Tuesday Tunes: Shiny Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to singer, songwriter, film producer, and activist Michael Stipe, best known as the frontman of legendary alternative rock band R.E.M. Like most fans of Michael Stipe and R.E.M., I am often moved by Stipe's incredible vocal stylings and his surreal lyrics (when they can be understood, that is.)
 If we go way, way back to 1983, we can see Stipe and company making their television debut on Late Night with David Letterman, performing a song that - at the time - had no title apparently, but we now know and love as "South Central Rain (I'm Sorry.)"

As part of the fundraiser for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Stipe and Chris Martin of Coldplay recorded a cover of one of my favorite songs: Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun."

And, finally, today I wanted to share a fun video from Sesame Street where Michael Stipe changed the lyrics of R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People" to the Muppet-ready "Furry Happy Monsters."

Happy Birthday, Michael.

Monday Motivator: Perfection

I am always very moved by the story that I like to call "Shaya at the Bat," and Wayne Dyer included it in his book, The Power of Intention. In this video, Dr. Dyer reads the story to a live audience.

Everyday in our lives, we strive toward some level of perfection: perfection in our jobs, perfection in our relationships, and perfection in what we create. Often, that perfection is an image we've seen in a movie somewhere (a fictional movie), and we're not even sure how satisfying it will be if we ever manage to get it. What's more, we find ourselves engaging in a lot of less-than-perfect behavior in our pursuit of those images.

In the story of Shaya, we are exposed to a different idea of perfection. Nine of those boys lost a game that they could have won. The perfection they sought when they put on their cleats that day was not the perfection that they got. They got something better.
What I get from Shaya's story is that perfection doesn't have to be some light at the end of the tunnel - some far-off goal that must be achieved. Perfection can be in the flowers and shiny pebbles along the way, and our own perfection can be in the way that we appreciate those things when we come upon them.
I'm not saying to you that you should give up on your dreams and goals, I'm just saying to find some perfection today, too. It's there if you look for it.

Superhero Sunday: Alouette, Je Te Plumerai

That would be Peregrine, there, under
 the yellow speech bubble. Zut!

Not much is known about the French superhero Peregrine from Marvel Comics. He came into play during the 1982 Marvel Cross-over mini-series Contest of Champions in which heroes were collected from Earth to fight in a contest for . . . oh, I don't know, rare stamps or something. With a shortage of international heroes in the Marvel Universe, superheroes like Le Peregrine were created to show that this was a global happening. There was also a young lady from Ireland calling herself Shamrock whose super-power was . . . really, really good luck. (Not kidding.) Her superhero career ended some years later when she broke her leg and figured her luck had run out. (Blimey!) Also, I think those kids finally stole her marshmallow cereal.

At least he doesn't have a pencil-thin
mustache and a beret.

Spiffy costume, though, lassie.

When the contest was over, we didn't see much of Peregrine until he was asked to join Silver Sable's Wild Pack - a kind of super-powered INTERPOL. He is basically an incidental character in the Marvel universe. Writing French characters is not really Marvel's strong suit. They pronounce things like "zat" instead of "that," exclaim "sacrebleu!" a lot, and - though I can't confirm this - probably have an inexplicable fondness for Jerry Lewis. Also "peregrine" is not a French word, so the fact that he was called "Le Peregrine" in Marvel's version of France was inaccurate. (In French versions of the comics, he was called Le Faucon Pèlerin, meaning "Peregrine Falcon.") Peregrine Falcons are indigenous to many countries in the world, including France, so they did at least get that much right.
Peregrine's alter ego Alain Racine is a writer born in Moulins, France, but little else is known of his origin.

His suit allows him to fly through the use of an anti-gravity belt (really need to get me one of those) and jet turbines beneath his glider wings, so, no, he does not have to flap his arms continuously. He is an expert at the martial art of savate, also known as French kick-boxing, but possesses no actual super-powers . . . apart from body odor and rudeness, no doubt.

Save the World Saturday: The Weight of Water

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines water in this way:
wa·ter: the liquid that descends from the clouds as rain, forms streams, lakes, and seas, and is a major constituent of all living matter and that when pure is an odorless, tasteless, very slightly compressible liquid oxide of hydrogen H₂O which appears bluish in thick layers, freezes at 0° C and boils at 100° C, has a maximum density at 4° C and a high specific heat, is feebly ionized to hydrogen and hydroxyl ions, and is a poor conductor of electricity and a good solvent
I have a much simpler definition:
Water is life.
Over 37, 000 children under the age of five in the world die every year as a result of unsafe water and unsanitary living conditions.
Charity: Water is an organization that was brought to my attention by my good friend Erica of Digital Dimensions (aka @Ekwoman). Here is a video that explains a little more about what they do and why they do it:

I encourage you to read some their informational page as well.
You can help. There are a number of ways to get involved and, of course, you can donate as well. In fact, Erica has extended her personal fundraising campaign, so please drop in on her Gifts With Meaning 2.0 page and give a few bucks toward the cause.
If one of your resolutions for 2011 is to be more charitable, I can't really think of a better place to start.

Friday Film Buff: Facing the Dragon

In 1981, Disney and Paramount followed up their previous teaming on Popeye (1980) with a venture into the sword-and-sorcery genre, Dragonslayer. Far more mature than anything else that had been released under the Disney name (nudity in a Disney film?!), Dragonslayer didn't quite make its money back at the box office, and is considered a commercial failure, though it did garner a cult following in subsequent years. Disney would later start Touchstone under which to release more adult fare.
I won't kid you, this is not going to end up on my list of favorite films, but there are definitely some redeeming factors here. Sword-and-sorcery films are not exactly known for their original storylines, so, in this regard, Dragonslayer can easily be forgiven for borrowing heavily from the St. George and the Dragon mythos. The story draws inspiration from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence in Fantasia, as the protagonist (Peter MacNicol) is apprenticed to a great sorcerer played by Sir Ralph Richardson. The beguiling Caitlin Clarke is not the traditional damsel-in-distress, and "knights in shining armor" make no appearance in this film, so I'll give points for not descending to every cliché in the book.

Peter MacNicol is enjoyable in this, his first film, though I'd read a rumor once that he is embarrassed by the film and does not include it on his resume. (Gee, Peter, I don't suppose Heat - the one with Burt Reynolds - is on there, is it?) 
However, let us come to the beast in question. The dragon is pretty darn good. Guillermo Del Toro lists this dragon Vermithrax as one of his two favorite movie dragons (the other being the Maleficent dragon in Sleeping Beauty.) In addition to an impressive design, the movement of the dragon was cutting edge in stop-motion animation employing the new technique of go motion, which uses a computer to mechanically move the model during photography. This creates motion-blur and makes the animation appear more realistic. This was basically the top level of live-action animation prior to CGI. 

Dragonslayer was justly nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar (but lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark.) Alex's North's impressive score also earned an Oscar nod, but lost to Chariots of Fire.
Filmed on location in North Wales and Scotland, this film is also quite visually stunning.
I find this film to be a real curiosity coming from Disney. In addition to the brief nudity, the action is pretty violent - even gruesome - for Disney. The theme of Christianity runs through the film, but it is not treated at all reverently - another curiosity.
Look for Ian McDiarmid (Senator/Emperor Palpatine) in a small role as a priest.

Theatre Thursday: 2010 In The Wolf's Den

2010 has been an interesting year for the One Big Bad Wolf blog. It went from being a theatre blog that was updated sporadically (and, at one point, abandoned completely) to a daily-updated blog on a variety of topics - though still predominantly focused on theatre.
Readership has increased enormously over the last year, and, while I'm never fully satisfied with any entry I've posted, I do feel like the blog is accomplishing something. What exactly that is, I couldn't say, but it is what it is.
I thought that I would take the last Theatre Thursday of the year to re-visit my some of my favorite theatre-related entries of 2010. Some of you latecomers may have missed them, and some of you long-time readers may want to refresh your memories.
Here, in no particular order, are my ten favorite entries of the last year:
Slings and Arrows, September 16: While I do enjoy writing, sometimes it's almost as much fun for me to track down interesting content on the internet and put it on this blog for you to see. In this case, I selected several video examples of actors performing Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech for you to compare and contrast. I'm happy to say that most of the videos still work on this one, too. (Mel Gibson has become understandably paranoid about any recordings of himself winding up on the internet.)
Why I Hate Curtain Calls, August 12: I made some people angry with this one and found myself in the middle of some interesting e-mail debates. I have to tell you, though, my opinion hasn't changed on this one. I just don't like 'em.
Safe Palate, April 18: This one also got a few people hot under the collar at me when I compared the Denver Post's season announcements for the Denver theatre community to a bland, unoriginal menu choice from a small-town restaurant where I was raised. Well, I didn't start a blog to tell people only what they wanted to hear, and, frankly, I don't mind if people get mad at me so long as they really think about why they're mad at me. "Just because" has never been a good enough reason for me, and it shouldn't be for you, either.
Why Don't You Just Act, Dear Boy? January 30: I really enjoy stage combat, though I think sometimes it should be called "staged combat," to send a subtle message to the macho idiots who want to "keep it real" on stage and film and keep injuring themselves and others. I'm not opposed to method acting, but there needs to be a line. (Also, I plug Jenn Zukowski's very cool book.)
Finding an Audience, January 22: Basically, I share some thoughts about the challenges of creating a new audience versus the dangers of pandering only to the existing audience. One of the reasons that I started this blog was to spark discussions, and I like where this discussion started to go.
What a Bunch of Yobbos, September 25: Another reason that I started this blog was as an occasional outlet for my sometimes odd sense of humor. This is another one of my rants about cell phones in theatres, and I had a little bit of fun while I was at it.

En Français, October 21: My preference for this entry is largely aesthetic. While I speculate on the next big French import to the United States, I get to share some videos of a couple of really incredible French musicals.
Yes We Ca- Oh No You Didn't, January 20: Hope, the German musical about Barack Obama. I still have nothing to say about this.
And It Moves Us All, November 4: It seems inappropriate to call this one a favorite as it surrounds the tragic passing of young Lion King performer, Shannon Tavarez, from leukemia. Shannon had been unable to find a suitable bone marrow donor. I think it's important to put a face with this disease - in Shannon's case, a very talented face - so that we can someday soon find a cure.
Images, December 16: During the controversy surrounding Alastair Macauley's review of The Nutcracker in which he took digs at a ballerina's weight, there was a lot of blame being tossed around. I felt that it was important that we take a look at our own hang-ups with body image as well. I don't think this is one of my best-written blog entries, but it was very personal, and it appears to have struck a chord. Though I wrote it less than two weeks ago, it has surpassed every other entry to become far-and-away the most-viewed entry in the history of this blog.
I hope that you have enjoyed this blog in 2010 and will stick around through 2011. I've got some new surprises in store for you.

Wildlife Wednesday: Sure-Footed

When is a goat not a goat?
When it's a Mountain Goat, which, despite its name, is actually part of the antelope family.
The climbing skill of Mountain Goats is truly amazing as they scale rock faces that are almost completely vertical. This ability aids them in finding food and avoiding predators. (You'd have to be a pretty hungry Mountain Lion to chase your potential meal up the side of a cliff.) Often their greatest peril is a rock slide . . . or a misstep.
Here is some amateur video of a family of Mountain Goats (kids and all) demonstrating their famous sure-footedness . . . or sure-hoofedness.