Back to Normal

I’ve never entirely understood the rationale behind the phrase “back to normal”.

Yet here I am, using it as a blog post title. The idea that life somehow becomes anything less than normal, or abnormal, is tricky to nail down at the best of times. I could by all means try and coin the phrase…

“Life was unexpectedly busy recently, and then it oscillated somewhere between ridiculously busy and ridiculously quiet, so now it has levelled out into an average – or median – of a seemingly appropriate level of normalcy.”

..but that all seems a little too clunky and overthought.

The worst part is, I can’t even put my finger on exactly what has kept me busy. And even if I could literally put my finger on it, the only way that I could communicate the meaning of the phrase would be taking a photo of me with my finger on the actual item that has kept me busy and upload it to this post.

Work has been trying and chaotic for the past few weeks, but I’m certainly not going to turn this blog into a place to voice my work struggles because it’s boring and no-one wants to read about that type of crap.

So I’ll write about things that I can definitely remember and all the things I’ve seen, been balancing and working toward recently.
Essentially, I really should have called this entry ‘In Progress…’

Mini-review of ‘The Avengers’

Joss Whedon did a magnificent job with this film. My only criticisms of the film? Not every character needed to have a witty quip or snappy one-liner, but there’s no doubt that type of writing is part of Whedon’s shtick. Secondly, that Whedon never let the film take itself too seriously, even in moments that should have been dramatic, he’d reel you back in with a joke to remind you that it’s not-so-serious. It wasn’t hedonistic as much as it was Whedonistic. Wordplay FTW! Also, I call copyright on that.

Those Whedonisms aside, everything about the film worked really well. Balancing a superhero ensemble piece with characters large enough to demand their own films was demanding enough, but the pacing and the script did well enough splitting up time between each superhero, with everyone getting their moment to shine, their moment to connect as a unit and their moment to reflect upon their shortcomings as individuals.

One thing that really struck me as impressive was the way that they handled The Hulk. It was nice seeing the character unleashed rather than a fugitive on the run. Would be keen to see more of Mark Ruffalo’s take on Bruce Banner also. Make it happen, Marvel.

There were several moments during the film that the whole audience laughed in unison and even applauded in unison. I highly recommend getting to a session that’s busy, because part of what made the film such an experience was the fact that the whole audience got involved in letting the film just wash over them and enjoying the ride.

You do not need to see it in 3D, though. Seeing it in 2D was just fine and there were no moments where I felt that I should have just watched that particular scene in 3D.

Fringe Festival

Later this year, I’ll be taking part in the Melbourne Fringe Festival and performing a 45-minute set of stand-up comedy. It is my intention to make people laugh. I guarantee at least one hearty chuckle, no more. Overselling a product that is yet to be released would just lend itself to a hype machine that may not end up meeting expectations. Whereas, if I undersell it, the only way is up – at least, that’s what Yazz told me.

I’ve already started writing and plotting out the ideas for the show itself and how it’s going to work and be performed. I have two talented writers helping me out, as the three of us are planning on doing a show together in the future… But more on that when the time is right.

The main focus of my show is that no two shows will be alike. There will be similarities between shows, but what I’m aiming for is an organic experience for each audience. It’s pretty ambitious, but I’m really looking forward to the challenges that it’ll present both in terms of writing and performing.

Just like Deborah Conway said, it’s only the beginning.

Writing

Well, obviously if I intend on standing up on a stage for 45 minutes, I can’t get away with talking about farts for the entire time…

Or can I?

Spare time has been spent furiously writing whatever comes to mind, whenever it comes to mind, about a variety of topics. One of my (now many) notebooks is covered in single-line chickenscribble which without my knowing why I wrote it down, would just seem like an incomprehensible mess to anyone unlucky enough to encounter it. Although there have been times where I’ve forgotten exactly why I’ve written down particular lines meaning that I’ve even managed to outsmart myself. How very crafty of me.

I’ve also been plotting out a graphic novel/short story idea. Anywhere between 150-200 written pages in length, I plan on doing a sort of 70/30 split in terms of words over images. The actual writing of this story may be saved for National Young Writer’s Month in June.

Other things in the pipeworks…

– A mock K-Drama (for those of you not in the know, that’s a Korean Drama series)
– Mock educational videos
– Short films and skits

Japan: Take Two

On May 18 I take off to Japan for a three-week vacation. The whole reason I decided to even get Blogostino off the ground was because of Paul versus Godzilla, the blog that covered my first trip to Japan.

I plan on keeping a similar travel blog experience, so expect more crazy Japanese shenanigans in the coming months.

My planning has been somewhat lacklustre this time around, due to aforementioned lack of time. But I’ve got a few random places  up my sleeve that I’ll definitely be checking out… Stay tuned.

Moving Out

Upon my return from Japan, no more than a few days later as a matter of fact, I’ll be moving into a sharehouse in Fairfield. I decided that the pipe dream of trying to own my own piece of real estate in Melbourne was too great a task to achieve on my own and that the time has come to remove myself from the shelter of homely comforts.

 That brings y’all up to speed for now. Until next time… Stay classy.