I had a short hiatus from blogging but I’m back now. I’m sure that everyone was upset that I was so quiet. Hearts were breaking while tear ducts were being overused. Anyway, on to my ramblings.
I’ll start with music today. This past week, my sister got the new Coldplay album, Viva La Vida. I stole it for a couple hours to check out the sound. I like their past work and wanted to hear how they developed beyond that. The only single I heard prior to listening to the full album was Violet Hill and it was a nice maturation of their natural sound. That being said, other than Violet Hill, I don’t really like the album. Its not a bad album, but I just don’t have the appreciation for Viva La Vida that I did for Parachutes or even X&Y. I guess the best description I can have for the album is that I get the feeling Coldplay was trying to get more of a European sound to their music. That’s not very descriptive but probably the best I can do at the moment.
Candlebox is coming out with new material and I’m extremely jazzed. I loved them back in the day and can’t wait to hear what the next album sounds like. We’ll wait and see and hope that the singles being released are as good as the album.
So, I’ve had Karl Jenkins’ Requiem on my list of albums to buy for quite a while. I finally broke down and purchased it and I can say I’m very happy with my purchase. I’ll admit to mostly wanting to hear if the rest of his piece compared with Dies Irae. Overall, I don’t think that the album is as cohesive as some classical pieces I’ve purchased in the past but the outstanding portions of the album outweigh any negatives.
I think its a requirement for blogging this week that I have to mention the passing of George Carlin late last weekend. Its amazing, the man was 71 years old and I still think he passed too early. I never realized how much I considered him a gauge for the state of our culture until I realized he wouldn’t be around to pass judgement on us anymore. I find that more depressing than I thought I would. I’ve been reading/listening/watching his old bits this week and he really was an amazing comic. I wonder who will step into his shoes and let us know where we’re screwing up without coming off as trying too hard.
Last weekend I went to see a play with my friend Kimmi. Throughout college, she and I saw plays on a pretty regular basis and I went to see her perform even more than that. With her being in New York, we don’t see each other nearly enough. So, when she let me know one of her friends was directing a play in nearby Princeton and she wanted to see it together, I instantly loved the idea.
The play we saw was Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. The only Tom Stoppard production I had seen prior to Arcadia was the video version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The video wasn’t bad but I could see where the writing became long-winded at times. That’s not to say that the ideas and dialogue weren’t hilarious or thought-provoking, they were, just long-winded.
Arcadia turned out about the same. Starting with the writing, some of the dialogue was hilarious and other portions would not end. The pacing of the play was a bit off kilter. Some of the scenes felt rushed while others gave me the feeling of sitting through a long sermon. The play ended up being about 3 hours which was probably 45 minutes to an hour too long. The acting was decent. Not fantastic but good for summer theater.
The main role, Bernard, came off perfectly like an overbearing ass. I felt like either the writing or the actors tried to redeem his character at the end but I’m not sure if that was even necessary. I think his comeuppance regarding the duel provoked enough of a deflation to his ego and subsequently his snobbishness that overly humanizing his emotions for Chloe towards the end seemed a bit too much of a character change when he still was this respected scholar.
Septimus was well-cast. His detachment while teaching in the initial scenes did a lot towards involving the audience in the play.
The play was fairly well-performed, well-written, a bit long-winded at times but overall very much what I expected from a Tom Stoppard script.
That’s about it for now, I’m tired and have work tomorrow.
