do any of you have hero’s or people that have inspired you?
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Just for shits and giggles, here’s an out of context list summarizing my movie reviews:
The Secret of Kells - Shelf steals a joke from senpai and regrets it forever.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Shelf writes a novel-length essay on a movie nobody’s ever heard of.
Wreck It Ralph - Shelf has a ball coming up with video game references.
The Nightmare Before Christmas - Shelf gushes over Danny Elfman for twenty minutes.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Shelf defends what Tolkienites refer to as Peter Jackson’s The Phantom Menace.
Rise of the Guardians - Shelf’s holiday calendar gets jumbled not for the last time.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Shelf introduces a recurring character that nobody likes.
Beauty and the Beast - Shelf gushes over Howard Ashman and Glen Keane for twenty minutes.
Darby O’Gill and the Little People - Shelf prays she doesn’t offend the Irish and scoffs at a banshee.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad - Shelf confronts a childhood terror in the form of a decapitated equestrian.
Spirited Away - Shelf gushes over Hayao Miyazaki for twenty minutes.
The Sound of Music - Shelf does not count nazis among her favorite things.
Zootopia - Shelf tackles colorfully animated racism and misogyny allegories and correctly predicts the dangers of putting a wealthy orangutan in power.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Shelf bemoans the loss of the candy man and postulates on how he made the world taste good.
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Shelf climbs out of a politically induced depression with the help of the second-greatest sword fight of all time.
The Wizard of Oz - Shelf pontificates the nature of villainy as portrayed by a former kindergarten teacher turned actress without making a single Wicked reference.
Peter Pan - Shelf shouts atop a soapbox about race portrayals from a bygone era and censorship for far longer than anyone cares for.
Singing in the Rain - Shelf presents a rare if somewhat skewed glimpse into the rivalry between Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.
Clash of the Titans - Shelf defends owl droids and admires Harry Hamlin’s pectorals.
Much Ado About Nothing - Shelf dissects the world’s oldest romcom and defends(?) Keanu Reeves.
Moana - Shelf gushes over Lin Manuel Miranda for twenty minutes.
The Prince of Egypt - Shelf gushes over hand drawn animation for twenty minutes.
Muppet Treasure Island - Shelf eschews the opinions of former oppressors and declares her love for the second-greatest Muppet movie (and also Tim Curry).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - Shelf defends Chris Columbus and waits in vain for her letter to Hogwarts.
Fun and Fancy Free - Shelf champions Ludwig von Drake over Edgar Bergen but thanks him for influencing the Muppets regardless.
Pippi Longstocking - Shelf offers an alternative psychological dive into the mind of Sweden’s most iconic literary heroine.
An American Tail - Shelf gushes over Don Bluth (and Dom DeLuise) for twenty minutes.
The Music Man - Shelf comes to the horrible realization that a childhood favorite predated a wealthy orangutan’s salesman techniques.
The Black Cauldron, Pt. 1 - Shelf delves into the making of a black sheep and torpedoes the “What Walt Would Have Wanted” argument.
The Black Cauldron, Pt. 2 - Shelf reviews the damn movie already and traumatizes a running gag turned recurring character in the process.
A Night at the Opera - Shelf gushes over the Marx Brothers for twenty minutes.
The Nutcracker Prince - Shelf cracks open a moldy old holiday chestnut but saves the best for last.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Shelf goes too deep into the behind the scenes stories of the world’s “first” animated movie.
Pinocchio - Shelf alienates a lot of people by introducing religious allegories to a puppet and cricket.
Fantasia - Shelf took way too long to write this one and it fucking shows.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure - Shelf tries to make up for missing too many deadlines by overanalyzing Robbi Rob’s greatest hits.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Shelf defends what Tolkienites refer to as Peter Jackson’s The Clone Wars but gets triggered by the Wilhelm scream. (Coming June 1st)
#out of context#movie review blog#movie reviews#up on the shelf#the hobbit#secret of kells#chitty chitty bang bang#baron muchausen#wreck it ralph#the nightmare before christmas#rise of the guardians#beauty and the beast#disney#adventures of ichabod and mr. toad#darby o gill#spirited away#hayao miyazaki#prince of egypt#don bluth#an american tail#the sound of music#zootopia#willy wonka#robin hood#wizard of oz#peter pan#bill and ted’s excellent adventure#the black cauldron#snow white#animation
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Wish list
Because it is Jul <3
Eggs
Pants of all sorts
Teardrop rings
Sashes of all sorts
Silks (gold, red, white, rainbooow )
Seraph apparel
Swords of all sorts
Rose Thorn apparel
Sylvan stuff
Moonlight Lace stuff
Art
Rp letters <3
Frogs of all sorts
Animal apparel
Old festival stuff
Accents
Gems & Treasure
Talonclasp Pendants
Autumnal Wreath
Genes?
Ripple, Runes and Glimmer, Safari, Poison, Toxin, Savannah, SD scroll, Ridgie scroll, Coatl, WILDCLAW
And familiars. Below the cut because I miss ehm a few..
Amberwing Waveskimmer
Ashmane Chimera
Barkback Boar
Barking Jester
Bengal Chimera
Bone Fiend
Boolean
Brown-Spotted Mith
Cinderkelp Loach
Cog Frog
Crowned Roc
Dappled Dunhoof
Darktouched Chimera
Fire Sprite
Fluted Pukasloth
Frost Delver
Glamortail Hopper
Glasswing Flutter
Golden Featherfin
Golden Idol
Greenwing Razorclaw
Hippojay
Kelpie
Light Sprite
Living Luminance
Longhorn Capricat
Longneck Gladiator
Longneck Scrapper
Malevolent Spirit
Manticore
Melprin
Molten Wartoad
Overcharged Silverbeast
Pink-Tail Mole
Prancing Capricat
Primrose Mith
Ragamouse
Raptorik Bladedancer
Raptorik Ringmaster
Red-Footed Akirbeak
Rivermouth Flatbill
Roc
Roundhorn Melprin
Ruffle Glasswing
Silky Mole
Silver Featherfin
Skycat
Speedy
Spotted faun
Spotted Pukasloth
Stone Borer
Stormclaw Showman
Swamphaunt Kelpie
Tender Larail
Tendril Loach
Undying Featherback
Wartoad
Wasteland Collector
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Tailoring For the Monkees
Rochelle Read, KRLA Beat, 25 February 1967
Outfitting the Monkecs is a big business! Davy, Mike, Peter and Micky own 250 pairs of pants for screen wear alone, and the sewing machines are whirring every day.
Since they began filming, the Monkees have collected some 1800 sets of clothes, and that's just a start—so says Gene Ashman, who assumes the mammoth, but fascinating task of clothing all four guys.
An expert in the field, Gene has clothed major movie stars for over 16 years, but that doesn't make him uncool—Gene knows a groovy outfit when he sees it. Or designs it, as the case may be.
Gene and a Hollywood clothier, Lenny Able, collaborated on the design of the double button shirts which have become almost a trademark for the group, and Lenny sewed them up.
Plasterin front
Lenny wound up making numerous sets of the shirts, which have a “Plasterin front" and not double breasted front, Gene explained. The guys own them in four different colors —burgundy, Navy blue, gold and cream.
With the shirts, the Monkees generally wear Herringbone or Gambler's Stripe (larger than pin stripe) pants and, of course, boots. Their trousers, tapered and fitted especially for each Monkee, are cut about two inches higher than the usual hip-hugger design but give the appearance of being the real thing.
The Monkees are seldom forced to go through tiring fittings. Early in their careers, they were measured by the studio tailor shop and the shop presents each haberdasher with exact figures from which he cuts the clothes. The Monkees themselves drop by only if special tailoring is needed.
Gene describes Monkee clothes as the “Mod-Western look.” An appropriate tag, it sums up the slightly English clothes Davy wears, the Western garb favored by Mike and the in-between styles worn by Micky and Peter.
Different Styles
Though the Monkees’ clothes usually look identical on television, closer examination reveals they are cut differently for each member of the group. While Davy wears his modified English style suits, Mike’s may be three button, Peter’s one button and Micky’s double-breasted.
“We wanted something not strictly Carnaby Street,’’ Gene explained, adding that many Carnaby costumes are “absolute plagiarism of old period costumes.”
The main idea, he went on, is to “complement the Monkees rather than make them unique.” In other words. Screen Gems wants the Monkees easily identifiable to everyone, and not freaks or clothes horses. They also want each Monkee to be an individual, and wear clothes fitting his personality.
Future Monkee shows will hold changes and additions to the Monkees wardrobe. New shirts have just been completed, and are a distinct departure from the double button style. The basic front design this time is a V-shape, designed to make the shoulders appear wide and then narrow down at the waist.
The shirts, made in a cotton Chambray material, have been sewn up in three colors.
Gene has also designed a “tie-scarf’ for the Monkees. Somewhere between an ascot and a tie, it is worn close to the neck like an ascot or can be draped uodemeath the collar, like a scarf or tie.
Both Lenny and Gene agreed that “the guys have great taste.” Davy and Mike especially are noted for knowing when they try on a suit whether it looks right or not. “They are 99 per cent right,” Lenny added.
But can you ever imagine the Monkees getting their clothes dirty? Happens all the time, says Gene. And each night after filming stops, all the Monkees clothes are dry cleaned and returned to the set by the next morning.
In their private lives, the Monkees dress very much as they do on screen. Davy just recently purchased some modified bell-bottom trousers for his vacation, along with several shirts.
Though Monkec styles are less extreme than many worn by pop croups, they are definitely trend setters. In fact. Gene predicts that within several months, people all all over the world will be switching on with the “Mod-Western Look.”
#monkees#davy jones#peter tork#mike nesmith#micky dolenz#sixties fashion#fashion#costuming#mod#carnaby street#1967#1960s#sixties#60s
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Little Shop of Horrors: Gender, Race, Genre Formatted from the original script I utilized for a video essay
At times, the Musical genre and necessity of its component parts do damage to the narrative through long musical interludes that appear to literally lose the plot for minutes at a time. So easily then, is the act of changing characters into caricatures, little avatars aspiring to be part of a larger and more cohesive film. Thus, one can discern the disregard the Film Industry as a whole appears to possess towards the Musical genre; an interesting escapade with little dots of worth sprinkled amongst childish attempts at narrative. While this stance appears fairly consistent in critical circles, it is an underhanded and weak avenue for which works such as Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and La La Land (2016) to name a few, scoff amidst their bounty of thematic value. Musicals utilize their tools to embolden the emotion and persona onscreen as director Edgar Wright stated in a 2010 interview with /SlashFilm regarding his then in development film, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, “We thought it should play out like a musical in a way in terms of the fights are not dissimilar to the songs. I always thought there were a lot of martial arts films that were like musicals, so we wanted to take that further. Ya know, in a Gene Kelly film when he performs an amazing routine, at the end of the scene no one goes, ‘Oh my god, that was fucking amazing!’ The song is about something, and then there might be some dialogue at the end that is also about that theme. And that’s kind of how this works where people have these huge fights – and it’s kind of like how it is in the books – where everything goes back to normal, and there’s a little reaction to what just happened…” Wright’s summation of the genres dependency upon bursts of emotion contained to exclusive events, or more aptly put, songs, highlights the reason well-directed musicals possess just as much artistic merit as their counterparts outside the genre. However, emotion is not always the key ingredient in the boiling point that sets off a musical number as is evident in Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Rather, any number of thematic undertones can possess the narrative and induce the inner machinations of directorial intent to spur musical pieces with messages pertaining to, in this case, politics. Utilizing themes relevant to the era of release, and that of its Roger Corman original, Little Shop is a musical that portrays Racial tensions, Class, Heteronormativity,, the War on Drugs, Nixionisim, and the American Dream, through a musical lens which tells the tale of outlandish killer space plants subtly invading earth. Through catchy tracks and visual stimuli, Little Shop of Horrors tendrils pried its way into the public consciousness under the pretense of a genre flick, only to, much like Audrey II, unfurl into something much larger than originally anticipated, “And this terrifying enemy surfaced- as such enemies often do- in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places”(LSH)
The lineage of the work is a well storied revisiting and altering of the source material. The most arguably “famous” version of the work being 1986s aforementioned Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Frank OZ, a screen adaptation of the Off Broadway 1982 play of the same name. The play itself, however, was adapted from the original 1960 Roger Corman low-budget classic, The Little Shop of Horrors which itself is thought to conceptually based upon the 1932 short story, Green Thoughts, written by Jon Collier. The narrative of Little Shop of Horrors takes place at the same time as its 1960 predecessor and is set in the same decade. JFK is president and as the opening crawl tells the viewer, “On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in a year not too long before our own” (LSH) which would evidently mean it takes places somewhere between 1961 to 1963 as JFK’s assassination was not until November of 63. The reasoning for which this is important falls upon the thematic underlying of the film, namely that of issues between Black integration into White society. The 1960s were a hotbed for social upheaval, between the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and landing on the Moon; the world was rapidly undergoing massive change at an unprecedented rate. A hotbed setting regarding aliens subtly invading earth further played host to national distrust of authority which was further stoked by the fallout from Richard Nixon’s presidential term in office, resulting in a more cynical America than previously encountered. The original stage production’s creators, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, understanding the political landscape of the two eras’s manipulated the original plot of The Little Shop of Horrors to service the needs of the American people, criticizing core values like the American Dream and the moral cost of pursuing it.
Utilizing the tools inherent within the genre, through the use of pastiche, the film conveys it’s characters personalities, setting immediate expectations for the unfolding narrative. The threesome interacting directly with the audience are an evident parody/reference the Moirai, or as they are known today, the Fates. White-robed fragments of Destiny, they were denoted by their actions, the Spinner, the Allotter, and the Unturnable. In Little Shop, they exist outside of the narrative, observers of a pivotal event in the course of the universe, as the weavers of Destiny, controlling the “metaphorical thread of life of every mortal from birth to death” (WIKI) While they themselves never appear to have this kind of agency in the narrative, their musical interludes, which themselves resemble a gospel choir, only appear at important points in the story. They are present so as to continue weaving the image of their whole. Audrey, high pitched and stereotypically feminine, literally wishing for nothing more than to be a housewife as seen in the playfully nihilistic “somewhere Green”, is represented by pretty woodwind instruments and chimes, gentle and optimistic music which conveys her nature and fragility. Seymour himself begins as a character represented by clumsy and mournfully sorrow representation with songs like “Grow for Me” which has playful charm and wit but is clearly about Seymour’s failure to convince his newfound plant life to grow. When, finally, it responds to him, he bemoans the circumstance as the only sustenance the plant, who is to become known as Audrey II, desires are human blood. When, finally, Seymour surrenders to the plant begins to feed it, his musical numbers warp and shift, becoming more flavourful and R&B inspired. With his musical voice shifting to a more ‘Urban’ style, to better suit Audrey II’s own voice, he becomes characterized as the other the further his own style shifts. Further reinforcing stereotypical views of urban lifestyles, this shift occurs as Seymour begins to act outside of the rules of society in order to continue his pursuit of fame. Audrey II itself is classified as the other through its visual style but also the stylistic choices that carry Seymour along with it, R&B. Audrey II, voiced by Levi Stubbs, lead singer of R&B group Four Tops, is clearly ethnicized as black. Vocal language, as well as evident musical style, denotes this and with this in mind, it is the “monster” that corrupts the genuine and wholesome Seymour. As Audrey II is racialized to fit into a specific ethnography, it appears that traditionally black music is a threat to the white standard of living and is to be feared.
Seymour’s journey to stardom through the public’s sudden obsession with Audrey II stems from the same healthy disdain the creators of the stage production held in regards to the path towards the American Dream which parallels the Nixon presidency, relevant at the time of the film's release as his time in office was completed barely a decade prior and the American people were still reeling from his term as president. The journey to greatness for both Seymour and Nixon were, as the quote goes, “paved with good intentions” however ultimately both led to corruption and ethical degradation of character. As Seymour pinned for the love of Audrey, Nixon attempted much the same with his country, attempting to rig his way to success. Both wanted more than was given to them and through the struggle to attain it, lost themselves in the process. This is what the two creators of the original stage production meant when they alluded to the American Dream being a worthy venture, as it is, however, as they themselves noted, it’s the journey that damns the soul, not the prize at the end of the road. The temptation to continue down the path to the desired goal is strongly presented in the narrative by the musical interludes which lend story-progression and thematic scoring to the academic context of the film. “Grow for Me” represents the beginning of this journey, a difficult first step onto a larger path which takes some time and accustomization to adapt to. Yet, before long, it begins to feel as though turning back no longer feels like an option as displayed by the song “Feed me (git it)”. However, when it actually is too late, “Meek Shall Inherit”, “Mean Green Mother”, and “Don’t Feed the Plants” there is nothing to be done but look back mournfully in hindsight, just as the U.S did post-Cambodian bombing and Watergate Scandal.
The musical piece “Skid Row” speaks at great length to both the realities and stereotypical depictions of living “downtown”. Everyone involved in the number is looking for a way out as is evident with quotes like “I’d move Heaven and Hell to get out of here” and “ I don’t know what I’d do to get out of here” downtown is painted as a horrific place to live but it’s also a place of great diversity. There are far more people of colour present in this number than whites and still, they don’t have the platform to speak to the further woes of living on skid row as the two white leads are the focus of attention. It’s not until Audrey II is nearly full grown that the shift begins to move from the white protagonists and over to the “other” That said, the three Do-op girls have a number to themselves prior to this, at the beginning of the film in the prologue “Little Shop of Horrors” yet as they function as an in-universe representation of the Fates as previously mentioned, no attention is paid to them as they are effectively invisible, just like minority representation in these communities. Unheard from until their voices become a loud roar, no longer able to be silenced.
Little Shop of Horrors is a momentous work which further validates the artistic legitimacy of the musical genre. With a nearly endless amount of respect for its viewing audience, the film is genuinely intelligent and navigates its own themes with grace. Immensely rewatchable and catchy, it easily crawls its way into the brain and stirs one’s mind. Subtly at first, until, all at once, the connections to larger themes become startlingly relevant to the viewer. At first glance, perhaps, a film about a giant singing plant appears like a fun shlock filled adventure. Meaningless in its content but properly constructed to kill a few hours of time. Which is why this iteration works so well, it leads to such a promise but, much like Seymour in the original cut of the film, it pulls one along until, suddenly, you are consumed.
#little shop of horrors#shop#musical#film#queen's university#video essay#script#essay#thought#process#music#space#alien#70s#nixon#race#gender
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Fwd: Postdoc: Pittsburgh.PlantEvolution
Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Postdoc: Pittsburgh.PlantEvolution > Date: 18 October 2019 at 07:10:54 BST > To: [email protected] > > > Postdoctoral position in Plant evolutionary ecology > University of Pittsburgh > > Postdoctoral position on sexual dimorphism and gene expression changes in > response to different sex chromosomes in the lab of Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman, > as a part of a collaborative NSF-funded project with Dr. Aaron Liston > examining functional and genomic consequences of sex chromosome evolution. > > The postdoc will assess consequences of sex chromosome turnover for > sexual dimorphism in functional traits, abiotic stress tolerance, > species interactions, and gene expression by analyzing reproductive and > vegetative QTLs and transcriptomes from several genetic linkage mapped > families. The postdoc will ultimately link these to processes driving > sex chromosome turnover events as part of the overall project using > the octoploid wild strawberry (Fragaria) a model system with young > homomorphic ZW sex chromosomes (Tennessen et al. 2018 PLOS Biology > https://ift.tt/2GVEOY8). > > Responsibilities include the establishment and characterization of QTL > mapping populations, collection and analysis of data for genetic maps, > phenotypic, species interaction and gene expression analyses, and the > preparation of manuscripts for publication. > > Position affords opportunities for training in QTL and gene expression > studies and in undergraduate mentoring, scientific outreach, and the > design and implementation of allied projects tailored to the skills and > interests of the postdoc. > > An ideal candidate is 1) evolutionary-minded with complementary skills, > willingness to cross-train and collaborative spirit, 2) has background in > evolutionary ecology, population biology or population genomics, plant > biology and 3) desire to expand expertise in quantitative genetics, > genetic mapping, gene expression, functional ecology or species > interactions. > > Position is for three years and will be based in the Department > of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, > PA. Start date is negotiable, but expected early 2020. > > TO APPLY: Please send a CV and a cover letter describing your experience > and interests to [email protected] along with the names and contact > information for three referees. Review of applications will commence > immediately and continue until filled. > > Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman > Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolution > Department of Biological Sciences > University of Pittsburgh > Pittsburgh, PA 15260-3929 > 412-624-0984 > https://ift.tt/2YYO1W9 > > > "Ashman, Tia-Lynn" >
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I Make The Monkees Clothes by Gene Ashman from 16 (October 1967)
That groovy Monkee look and how it came about!
About the author
Gene Ashman was born in Los Angeles. At the age of ten, he moved to New York City, where he studied classical piano for five years. At 15, he returned to L.A., and while studying history at the University of Southern California he became interested in designing costumes. Since then Gene has become one of the most sought-after costume designers in the movie and television industry...
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Mike and Gene Ashman on the set of Head
(Source)
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