This Bird is the Word... any word.

So I was getting ready to head to class this morning when my friend Andrew posted something interesting - it was a video of a lyrebird. Now,what is a lyrebird, you may ask?

It's a bird that apparently can mimic any sound. It listens to the environment around it, and somehow "downloads" the sound into its mind and vocal cords, and reproduces it exactly.

This is today's Tiny Little Moment - and next time you think you're hearing one thing, remember - a lyrebird may be watching.

Birthday of the Bard

Yesterday was Shakespeare's birthday. I did much to celebrate - I read the book "Filthy Shakespeare," which is based completely around Shakespeare's sexual puns in his work, and watched "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. A pleasant day, to say the least - I was able to procrastinate working on my numerous papers, here at the end of the semester.

For you, this post comes a day late. However, here's a little something to celebrate:

Shakespeare was born on April 23, and he died on April 23. Happy Birthday, Bard.

Tickle?

So - this posting covers one of the most awesome subjects in the world: Penguins.

I remember when I realized I liked penguins - it was in Galveston, Texas, at the resort there, and they had a BUNCH of penguins at the aquarium, and I couldn't stop watching them swim around. They were so AWESOME.

So I regularly pay attention to penguin-related stuff, and I recognized the cuteness factor of penguins. But my question is - What does a penguin laugh sound like?

The answer (in the following video) is revealed - penguin laughs sound like cars that refuse to start.

Creating a World

My girlfriend is an artist. It runs in her family. Her mother is a fantastic visual artist, her relatives all have amazing artistic talent, and her father is an actor. So it all boiled down into her - an artist actress with beautiful blue eyes and some amazing talent.

So, I occasionally come up with some projects for her to work on - she's always looking for cool artsy thinks to do, from woodburning to spraypainting to helping me create props for Richmond Shakespeare.

Mary - here's your next project:

Cool Things Happen at the VMFA

This past weekend, several of my friends participated in a flash mob. Now you may think: "A flash mob! You mean one of those singing and dancing things in a random food court?!" No - my friends and Richmond Shakespeare are MUCH cooler than that. They are subtle.

The location: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The occasion: Promoting ART (by Yasmina Reza), which runs April 22-24 at the VMFA. Needless to say, this had the potential to be a great flash mob event.

The actors showed up at the VMFA on April 9th in the morning, and were discretely shown where they each would "mob" at. Then, at the signal, they began their flash mob.

The signal was sent, and the actors, walking near their positions, assumed the poses of famous works of art, in the middle of the busy day at the VMFA. They held these poses, and crowds gathered to watch.

Great things happen in Richmond everyday - theatre, art, culture. It's awe-inspiring when these come together.

Here's the flash mob video - watch it. And then, go see ART, by Yasmina Reza, running April 22-24 at the VMFA and April 29-May 15 at Sycamore Rouge.

Hey Cupid - Mike Posner

This blog post involves a bit of self-promotion.

A few months ago, I and my friends at the recently created Blue Ark Productions came up with an idea - to make a music video for Mike Posner's "Hey Cupid" off the A Matter of Time mixtape. We emailed J Records and Mike, and they gave us permission to do it. As fans of Mike's work - this was pretty awesome.

So we created a shot list,found locations, and found a crew to work. Now, months later, here is the final product:

Waiting - We Need to Go Deeper

Hey all!

So, I'm home for weekend, and just went to see Henley Street Theatre's Waiting for Godot. Great Show! My friends Bob Jones and Foster Solomon were part of the cast - I recommend everyone go see it! Or read the play - Waiting for Godot is one of those plays that you just have to read. You may hate it, you may love it.

Tomorrow I have an audition for Two Gentlemen of Verona at Richmond Shakespeare - wish me luck. But as I sit here trying to fall asleep I found this video... it's little Leo,back before Titanic, Inception, etc. The entire time I watched this, I kept thinking - the concept of Inception would be great marketing for Bubble Yum....

Portal 2

Hey folks!

So I stayed up last night writing a series of papers for class - fun, right? (Well, it kinda was). The not-fun part of yesterday was the bi-polar Blacksburg weather... 70's on Monday, but then snowing yesterday morning. WHAT?!

But today I saw a pretty neat "ad" for Portal 2. Now - Portal (the original) was an amazing game, if a bit short. I can only imagine that Portal 2 is insanely fun. Here you go!

Video Games | Portal 2 | Investment Opportunity: Turrets HD

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself...

This is a long post. But it's definitely worth the read.

The 24 Hour Theatre Project has come and gone. In its place, I have a program, a poster, a script, and an amazing experience to remember for the rest of my life.

When I walked into the T101 Theatre (Virginia Tech)at 7:00 yesterday morning (April 2nd), I was nervous about what my script would be, anxious about my actors memorizing lines, and worried that I wasn't up to the task of directing this show.

1st win of the day - John Kayrouz had written me a script that was pure gold. The play was entitled "Devil's Audition." This play literally had EVERYTHING - Shakespeare, Marlowe, liquor, anger, sex, conceit, deceit, and massive amounts of honey. Thank you, John Kayrouz.

My actors showed up at 730 - we went to our first rehearsal space (of many - there was a rotation schedule) and immediately started doing read-thrus and putting it on its feet. The roles were written perfectly for my actors - Jonny Walker for his "lady's man" mentality, Cyrus for his showmanship, and Carter for his previously unknown ability to be intimidating, yet strangely amiable.

2nd win of the day - My actors were good at their craft.

We broke for lunch, and my actors went off with each other to Souvlaki's - a little restaurant across the street, where I encountered them ten minutes later running lines and having fun. What a team.

We came back after lunch, and hopped right into solidifying blocking - I had my first near-heart attack of the night... I realized we had less than 7 hours left and we weren't off book yet. The blocking was down. The next few hours focused on lines.

About mid-way through line work, late afternoon/early evening, we had to run Tech. I had a simple cue list - but my set was the most intricate part. I had used nearly all the stock elements we had to create the Lobby/Bar of the Gate Royale Hotel (the setting) and the run crew did not like me at that point. But I fought for the set, and kept it.

3rd win of the day - easy cue-to-cue, and managing to have my set as well.

Then, dinner break. This was where my actors kept running lines. And guess what?

4th win of the day - They got them!!!!

We had a project-wide meeting at 630 - Alyssa said "House opens in 25!" and we hopped to it. I collected my actors for one last line-through, created a honey ritual (honey was intrinsic to this play - we all swallowed a spoonful of honey for luck) and then I yelled:

ACTORS! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION!

and the response - "HOOAH! HOOAH! HOOAH!"

Another glorious moment.

Finally, the show went up at 730. I was in the audience. The first half shows (1 - The Fairest One - a bachelor show with Paris of Troy, Hero, Athena, and Aphrodite. 2 - When the Arrow Leaves the Bow - an unsettling murder mystery. 3 - Your Play - A story about a girl and her father) were all fantastically written and directed - seemingly going off without a hitch. The bar was set very high.

After Intermission, the first show was "Friday" (yes, apparently referencing the terrible pop song of the same name by Rebecca Black), about three lesbians and their relations. Again, beautifully executed all around - and then came my show.

Devil's Audition went up. James Miller (played by Jonny Walker) began reciting Hamlet, in preparation for a film shoot. Mel, the Bartender (played by Carter Gaylord) watched him closely from the bar, interjecting at moments with insight for James. Clay Windfield (Cyrus Pynn) walked in and instantly stole the stage. Clay is the ultimate actor, an actor with a capital "A." He was in the spotlight, both offering advice to James and intimidating him in the process, while Mel looked on with contempt. The audience was in stitches.

When Cyrus left the stage, there was a monumental amount of applause. Some stood. In the middle of the show. Does that even happen!?

My show ended. Jonny and Carter wrapped it perfectly. Exactly as I wanted. The applause, once again, was overwhelming.

The final show went up (Secondhand Delivery - a play involving a salesman assassin, a corny husband, and a determined housewife). The entire show received a full standing ovation. Congratulations were had, pictures were taken, the set was struck, and suddenly, it was over as quickly as it had begun.

I went home and slept.

Thanks to all who participated in this project, especially my cast and stage manager Jackie Mullen (She was everything I needed and more) and my author, John. Thanks to Alyssa Kaye Markfort for her organizing this event, and Helen Thomas for helping her execute it.

I leave you with this:

I MADE THIS FOR YOU!

Hey folks.

As I sit here, two amazing things are happening here in Blacksburg.

1st - It snowed today. April 1st. It snowed. A decently large amount.

2nd - THE 24 HOUR THEATRE PROJECT. has BEGUN! I'm directing one of the performances, and let me tell you - this is going to be extremely interesting. For those of you who didn't click that link above, here's the deal -

6 writers. 6 directors. 19 actors. 6 scenes. Each director/writer team has a randomly selected number of actors, who are then randomly selected from the ensemble by the audience. The writers go write a play for those actors/director from 8 pm to 6 am, the directors get the plays at 7 am, and then the actors show up and rehearsals start at 730 am. The shows go up, completely memorized and blocked, at 730 pm.

And that's a show. I'm directing. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow... (actually, Sunday. I'll be exhausted tomorrow.)

Meanwhile, I was revisiting Julian Smith videos. Here's one of my favorites:



Enjoy.