FanFic Ask Me Anything ~*~ Version 3.0 Daily Questions (See list on pg 164 or 1)

1. Due to limited means, I've not been to many live performances of any kind, and most of those that I have been to (and for this I'm counting actual scheduled events done by an established group) were productions put on by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. However, the last time I saw them in concert (an outdoor Independence Day event at the Henry Ford Museum) was really awesome, because the field artillery they brought in to do the cannon shots for the 1812 Overture were only about fifteen meters away from where I was sitting, give or take a few. Far from being scared, I was hootin' and hollerin' in glee!

2. Gotta love classical music performed live, though I wish I could've gone to see Pink Floyd back in the day. Never been to a proper rock concert, so I've got no frame of reference. Seen a stage play here and there, but I prefer being onstage to being in the audience—given that choice, it is by far my favourite. I've actually been in more plays than I've watched.

3. For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to act—probably because I was always acting up! When the chance came to take actual acting classes in high school, they couldn't sign me up fast enough, and I started to get a real sense of what it was like to perform in such a way. Everything, and I mean everything changed when I took up college theatre, both in terms of taking theatre classes and participating in the college theatre company. Learning how to act, how to really transform myself into a new person for the sake of putting on a show, was the real impetus for my transformation from a shy, late-blooming boy into a man brimming with confidence in his abilities and personality, not to mention assertiveness.

 

Cirque du Soleil this past New Year's eve particularity stood out to me. It was just amazing and so well done. I've been to MANY concert-ban performances in Canada and in Cuba, all were a blast. I got to watch a private performance by one of Cuba's well-known a cappella groups. That too was a blast.

EDDDDIIIIITTTT: OOOOOOHHHH MYYY GOOOODDDNESSS! i COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE LION KING!!!! My friend and I snagged tickets to the "live musical" version of the Lion King when we were in London. it was the greatest thing ever!

Music. I love any sort of live concert-band or symphony. I pretty much enjoy any sort of preforming arts, but I know what it is like to put blood, sweat and tears into a piece of music.

I guess I can still be considered an amateur musician. I've always loved music - any sort of classical or movie music - growing up with a blind father, music was just always a part of my life. So when I managed to get into the high school with the top band program in the district, I knew I was going to be a part of it. I was 1st percussion chair all through-out high school. It was an amazing experience, I got to travel and kick butt at regional and national competitions, plus it was one of those electives where you got like 90% just for showing up, practicing and maybe 2 paper assignments (compositions). So it worked for me.

 

Does Chippendales count?

The only live performances I really like are comedy clubs. I was never into concerts, circuses or plays.

EDIT: I forgot to mention. I did like one circus. I was in St. Petersburg, Russia and saw this small one ring circus with bears that danced and rode bikes. They sure looked like bears to me but they were doing some incredible stuff, so I am wondering if they were people in the most realistic bear suits in the world. I am still stumped as to how some of the stunts were done.

There are a lot of things I wouldn't mind learning if they took no effort, but since learning how to play a musical instrument or ride a unicycle takes time and dedication...meh, I'm not really interested in learning anything.

 

Probably my first, Street Scene. I quoted it for quite a long time, and of all the plays I've seen, I remember that the most. That and Pirates of Penzance

Theatre, mainly because it's what I grew up with. Musicals, dramas, operettas... Give me lavish costumes and sets, choreographed fights, and fun songs!

I grew up with it. I don't do too much of theatre nowadays, but I've used what I learned for other things, such as voice acting, and small off-the-cuff skits and whatever little productions Connie at church can rope me into.

Which reminds me, I need to write a script...

 

Aaand this is my section for really long answers!
1. Did you attend a live performance that you found particularly memorable?
Oh yeah!
Hair has been my favorite musical since I was around 8, so when they did the Broadway revival a few years ago, I didn't get the chance to see it on Broadway, but my mom drove with me 4 hours to see the touring production. We found out about it late, so while we could have gotten seats in the back together, I wanted to sit in the front because it's a show that breaks the 4th wall and I hoped to have something happen/done to me. I sat on the isle in the second row and my mom sat behind me and over a few seats. It paid off, during the song 'Hair' they guy who plays Hud came and sat on the arm of my chair, put his arm around me and sang to me for a minute. Before he left he gave me a kiss on the cheek. During the bows when they sing a reprise of Let the Sunshine In, they invited people up on stage to sing and dance with the cast... I jumped up and ran on stage when they invited people. It was great!

Also, my first time ever seeing Les Misérables, we saw it in London's West End which was pretty memorable. It's quite the memorable show anyway and to see it where it pretty much started was great. It was a great production, my boyfriend said it was the best Javert he'd ever seen and he's seen ~12 different productions.

2. Do you have a preferred genre of performing arts? Which one and why?
Musical Theater all the way! I do enjoy symphonies and plays, but musicals are my thing. The vast majority of my music collection are cast recordings from musicals. Some shows I have multiple recordings of different casts.
As to why, probably because I grew up in the theater, my parents are big fans of musical theater, so we always listened to shows when I was young. That's how I fell in love with Hair. We drove to Florida when I was around 8 years old (a 12 hour trip) and my parents decided to play it figuring I wouldn't understand the things they didn't want me to understand and the rest was fine... that was probably a mistake on their part because for YEARS I listened to it constantly.

3. To (amateur or professional) performers: what made you choose that art form? To non-performers: what would you like to learn?
As I said, I grew up in theater, I don't remember a time it wasn't in my life, because there wasn't one. My parents met when they were doing a show in their late teens, my mom was painting a flat and accidently painted my dad's hand. All through my childhood my parents were involved with local theater. When I was 3 my parents put me in dance so they became very involved in that as well, and I danced until I went to college. I chose not to try to be a professional actor/dancer because I'm not good enough, that's not putting myself down or trying to be modest, it's just true. If I thought I was, I'd be in NYC auditioning by little butt off, even with the terrible life you have when you work in professional theater.
Unfortunately with my job, I don't really have the time to do even community theater, which makes me really sad.

 

Yes. It was the Vertigo Tour and it was the last show of the US leg in 2005. It was amazing! It was almost Christmas and the concert was a worship experience.

I like concerts and musicals, particularly Pops series at the orchestra. I enjoy music - listening to it and playing it. When I was in high school, I ran sound because I got tired of not being able to hear the musical performances.

I started playing piano when I was six after bugging my mom to get me lessons for years. From there I learned how to play marching band bells, English handbells, and guitar (sort of). I still play all three, although these days handbells are what I play most regularly.

 

Great answers, like every day! I'm really enjoying this Reverse FFAMA, it's fun and interesting to see how different people give entirely different answers to the same question.

Unfortunately it's not in the Paris Louvre anymore The French government opened a branch of the Louvre in Lens (~ 200 km north of Paris) a few years ago as part of their policy to decentralise cultural institutions and they transferred the painting there as a long-term loan. It's great for the people of northern France and even Belgium to have this museum of course (until recently that region and especially Lens was an industrial/mining wasteland) but it's a bit far out for us casual visitors to France.

1. There are several but I think that what made them memorable was the place where I saw them as much as the performance itself. For instance when I was ~12 years old I saw the Béjart Ballet perform Ravel's Bolero. I know that people who are knowledgeable about modern dance are raving about this choreography, but I'm far too ignorant about these things to say anything more than "I enjoyed the music and the dancing". However what made the performance special for me is that it was in in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a Roman amphitheatre in Athens, and you could see the Acropolis, plus it was the full moon Similarly I can remember some performances in the ancient theatre in Epidaurus and in the Comédie-Française in Paris that made a great impression on me, but even a bad performance becomes okay when it's staged in that setting.

2. If I really have to choose, I'll say that I'm a theatre gal, because the combination of narrative and visuals draws me in completely, just like cinema. But I like all performing arts, from pantomime to chamber music and back. There's just something about sitting in a theatre or a concert hall with a gazillion other people that makes me grin beatifically from the moment I walk in until several hours after I get home.

3. If I were less clumsy one thing I'd really like to learn is puppet theatre -- the whole process, from creating the puppets to manipulating them and performing plays. I have a friend who's a puppeteer and you'd always find the most incredible things in her home, heads and hands made of the most absurd materials, articulated dolls and a sewing machine bang in the middle of the living room. She seemed to be having great fun. (Then she married an acrobat, and the decoration in their home went completely out of control )

 

For today's questions, let's talk architecture.

1. What architectural style would your dream house be?

2. Is there a monument you are particularly fond of because of its architecture?

3. Did you ever consider becoming an architect? Why or why not?

 

A geodesic dome. I think they're cool.

The 12th and 44th New York Infantry "Ellsworth's Avengers" Monument out on Little Round Top in the Gettysburg Battlefield. Or, as I like to call it, "the little castle on the hill."

Spoiler: Image

Nope. While I do like architecture, it's not a field I wanted to pursue. There are other things that interest me more.

 

A CASTLE! Is that an architectural style? I know nothing of the topic, but I think it would be cool to live in a house that looked like a medieval castle with lots of secret passage ways!

Hmmmm. I've seen plenty of awesome, super significant monuments, but I think, strictly in terms of architecture, the Royal Canadian Navy monument is really cool, just for it's simplicity, and it boggles the mind

Spoiler

No, Because if there are two things I don't enjoy in this life it is drawing and math.

 

My Dream House? A combination in and out. A wrap-around porch, one that goes all the way around the house. And two stories on the inside, with stairs you can go up and down either in front or back. The kitchen has a cook-island in the middle. Upstairs, the master suite has a balcony.

 

Oh, really? I saw it in 2007 so assumed it was still there. It's nice that they spread the art out, but I guess a lot of tourists who really only have the chance to visit Paris miss out.


1. What architectural style would your dream house be?

I know nothing about architecture, but love old English brick cottages with a lovey garden. Or a stately home like Chatsworth House, which I think is Baroque.

2. Is there a monument you are particularly fond of because of its architecture?

I love the design of the Sydney Opera House - it is meant to represent sails on the water and is just beautiful.

3. Did you ever consider becoming an architect? Why or why not?

No, my brain is suited to that kind of thing.

 

I love the look of Colonials but I don't like the stairs so I will have to go with a Ranch.

Trophy Point, West Point, NY.


And you have to love the view.

No, it involves math.

 

1. I love the look and sheer size of the 18th Century German schloss, and would absolutely love to have a "dream house" in that style. It would also be great cover for the secret underground base I would also have built on (or rather, below) the property itself...did I say that out loud?

2. Sadly, I can't really think of any that I've seen for myself (for the purposes of this question, it wouldn't be fair to note those I've only seen in photos).

3. Nope. Like Jedi_Lover, there's just too much math involved. The most I'd be able to do would be to make crude drawings or knock up crude models of what I'd like to see...or else use LEGO as an expressive medium.

 

1. What architectural style would your dream house be?
I'm with Bri, a castle! I'm not super particular as to the style.
But other than that probably a Tudor or Antebellum.

2. Is there a monument you are particularly fond of because of its architecture?
Hmm... I never really thought about it that way. There are plenty of monuments I really like, but I don't think any specifically because of their architecture.

3. Did you ever consider becoming an architect? Why or why not?
Bah ha ha... I can't draw a straight line with a T square. We had to take a drafting class when I was a junior high which is where I learned that I'd never do such a profession. Also, math as others have stated.

 

Probably Pueblo-inspired, with a center courtyard. I love vegas (the big lodgepole pine logs that go in the ceiling). There would be a beehive oven outside in the backyard, and lots of nice places to just sit and enjoy the desert.

Not really.

No. While I appreciate the asthetics of buildings and architecture, I'd much rather look at chromosomes than design buildings.

 

Bottom line for question 3: we all suck at math, except K'tai who likes chromosomes better

1. I'd like to convert a paleochristian/protobyzantine church like the Rotunda of Galerius (below) into a house. I like the austere lines, I like round spaces and I like the light that comes through the tiny top windows.



2. The Saint-Jacques Tower in Paris. I tend to like Gothic architecture, especially churches, in general, but this tower has a very special feel to it. I think it has to do with the Gothic overload and the fact that the church it used to belong to was destroyed, making it stand out all the more.



3. This:

I would have liked to become an architect though, or even better a landscape designer. I think both must be interesting and creative jobs. But yeah, just not possible...

 

Aaand... it's my last day to ask questions! I still have a gazillion questions to ask, but I guess I'll have to wait until my turn comes again.

So today's question will be:
a) choose three of the six categories above: literature, poetry, visual arts, cinema, performing arts, architecture,
b) give for each one a question you'd like to be asked and its answer.

 

Why am I not surprised?

Thank you. I just might.

Forgot about him! Definitely a person beyond what most of us are. Still freaking out over how he randomly asked me to stand up at a show and talk to him.

....

While I love all kinds of performance art, I'm that person who attends popular music concerts a lot. So, there were a bunch of those that are etched in my memory, but I would point out three that have historic significance:

Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Green Fest in Inđija, June 26th 2007 - I'd rather not disclose why this is significant otherwise, but yeah, the largest concert ever to take place in Serbia.

Amy Winehouse live in Belgrade, June 18th 2011 - her very last concert

Green Day live in Belgrade, May 27th 2013 - the first time Dookie was played in its entirity

I enjoy pretty much everything.

I am not good at slam poetry and I need to practice that a bit more. I did get a standing ovation for two of them at a reading dedicated to progressive female poets only, but when I was reading my poetry in a typical, beer-drinking sexist and pseudo-bohemian company, it was...awkward.

I don't want a house, too much work. But yeah, as a true old Slav and an Ewok, I have a certain fondness for thatched, hay-covered stuff, preferably close to trees and water. Not practical to live in, tho.

Yup, and while it's not a monument per se, to me, it is...

Nope, never. You don't want a person with a romantic attraction to bridges to become an architect.

 

Chyntuck - your questions have been awesome, duh!

1. Literature.
Q. What do you think of stories that don't start strictly at the beginning but then go back in a series of flashbacks?
A. I love flashbacks when they add depth and interesting details but do not confuse the narrative flow of the story. The best use of flashbacks I have encountered are in SW ff.

2. Poetry?
Q. Favorite style/type of poem?
A. The sonnet. I like Shakespeare's and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's. e.e. cummings unique writing style only accentuates the gorgeous sentiments he expresses.

3. Visual arts?
Q. Between sculpting and painting portraitutre, which do you think captures the living and vibrant movement of a person best?
A. I like sculptures that seem to imply movement or contemplation/emotion. Paintings also can do this. I like paintings that also involve background settings, like a garden or a snowfield/wooded landscape.

 

I suck at questions:

visual arts
Q: What is your favourite thing to draw or paint?
A: I really suck at most artistic things, but I know how to draw really pretty mermaids. I also paint half-decent sunflowers.

performing arts
Q: What was your most stressful moment as a performer?
A: Oh, I still want to vomit at the memory. Our school concert band was asked to play at a remembrance day (Canada's version of veteran's day) ceremony for ~5000 people. The song out band teacher picked was so pretty, but it opened with a tubular bell solo. GUESS WHO WAS THE ONLY DAMN PERCUSSIONIST WHO KNEW HOW TO PLAY THE TUBULAR BELLS? Me. So I had to do this solo, WAILING ON THESE BELLS for 5000 people. I did it. I got it right, but I never want to do it again.

 

Thanks everyone for your wonderful, interesting answers all week!

1. Literature: do you like re-reading novels you enjoyed?
Answer: Definitely. I believe that some novels are actually meant to be read several times, because every time you discover a new level of interpretation. It doesn't even have to be a big novel -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince is a book I must have read a hundred times, and it makes each time a different impression on me.

2. Cinema: do you have an all-time favourite film (other than SW)?
Answer: Casablanca FOREVAH.

3. Architecture: dome, pointed roof or flat roof?
Answer: I have a big love story with domes. A shrink would probably have something to comment about that, but I just like them, both for the urban landscape they create (which is probably why I like Istanbul so much) and for the sheltering sensation when you're underneath.

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And now, next victim question master please