Review: 2016-17 Phantom of the Opera Tour

He's here! The phantom of the opera!

Phantom of the Opera is touring the US right now. I went and saw it in South Carolina over spring break and it was awesome! The set was amazing and I'm still trying to figure out how it all worked (trust me that's a good thing). The cast was phenomenal. Last time I saw Phantom, in 2014, I felt that the Christine they had was straining too much to hit those high notes and was doing strange, strange things. The Phantom was great, but Christine wasn't. But that was 2014. For the 2016-2017 tour, the Phantom and Christine are simply amazing. They sung and I wanted to applaud them right then and there. I love most of the little tweaks they did to highlight certain details. Like the fact that everything happening is a memory and Raoul has to clear the stage for the show to truly start. However, in order to make it a bit more child friendly (come on people, don't bring your tiny children to phantom and then get upset when he kills everyone; do your research!), they adjusted one of my favorite parts. The Phantom kills the keeper of the flies (scene changer, set person) towards the end of the first act. When I first saw it, I wasn't expecting him to kill the guy. We got flashed of shadows in the background and then all of a sudden a dummy fell from the rafters and looked like a body was hung. Yes, that's one of my favorite parts. Not because I like seeing people be killed, but because it really drives home the point that the Phantom is real and dangerous, that the Phantom will kill if he has to. But this time, and last time in 2014, they changed it to where they turned the set diagonally so you could see what was happening backstage. You see the guy messing with some ropes and another guy comes up behind him and puts a noose around his neck. The noose lifts up and so does the fuy. He struggles a little then goes limp and two seconds later everyone screams and freaks out. While this makes it better for families with young children (again, it's Phantom; do your research!), to me it takes the drama out of a key point in the show. Of course to make up for it, there's emphasis in other parts of the show to grab your attention, I noticed things I've never noticed before. The Phantom's love for Christine is played up more in this show, which is something I love. It shows that he's human, he's capable of feeling and loving. Does he know how to properly show these feelings? No. But does he still have them? Yes.

Overall, the show is great and I hope to see it again when it comes to Atlanta, but that won't be until February 2017 (that's why we went to South Carolina). I hoghly recommend seeing Phantom if you've never seen a Broadway show before. It's dark, it's got some humor, it's amazing when done right, which it is at the moment. That's it for my review. Not doing star things because I think they're annoying to mess with. Sanders out. (Cue Phantom of the Opera overture)

Update

So I do plan to post something, but probably not until Friday or the weekend. This is a big week at school so I've been scrambling around and everything but this one thing has been placed on the back burner until the end of Thursday. I do have plans though. I've been able to take note of any ideas for posts and I have a couple written down. Might do a Shakespeare post at some point in honor of Shakespeare's 400th death anniversary. I also have Star Trek updates to give and praises of Enterprise to sing, DS9 as well. And then the Sherwin-Williams logo is a fun topic. So that's that. Long week, stressful week, scrambling week. Until the end of this week, Sanders out.

Review: Ace Attorney Anime

Hey guys! I got wind that the Ace Attorney anime was out yesterday, so after watching all that I could, I'm now reviewing what there is so far. There will be spoilers in this post mostly because I've played the games and you can find the story lines pretty much anywhere, from what I can see they are sticking true to the games as far as basic plot. So sorry if you hate spoilers, I'm not holding back so I can convey my own reactions to the anime as genuinely as they come (I'm actually started this post before finishing the first episode, got through the title sequence before stopping to wait for a better moment to watch it). However, if you still want my overall reaction, I marked the point where there won't be anymore spoilers (bottom of the post, bold type and asterisks, can't miss it) so there is that. Right now, since it just came out, it's only in Japanese so being able to deal with subs is a must if you want to watch it right now (I prefer dubs but I'm warming up to subs recently). So on with my review. *Insert really cool opening sequence that is for a review here*

Episode 1

So right off the bat we are greeted with the traditional "oh look the killer" opening scene for the first episode of Ace Attorney. It was pretty basic and such. Right after it cut to the other opening scene that introduces Phoenix. We see his apartment, a few things that people who have played the game might recognize and then we see Phoenix, a young looking Phoenix. I've gotten used to the older looking Phoenix Wright from the current game, Dual Destinies, so seeing a young Phoenix was bitter sweet. I loved the original trilogy and Phoenix's story and how he went from rookie to well an ace attorney and beating every odd out there. However, it did throw me off to see the old art style and not the new suit I got used to, as well as remind me that this Phoenix, anime Phoenix, has a long, sometimes painful, journey to get to where he is now. But I do like the art style, I think it's reminiscent of the old games which I like, although the current game, and the new one coming out, has anime cut scenes and I was hoping that they would bring that art style to the new show. Instead it's more like a blend of the old with the new.

Phoenix through the Ages

(Yes he's pointing in all of them, it's a classic Phoenix Wright move, that and slamming hands on the courtroom desktop)

Anime Phoenix

Dual Destinies Phoenix

Original Original Phoenix from GBA Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

DS Phoenix from when they re-released the original trilogy

3DS Trilogy Version Phoenix
AKA The one I'm more or less  used to.

Do you realize how long it took to get these photos to work right? A long time.

So we meet Phoenix and watch him get ready for his first court appearance and as he rushes out it cuts to the opening sequence. I like the title song, it's nice even though I have no idea what is being said. As for the actual animation, I wish they did something besides the classic running opening. I wanted to see more animation like the part with Phoenix and Edgeworth on the beach with the golden chain and they represent the scales of justice (or of the law, the scale thingy). But the running worked to a degree, I've just seen running openings for a long time (Code Geass to a degree, most any Pokemon opening, various others I think) and wanted something new. After the opening sequence we get the area outside the courtroom and the typing thing that tells us where and when. We see Mia (again, bitter sweet) and then go into the courtroom. They made a point to show us all the areas in the courtroom. The open space, the desk areas, the gavel. And then we get to the case and see Larry Butz get brought it. Of course the prosecutor is none other than Winston Payne. Naturally the first episode is the tutorial case from the game. Larry is up to a few shenanigans that we don't see in the game so there's something new there. The judge comes in, sits down, and the trial begins. The first part of the trial starts with some traditional Phoenix things, the "Uh... Not sure what to say or why I yelled objection" but, the actual objection, and the testimony. The second part of the trial happened and the usual turnabout occured. Payne didn't get to do his rookie breaker speach thing but he did make the face of defeat which was interesting. The classic Phoenix Wright theme played to signal the turnabout. The confetti happened and some little effects. The bit at the end with Phoenix and Mia walking back from the courthouse was nice and bitter sweet because reasons that will be revealed soon. Overall, the dialogue for the first episode was lifted straight from the game. I'm hoping it's just for this one episode and the rest of the season has some form of creativeness. The one thing I really hope they don't screw up is the banter between Phoenix and Miles in and out of the courtroom. Now on to episode two.

Episode 2

After watching episode 2 there isn't much else for me to say. Miles Edgeworth is introduced and we see more of why Phoenix became a lawyer. Mishaps been murdered and Maya, her little sister, has been accused of murder. Phoenix can't find a lawyer to take the case and takes the case to defend Maya. The scene is actually really cute and introduces the dynamic they will later have beautifully. We see the differences between Phoenix and Edgeworth and finally when they meet we see the beginning of a stand off. It's great seeing their court origin story without having to go through tedious button clicking like in the game (while I love the game, it gets tiresome to go through the story but get held up by button pressing). The final scene between them got me excited to see what the writers in Japan have done to convey the relationship between Miles and Phoenix. I loved the quick exchange between them at the end. I feel like it's prefacing something far greater and I hope that the anime dynamic is just as amazing as their dynamic in the games. Over all, I definitely enjoyed this episode more than the first. I didn't feel like the whole episode was lifted from the game which gives me hope that over time, they might take a few more liberties while staying true to the game. I've also decided that if the US gets it to dub that I want Briena Palencia to voice Maya. Not sure where J Michael Tatum would fit  into Ace Attorney though (maybe Edgeworth). But if I got to chose I would want Travis Willingham as Gumshoe. 

*No spoilers from this point on*

Overall, I have high hopes for this show. I think it will turn into something amazing and I can't wait to see more. To top it all of it's the 15th anniversary of when Phoenix Wright was first released so things are happening this year. There's going to be a limited edition version of the new game with two extra cases. The new game gets released in Japan sometime in July; I'm not sure when it comes to the US. As for the anime, there's a new episode released every Saturday at some time on Crunchyroll. The season is not free so other sources  are needed to actually watch the episodes, so Sunday or Monday is generally a good time to look for a new episode online. To clarify, I like the new anime. I like where it's going and I have hopes for it to be all it could be. My biggest worry is them screwing up Phoenix and Edgeworth's dynamic and how they interact with each other. I'll be really made if they skimp on the banter and interactions. Next episode will be sort of the moment of truth of whether they screw this one key component of Phoenix's story up. For now, it's off to a good start and should pick up within the next few episodes. Sorry if you read all this and are still mad at any spoilers, I warned you up top. I might do a follow up once a few more episodes get released and I've watched them. I have one more review to do this week and that will be on the most recent tour of Phantom of the Opera. I was going to do that one but it got pushed back because I found out that the Ace Attorney anime is out now. That's all from me tonight. Go watch the show if you want to, or play the games  and then watch it, or vice versa, I don't care, live your life the way you want to. I'm going to shift through my phone files and see what exactly is on my phone. Until next time, Sanders out.

Peacocks and Cat Calls

Female Peafowl - Peahen

Peafowl. Peacock. Peahen. Peachick. Peawhatever. Where was I going with this? Right. Male peafowl are gorgeous. With their long tails and iridescent feathers, peacocks strut their stuff and show off to attract a peahen. They vocalize and show of their tails to court a female which results in a loud beautiful display that tends to attract humans as well. Recently, I was able to get some amazing shots of a male peacock showing off. But what made the shoot special was that the peacock wasn't showing off for a peahen (at least I didn't see any around at the time) instead he seemed to be showing off for me. A peahen is plain compared to a peacock. She has a brown head, some color on her neck, and a brown body. That day, I was wearing my new Phantom of the Opera t-shirt, which is tan, and had my camera taking pictures of the peafowl (mostly peacocks). My camera's lens is black and the body of my camera is red. I was crouched down and I guess I looked like a peahen. A male peacock strutted over and the peahen he was focusing on ran off somewhere and he put his tail down. I took a few shots of this head and after a minute or so he started putting his tail back up. I rolled with it and got some great shots. I started to look around for the peahen and didn't see one that would actually see him. I realized that he was turning around and facing me with his tail fanned like his life depended on it. I started wondering if I was took close and shifted a little. He looked square at me and then did a strange thing towards me. He vibrated his tail at me and kept doing it. He would turn around a few times and then vibrate this tail again. After he did this a few times, he opened his mouth and let out that classic peacock sound, the cawing that sounds like a cat after a while; I call the sound a cat call).  The peacock showing off for me got closer to me and each time he stepped closer he would vibrate his tail. I wondered a few times if what he was doing was a warning to me to stay away or something. I wondered if I was about to be killed by a peacock and if I should move away as I kept taking pictures like the idiot I am with no sense of self preservation. I decided that he was showing off for me as there weren't any peahen's nearby. So I decided to work it to my advantage. I turned to show the tan shirt off more and kept snapping away. Eventually, the peacock decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere with me and lowered his tail before stalking off to find a peahen, an actual peahen. I got up and decided that what just happened was strange and the poor thing must be really desperate if he's decided that a human is a peahen. Seriously, I don't know much about peafowl but I'm pretty sure they know the difference between a human and one of their own species, at least I hope they do. I decided it was fluke or something, but then it happened again. I'm still not sure if it was the same peacock or two different ones. Either way, I think I accidentally attracted two peacocks to me or managed to wound the pride of one enough to try to court me twice. Still, I got some great photos out of it.

He started out trying to court this peahen.

After she walked off, he did his thing towards me.

 

At this point, I can't help but wonder if maybe he knows what a camera is and is therefore posing.

Peacocks aside. I also got the chance to shoot with a 600mm lens. But on my camera it registers as 810mm. Here's one of the photos I took with the short time I had with the lens. Side note: None )of these photos have been edited yet, so yeah. I have a new anime show to watch that I've been waiting a long time for now. So, Sanders out! (Runs off yelling, "PHOENIX WRIGHT IS AN ANIME NOW!!! WHOOO!!!")

Plot Lines and Crossed Lines

For the past two weeks, my AP lit class has been working with Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. One of the things my lit teacher said before we started was that Arcadia had six different plot lines but he only wanted us to pay attention to two. He also told us that Arcadia takes place in two different time periods, but everything happens in the same room. So as we are reading the two things we are supposed to keep track of gets pointed out to us and so goes the keeping track of things and such. Now, I love plot lines. Plot lines are the reason to watch or read anything (duh), but multiple plot lines, oh it's Christmas!

In Brave New World, chapter 3 had three different scenes going on at once and the way it was written was that it would have a clump from one thing and then jump to another and then jump to another and continue that way in no particular order. The clumps got progressively smaller until it was just a sentence or two from one thing before jumping. Reading chapter 3 of Brave New World was the most fun I've had with a book in a long time. Until Arcadia that is.

With Arcadia, I had fun figuring things out and keeping track of the events happening in the past and present. For whatever reason, keeping track of multiple plot lines comes somewhat easy to me. Do I get things mixed up, turned around, and crossed? Yes, I do sometimes more on that later. But the fact that my mind is able to keep up with things and switch to something else at the drop of a hat amazes me (Probably how I'm able to adjust the settings on my camera without much thought). Normally, my mental things like this stay in realm of lit and my entertainment, but recently a concept in econ put my plot line thing to use.

In econ, we recently (I say recently but it was two weeks ago) did game theory and worked with the matrix table thingy. The thing about game theory and such is that you have to pay attention to the details given and which things go with which player and what happens if one player does one thing. Multiple factors, multiple outcomes. Plot lines, that's all it is.

Now, the lines crossed thing. Sometimes I do get things mixed up or smush things together. I call it getting my lines crossed. When I'm actively working multiple things and I'm dealing with various casts of characters and their own plots, I sometimes have to stop and remember what I'm working on and what has already happened. Sometimes I have to reread something and refresh what I had happen. There have been moments when I've stopped and gone, "Wait, this happened? I thought it was this that and the other." Sometimes I'll smash two characters together and think they are one. I get lines crossed. It's inevitable. But sometimes my line crossing flows into other things. Today, I smushed two different types of graphs together into one in econ. Right type of market, but with the product and factor market graphs smushed together. *Shrugs* Meh, stranger things have happened.

So yeah, plot lines. Plot lines, plot lines, plot lines. Not sure if anything I just said made any sense, but if it did yay, winning at life. I might do a brain dump or another "Broadway and lit" thing (the last one I did like that was in October with The Tempest). For now, Sanders out.

Really Brain, We're Going To Do THIS Now

It's been a while since I've done a total brain dump so I'm going to do one now. What's a brain dump? A term I just came up with to describe the random stream of consciousness inner musing thing I do every now and then because I think my brain is so strange and my life so random. Anyway, brain dump... [cue theme music and title sequence].

Random Sticky Note
I have a random sticky note on my desktop. On it, it says, "Flash drive is a representation of my life." I wrote that about a week ago or something, I really don't know. Anyway, now I'm trying to remember why the flash drive represents my life. It was probably because things get added to it, taken out, and, when I don't keep track of how often I've used it, probably has a lot of random stuff on it that I forgot existed. Yeah that sums everything up. It gets used and guarded and for a while, the only goal is to not lose it. I live and try to not die (I'll get to that at some point) and for a moment, everything is more or less in order and I try not to loose my marbles or something. I lose it, or leave it somewhere and look at it everyday but still forget that it exists. My life falls apart (happens semi-often), or I loose my hold on reality and the plane of existence and only go through the motions of life. It's small and easy to forget about (old memory from my past that I don't like to dredge up). It's contents change but the outside stays the same. Okay, so I don't look the same but the basic concept is there, I grow, I change, I have character traits that are very different from the ones I had when I was younger. The flash drive is a representation of my life... I like it.

Seriously Brain, Why?!?!
In my Lit class, we are reading Arcadia. So after day one of reading about carnal embrace and the running gag that followed, I walked into class with my inner self really wanting to make a "That's what she said" joke. Skip to the end of the day, I'm in 7th period and my teacher has a couple of the guys go get some butcher paper.

Guy 1: What color paper do you want?
Teacher: I would prefer white, but really something I can write on.
My Brain: That's what she said.
Me: Why brain, why?

Stop It Brain, You KNOW This
Another thing my brain has been doing is registering things strangely. Like I know, my teacher was wearing a navy shirt, but my brain was registering it as purple. Like legit, I say to myself, "That shirt is navy" and in my mind would say "That shirt is purple." And then a friend of mind takes Spanish and I know she takes Spanish. That's all she's taken since freshman year. And my brain was like, "She just came from Chinese class." My brain is strange and I'm pretty sure I'm going mad. It's irritating to look at something and have to process for a moment what the heck it is. I just looked at my camera, my partner in crime, my one true love (too far? Too bad *sticks out tounge*) and was like, "You are red... You're a Nikon... I gave you a name... Ooo pineapple juice, wait that can is empty... Oh! You're name is RoA... Wait, that's right but wrong... Ages, Rock of Ages." And then I turned to my beautiful film camera and was like, "I think you're Ted. No Ted is my favorite chart. You're Colonel. Not that's not right. General? No... Major, like Major General Sir. Right..." I'm loosing myself right? Maybe not... Who knows. I don't, and my brain sure doesn't. I would say stranger things have happened, but I can't think of any examples.

Lines Of Dialogue, But No Plot
I'm a creator. I create things. Whether or not those things come to physical form in the real world is another mater. I see a blank room and I think about the different ways I could paint and design it. I visualize photo shoots that I would run if I had the money or contacts. I come up with creatures and beings that I would love to be able to draw and give life to. I write to share what's in my head. The characters I create and take time to give a past to mean so much to me. In my head, there is a section dedicated to them, like a large room really (like the room of requirement in Harry Potter) where I can mentally check on them and see what they are doing at the moment and can listen to them and converse with them sometime (I usually keep my original characters separated from the characters I'm attached too from various fandoms- Bryan Caplan and Tony Stark must never meet... Same with Conrad Heist and Anthony DiNozzo... Don't get me started on the disaster that would be Loki and Ryan Colbert [daddy issues to the max and Ryan is impressionable right now]). Anyway, lately I've had only a few ideas on how to move my plot lines forward. What I have in surplus are various dialogues that don't really fit with anything, and it's not dialogues that are feel good fluff pieces either. I'm getting snippets of pure sarcasm and internal monologues that aren't mine. I'm getting words that mean nothing to me (it's my brain's way of trying to speak Latin, that much I know). I'm getting supernatural beings that I'm slowly creating. I'm getting images of groups in cloaks paired with gothic instrumentals. It's strange. My brain gets like this every so often when I get stressed with the world and such. It's been a while. The last time it happened I created my own "universe" (our world, my terms) and two casts of characters with a connection between two, one from each cast (Neil Heist and Conrad Heist, brothers). I really don't want to end up with another acronym obsessed character Bryan Caplan is hard enough to deal with (once I've taken the time to give them a personality I don't have control over what they do). So for now, I'll probably just jot down ideas, write lines of random dialogue, and maybe even do some character creation. I'll probably also take a few back to the drawing board and either rework them (if they go willingly that's a sign I'm doing the right thing) or add to their pasts and personality (that can be fun, but sometimes painful because reasons).

So that's my brain dump. I'm probably slowly loosing myself or something but that's okay I always find myself again in the end. So for now, Sanders out.

Di Immortales!

I've just finished rereading Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. I couldn't remember why I liked the series in first place and after finding out about Riordan's new book that's due to come out later this March, I decided that now was a good time to take on the task of rereading all the Percy Jackson books, Kane Chronicles, finish reading Heroes of Olympus, and read Riordan's other new book, Magnus Chase. In addition to that, I splurged on ebooks, because that's the medium I'm using lately, and I got the three short stories Riordan has written that is a crossover between Percy Jackson and the Kane Chronicles. I'm excited to be doing this and I'll probably post periodically about where I'm at and my own reactions to the books I've read before and to the books I'm reading fresh. Now... The Lightning Thief... where do I start... Sarcasm is usually something that doesn't get conveyed that well and gets lost when reading the work. One of the things that I love, and I'm remembering that I loved, about the Percy Jackson series was the dialogue that added to the character's personalities. Here are some of my favorite things said by characters in The Lightning Thief.

"I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, and sending you back to your father." - Dionysus

"I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me." - Echidna after Percy mentions the creature.

"I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning. Your father believes in you, she had said. She'd also called me brave... unless she was talking to the catfish." - Percy

"A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces. "Show's over" I yelled. "Thank you! Good night!" The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good." - Percy

Moments of light when the dark is upon, that's what I like. Anyway, that's all, Sanders out.