“Inspired” by the Grestest Showman

We all know that I love a good movie musical.  (And yet, I still haven’t seen La La Land.....)

And because I have that BA in History, I actually looked up P.T. Barnum.  And all I can say is wow.. the movie is very, very loosely based on the real person.  But then, how many musicals based on real people got everything accurate?

P.T. Barnum was a racist who built an empire on lying, cheating and exploiting people.  This is pretty clear by any account of his life.

I think my best guess is that this movie is more fan fiction than a biography.  The movie takes four or five plot points from the guy’s life and synthasizes them into a rather pleasant and coherent plot.

The movies changes this story of a man who built a fortune on the backs of the others into a story of a many that teams up with society’s rejects to built a family.  The soundtrack even has two songs that might become the anthem of the weird and different (This Is Me, and From Now On). This movie shows the “circus freaks” as people who possess talent that the circus uses to entertain (instead of  simply putting them on display).

At times, songs transcend the show that they are in to become anthems in their own right.  This song is simply amazing.  And I like it here... no sets or costumes...


(I've shared this all over the place.  The energy in that room was electric.)


In my opinion, the movie shines in the music and choreography category.  I think the choreography is the tightest and move amazing that I’ve seen in ages.

In this age of taking a movie and turning it into a musical, I don’t think this can happen in this case.  The movie is so reliant on CG fades and fake animals to tell it’s story that anything else would come off as weird.

In that way, it’s almost appropriate.  The movie musical about the master of deception had almost nothing to do with his life, involved a lot of computer graphics and slicks songs and choreography.

It also takes a story of oppression and turns it into an uplifting story about family.

And in sprite of everything, I loved it!

There’s no place like home for the holidays

Christmas time is my FAVORITE time of the year.  It always has been, and it will always be.

But this year has been distinctly weird.

It all started at the beginning of December.  After a rather trying 2017 we decided to go to Disne World for my birthday.  Disney full of Christmas decorations and holiday parties.  (There’s a post coming about it.  I just need to write it up!)

When we got back I somehow got it stuck in my head that Christmas had already passed.

Fast forward to right now.  Work has been closed since Wednesday afternoon.  I’ve been on vacation for 5 days, and it’s just now Christmas Eve.  And we’re not traveling for the holiday this year.  This is our year to stay home.

We have a nice small tree with a few things under it.  After Disney World we decided that Disney was our presents to each other.  It’s not that presents make the holiday, but our tree does look a bit bare.  At least the pets have some things in their stockings!  I can’t wait for Misty to see her toys!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  Then comes Christmas Day, and a day of cleaning and getting ready for the next day.  My mom flies in on the 26th.  For me, that has been the beginning of the Christmas season.  Ironically, it starts the day after.

There were tears yesterday.  And after a bit of teenage hooligan mischief, I don’t want to leave the house.

Hopefully a trip to Christmas Town after the holiday will kick these blues.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Just to be clear, this was never OK.

Harvey Weinstein happened.  Donald Trump was caught on a hot microphone admitting to it.  Bill Clinton did it in the Oval Office.  Kevin Spacey did it as well.  Roy Moore likes them young.  Apparently it's been happening in the Capitol for years. 

This country, and perhaps the world, has had issues with sexual misconduct, sexual assault and misogyny for years.  Let's be honest: this has always been a problem.

Let's just look at statistics about rape:

And this is just rape, not the inappropriate touching, or the catcalling, or the comments about how women are only good at cooking, cleaning and baby making.

 Now high profile people are being publicly accused of inappropriate behavior.  From the reports that are surfacing, many of these people have been doing these things for decades, and everyone knew.

Why is this news?

Because people are actually believing the women.  For years women have had to covertly warn others about the behavior of men.  For decades and centuries women have been told that "boys will be boys" and that simply the way men act.  For years women have had to take it because the aggressor generally was in a position of power.  For years male patrons of conventions have groped female cosplayers, acting like they weren't even people.

The behavior of Al Franken saddens me as much as the behavior of Bill Clinton did all those years ago.  The allegations of Roy Moore sickens me.  What Kevin Spacey did is not only unacceptable, but it also sets back LGBT concerns.

I married a man that teased me all the time.  His mentality was that he made fun of me because he cared.  It was YEARS before *I* realized that I didn't have to take it.  It took time for me to learn that the way I was being treated wasn't OK.  Why did it take so long?  Because that was the way MANY men treated their partners.

As much as I hate seeing all of these men, ones that I admire, and ones that I don't being accused of awful things.... this has got to stop.

Can we all agree to 1.) believe the victims, 2.) expect men, especially men with positions of power to treat all people with respect, and 3.) just say that this behavior is never OK, no matter who to parties that are involved are?

Maybe our daughters and granddaughters won't have to listen to how their President like to "grab them by the pussy."

Deep Thoughts about November

Today is November 2nd.  Somehow September and October passed me by without me noticing.

Two major things are happening this month (both of which have been on my mind of late): Me jumping back on the exercise wagon, and Thanksgiving.

1.) Exercise.

I've not wanted to work out in a month.  Actually, that's not true.  I've been enjoying the cooler mornings, so I've been running.  And on days that I don't run, the pup and I walk.  But that's not enough for me.  Monday I'm starting a combination of Focus T25 and Couch to 5K.

I find Shaun T rather motivating.  And I'm hoping the extra cardio will help with my endurance.  And the Couch to 5K is in there because I'm shooting for the 2019 Disney Wine and Dine.

I seem to be a person that needs a goal.  And here's one heck of a goal.  Hopefully having something to work towards will help.

But I've been working on my portion size and letting the exercise slip.  And my pants are growing snug.  That is unacceptable to me.  Hell, I might even thrown in a weekly OrangeTheory workout to the mix after we get back from our vacation.

(after visiting the House of Mouse I'll need it!)

This is me like all the time now!  it's a month away!

Anyone else jumping back on the fitness bandwagon?

The other thing I've been thinking about is Thanksgiving.

I have a friend that is, rightly so, spreading awareness that the Thanksgiving story is bullshit.  

Not everyone knows this, but I don't think that anyone is very surprised.

So my friend is boycotting Thanksgiving.  As is her right.  Good for her!

Am I?  Well....

• I'm not having a Thanksgiving day dinner.  We're doing it that weekend.  I always have Turkey day with the BFF.  But it's not like we're "celebrating" anything.  It's more of a case that people have big dinners at this time, so we are too.  (We usually repeat this dinner around Easter)
• I've never done the whole posting what I'm thankful for on Facebook thing.
• There's MASSIVE food sales in November, in perpetration for Turkey Day.  If what I want to eat is on sale... who am I to day no?
• I do watch the Parade, but that's mainly to watch the Broadway Performances.
• I'm planning on doing a huge bunch of batch cooking on the first day of the break, so I don't have to invest much energy in cooking for the rest of the weekend.  I do the same thing for Christmas!

Am I celebrating Thanksgiving?  Yeah.. kinda.  But what I KNOW I'm celebrating is a 5 day weekend.  The 5 Day Weekend will include a nice dinner with my BFF and her family.

But totally, the Thanksgiving Day story... it's crap.  The whole sorted business was awful, and we need to remember that Native Americans are getting the wet end of the shit stick.  And I'm still going to make ham and pumpkin pie.

World Mental Heath Day

I find it a bit fitting that this is World Mental Health Day.  I just went into a Facebook group that is associated with a Real Life group that I'm involved with and deleted most of the post that I've made.  Why?  For a few minutes I got it in my head that no one wanted me around, so I was removing my presence from them.

Did anything happen to bring this on?  Not a damn thing.

But all day I've been fighting the desire to go home and never leave the house again.  A little voice in the back of my mind tells me that no one really wants me around.  That voice insists that I'll never lose weight, that I'm fat and ugly so why bothering exercise.  That voice, luckily has never instructed me to end it all.

What brought this on?  There's a better than average chance that it's hormonal.  In a few days I'll wake up and life will have meaning again.  Until then it'll be a struggle not to cancel every plan that I've ever made.  Not to leave every organization that I'm in.  Not to hide under my bed for foreseeable future. 

I'm not writing this for reassurance.  I'm not writing this to seek sympathy.  I'm writing this to highlight my own mental health difficulties that I'm having on this, World Mental Health Day.

I'm a lucky one.  These periodic struggles with anxiety and depression are, as I said, periodic.  It's not something that I deal with every day.  Which makes me one of the lucky ones.

But right now I'm going to stop myself from resigning from all the organizations I belong to.  I'm going to delete the half formed texts to friends that cancel our plans.

Instead I'm going to have a bit of chocolate, and get back to work.

Sick Leave

My current troubles started last Sunday.  We were shopping and I had to grad a display to keep from falling over.  I was dizzy.  Over the week the dizzy/vertigo spells got more and more frequent.  They also got more intense.

Wednesday night I was walking the dog and the whole world started to spin.  It continued to do so for almost five minutes after I sat down on the couch.

On top of the dizziness, I was tired and my head hurt.

Thursday, the dizziness stopped, replaced by a headache and a general crappy feeling.  I was short and snippy at work (I apologize, y’all).  I had work to do, but I’d find myself staring at nothing.

In other words, I was sick.

I stayed home on Friday.  I decided to use my sick leave.  And I feel guilty for doing it.  Like because I’m not dead, I should be at work.

I am given both annual leave and sick leave.  I am allowed to use them both.  Why should I feel guilty?

It’s because Americans are actively dissuaded from not going to work.  It’s an awful workplace culture and it helps no one.

So I took my day off.  I rested and hydrated.  I cuddled my puppy and petted my kitties.

And I did not feel guilty.

The Shows Went On!

Anyone that knows me knows that I hate haunted houses and scary movies.  I hate being startled and scared.  Can’t stand it.

But I simply LOVE Busch Garden’s Howl-o-Scream.  

Strange, isn’t it?  Not really.  I go to the park to soak in the lovely decorations.  To be outside when the park isn’t as hot (today withstanding).  And I LOVE the shows!

Seriously.  Summer has a few shows that I like, and a few that I could miss.  Same with Christmas Town.  But I love ALL the shows that How-o-Scream has to offer!

Today we did a sort of pub crawl, except it was going from one show to the other until we've seen them all!

And I have some thoughts!

The first show we saw was Fiends.  Fiends is rather adult.  It's got a Frankenstein meets Rocky Horror plot.  It also has naughty nurses.

from youtube

It's full of songs you know.  It's fun.  My favorite performers from last year are back. (I'm actually surprised the show is back.  Rumor was last year was the end of the run)  The show is campy and fun and I love it.  Last year I was astounded at the diversity in casting of the dancers.  This year, it's good, but not wonderful.

And someday I'll lose enough weight to fit into one of those nurse's uniforms! 

We then went to Night Beats (ReVamped).  This show is in the Festhaus, and that has got to be the worst place to perform!  The room is big and echo-y and people are going in and out with food!

from a previous year, also from BG's Audition site

They redid the show this year, removing what little plot that there was.  I could tell there was a bit of a storyline, but without ANY dialogue, it was hard to follow.  I also could NOT tell the two lead actresses apart!  But this show is one for all ages.  There's singing and dancing and it's a light, fun show.  With vampires!

One change that I did like was the costuming!  The old show had the poor dancers changing between every song.  And the costumes that they did use weren't awesome.  Now they have basic costumes with skirts and shrugs that they can change.  I also loved the overall design of the show!

Then we trekked to the front of the park to see Monster Stomp: on Ripper Row.  This show was my FAVORITE last year.  The female lead was sensational!  I saw the show every time we visited the park last year.

from BG's website

This year I was a tad let down.

That woman that I so loved wasn't back.  Her replacement was good, but she wasn't the powerhouse that I was looking forward to.

The thing that really ruined things for me was the sound mixing.  For years Busch Gardens would mix their shows with the backing track so loud that the singers couldn't be understood.  Funny enough, that changed when they got a new head of entertainment.  Today the mix in Monster Stomp was bad.  SO very bad.  I get that they have live percussion, but I'd like to understand the performers.  The guy that plays Jack the Ripper was from Britmania earlier in the summer and I would have liked to hear him sing!

Today was opening day for the season.  I've decided that I'm going to go back in a few weeks when it's cooler.  We'll see if my thoughts change.