Goodbye Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig a 7 year cast member on Saturday Night Live performed in her last show on Saturday night.  Wiig got a musical send off from host and musical guest Mick Jagger, where she danced with other cast members and producer Lorne Michaels.  The cast members sang “She’s a Rainbow” and then transitioned to “Goodbye Ruby Tuesday.”  Some other SNL alums also showed up to participate in the send off.  Wiig was a very versatile performer, and in my opinion the strongest cast member of recent years.  Some of her skills rival the variety of characters that Will Ferrell used to play!  I am sad to see her go, but excited to see what she will do in her future career post-SNL.  Boo to Hulu for not being able to be posted on WordPress, but go and enjoy the link below.  It is emotional and fun to watch!

saturday-night-live-shes-a-rainbow

 

 

Midnight Maddness!

Midnight premiers are one of my favorite communal experiences.  It’s not often you get to sit down with like minded people who are all super fans of the same thing.  There is a heightened sense of excitement and enthusiasm in the room, especially when the film lives up to all expectations.  I recently had the opportunity to watch all 5 Avengers movies in a row leading up to the premier of The Avengers.  That may have been my all time favorite movie going experiences, the excitement and suspense in the room was palpable to all in attendance.

When you get to the end of a Broadway musical or a live performance there is typically applause, something you generally do not see in a movie theater.  At the end of most midnight premiers there is a loud applause when the movie is finished.  I think this is an ovation to all of the people who worked hard to put that film together.  It’s also apart of the fun communal experience everyone feels when something spectacular is seen.  It’s moments like these that bind us together, and make us feel apart of the whole.

I have seen several midnight premiers, and then gone to see the movie in theaters again a few days or weeks later.  I can tell you the midnight experience is much more fun then any of those later experiences.  There is a higher level of reaction by audience members, be it through laughter at just the right times or cheering when the protagonist makes just the right move!  The times I have gone to a repeat showing I have often been let down by the audience, which completely changes the movie going experience.  Sometimes it even gives me a different perspective on the film, and there is often a let down in what was so magical the first time around.

If you have not been there you need to go, positive emotions truly form great impacts on the world.  With regards to how we feel, our outlook on life, and the success of an improv scene; midnight premiers is one place in the real world where you can find a definite outflow of positive emotions.  The summer season is just beginning, and I will take in at least one more midnight showing when the batman returns to the big screen, and I can promise one thing on that night, a positive and highly eclectic movie going experience.

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer #3

Here is the third trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which will be released on July 20th.  This trailer will be attached to The Avengers this weekend, but was released early to the fans through a fun and creative viral marketing campaign.  As a huge Batman and Christopher Nolan fan, I needed to post it here.  Enjoy, and get ready for Rises!

3AM Improv Thoughts by Jill Bernard

Check out this awesome video by Jill Bernard.  I took a workshop with Jill about two years ago, and she was so awesome and refreshing.  It’s reiterated in this video, but Jill definitely taught me to let go in my improv and to like what I did on stage.  It’s easy to always be judgmental while I was in the moment improvising, and especially once I got off stage.  Thanks to Jill, I let that go, at least a little bit!

The Gifts of Apollo

This video has really got me thinking recently.  I have been really sad since the last space shuttle mission, and what that means for our country and species.  Before I was even born, we landed men on the moon, and since that point in time, we have never gone back.  And now, we are no longer able or planning on sending people from our own country into space.  That is something which is very sad to me.

Without even that overall thought process to provoke us, I really love the end of this video.  It shows the current budget for all of the world’s militaries right next to the total budget for all of the world’s space programs.  For me the difficult answers we face are very easy to be solved.  We have a large amount of resources, and we have some big problems and issues.  I know which one’s I would pick out, and send our best and brightest to fix.  It actually seems much simpler then anyone ever make it.  I think it is time we refigure out our priorities.

Need Improv

I have been out of the improv game for 51 days, and each moment seems like an aching pain to my body.  While I was living in North Carolina and more specifically for the last year, I have been doing improv in some form or another about five nights a week.  To get out of the game cold turkey as I moved across the country has been a hard transition to make.  While the wheels are slowly starting to turn in the direction of reintroducing improv into my life, here are my thoughts on why I need improv.

We live in a world of no, and sometimes negativity comes along with that.  In the everyday world we hear the same old answers ad nauseam, “there is not enough money in the budget, it can’t be done, that won’t work.”  While living in that world on the everyday, it is so nice to walk into a place where you know that every single option put on the table will be accepted and heightened! “Yes and,” invigorating and refreshing to the soul!

Improv is journey taken together.  When you and your scene partner are on stage, you have to be going in the same direction, even if it doesn’t appear that way to the audience.  Whatever the adventure put forth, there needs to be an acceptance of that is where the scene is going.  Sometimes that doesn’t happen in the real world, hey lets go here this weekend, doesn’t always end up being a cool trip planned and implemented.  The journey wanted and needed!

The ultimate creative outlet, at least for me!  As you can tell from this blog, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to creativity.  I thrive on it, my way of life.  I was recently on the phone with a college friend and I was talking about creativity.  She said with the most direct of tone, “you certainly are creative!”  I have come to learn I am great with the idea generation, but not necessarily the details on making it happen.  In the real world I need to live in those moments of creativity, and then get down to business.  In improv it’s the other way around, I need to get down to business, and then be endlessly creative!

Being a bit goofy!  I love to be goofy, weird, sarcastic, and a little crazy.  Something else I need to really temper in the real world.  It makes people uncomfortable and question your validity, especially when you are the boss.  I need to be goofy, and that is where the improv outlet helps me the most.  I love scenic, game based scenes, and I think they are even better when it feels true to life.  But, I love myself a good scene that goes to crazy town!

Wow, it felt good to get that out. I have been feeling a bit of angst recently, and this was my diagnosis!    Now the hard part, making the improv happen!

Unless

Unless, from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

This word has been ringing in my head a bit lately.  It has actually come up for me a couple times this past week.  It’s a big feature in The Lorax, which I went to see last week and the central theme in last weeks TED Talk Favorite post.  I never really thought about unless being a powerful word, but it makes a lot of sense, and it makes the impetus to action really powerful.

First off a bit about The Lorax.  I really liked the film, but I did not love it.  The Lorax is my absolute favorite Dr. Seuss book, so the film had a lot to live up too.  I always get nervous when short children’s books get turned into the movie, because in obvious terms the film needs to get some added backstory, and usually it is horrible.  Usually the added backstory ruins the original theme and feel of the story, with the Lorax the backstory seems to fit in pretty nicely.  The actual Lorax seemed a bit of a weaker character then in the book, but the one thing I really liked was the change in the Onceler character.  The film portrayed the Onceler and Lorax to be a bit closer, the Onceler didn’t seem to want to cut down the trees, but quickly went down a terribly destructive path by making several seemingly insignificant decisions.  That is my theory on how people go bad.  This was encompassed by the quote from the film, “what way does a tree fall, the way it leans, which way will you lean?”

One of my favorite Seuss quotes comes from the Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”  It really puts the action into the activism cause.  If you care about something, you need to go out and make it happen.  No one else is going to do it for you, and we all have the power to make things happen.

In the Larry Smith TED talk, he basically throws failure and inactivity into your face.  The ending crux of his talk is the word unless, right along with The Lorax.  Unless you take action of your own life, unless you find your passion, unless you don’t let other things distract you from your dreams, you will be unhappy.  There you will be living a second rate life, and who wants to do that. Unless action is taken, a move towards our ultimate dreams and passions.

Vacation Vindication

My family enjoying Disney World during on of my recent trip!

Ask anyone who knows me I am a vacationer.  I find it very important to get out of dodge on a regular basis, even if it is for short bursts of time.  I like to visit my family, and they live pretty far away from me, I love to go to new places, I love to go to Disney.  It might also have to do with some of my goals, one being to set foot in every state.  Those things require me to get out of the office and utilize my vacation time.  While that might not always be the most popular idea, this recent article by Fast Company might prove those ideas wrong.

Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity

Vacation sometimes seems like a dirty word.  Overall my experiences have placed a value to vacation and putting the time to use, but sometimes it doesn’t always feel that way.  Numerous times I have put my nose to the work email while I have been away, or not getting “everything” done before leaveing and then thinking about or doing work while on the road.  According to the article I am not the only one.

One of the most important aspects for me is not living the 9-5 lifestyle.  I know I know I currently work in the 9-5 environment and definitely live that life.  One of the best aspects of being a live in staff member is I do get to work some funky hours, and I always feel pretty supported in making those long hours work out in positive ways.  This is where the above article comes into play.  Apparently some companies are moving into an unlimited vacation policy, and apparently it is working positively.

Actually productivity is up!  If you hire the right people, those who want to be there and be productive, big shocker, they won’t abuse the system.  The companies have found people are more productive and people work vacation around their busy times and deadlines.  Instead of leaving all the time, people don’t feel the pressure of working these mythical hours around when they can actually take off.  One of the biggest benefits of the new system is no forms, no lost productivity or extra work in tracking everyone’s vacation, no arguments when an employee leaves the company fighting over pay outs and vacation time.  I can relate as I currently moved through that in my job transition, and I have watched fellow employees save up the time for an extra paycheck, something I never believed in.  I always had a firm stance of finding the balance is more important than an extra pay check; you may get more money, but lose something more valuable, time!

I am all about changing up the traditional structure.  How do we make changes, give people more freedom, but push people to be more productive and accountable.  You may say, won’t people take advantage of the system?  I am sure there are a few, but they are the same few who probably take advantage of the current system or don’t work hard anyway, so my thoughts are what’s the difference?  Maybe one day when I own my own company I can give this process a whirl, until then I will live in the 9-5 and time accruals, but doesn’t this new paradigm just sound great?

Mister Diplomat

On February 22nd, I had the honor of being the guest monologist for Mister Diplomat.  This is the headline show at DSI where some of our top improvisers play scenes based off of stories told by local celebrities.  It was so fun to tell some of my stories, and then see how the team used the different details to play their scenes!  Enjoy the show!

Did You Know?

Super interesting video about social media and its current statistics.  How are your using social media?