Carter Burwell’s Music = amazing February 24, 2009

To know I am a fan of Twilight, you must know that I am a fan of the music. Some people may disagree but I thought the music in the film fit perfectly with the characters and so on.

The score was composed by Carter Burwell. Burwell has worked on many movies including A Knight’s Tale and The Big Loebowski. But this is very different for him, I feel. 

Today in my History of Musical Theatre class, we talked about music like we do a lot. My teacher said, “If you want to know people, you listen to their music.”  And I swear like falling apple, it hit me. Another reason why Twilight is something the draws me like no other. Carter Burwell writes music that is strikingly beautiful. If you listen to it, who do you feel. Listen to it without the movie and you can feel every emotion that is going on. Mostly: Love. Love and fear of the future, but mostly LOVE. I am drawn to this. Why? I do not know. Maybe because I long for it. I long for a love like no other. 

I listen to Carter Burwell’s music for Twilight and wonder how he captured such beauty. I wish I could meet him and ask him. What inspired you?  I know what would inspire me…the beauty and mystery of Edward. How eager Bella is. The tenderness and care Edward takes with the one he loves, as do all the Cullens. The fear of other’s finding out. The danger that Bella presents to Edward and so on. The music is not eerie and scary. It was very much classical victorian vampirish to an extent. But how BEAUTIFUL! How precious. Shhhh listen. Tell me, what do you hear?

I love it. I simply love it. What do you guys thing?

GO STATE, BEAT CANCER! February 23, 2009

The numbers are in….

This year THON raised….

$7,490,133.87 FOR THE KIDS! For Pediatric Cancer!

The dancers were great! Shana, Lauren, Carrie, Jason, and all those who stood for 46 hours…CONGRATULATIONS! You are heroes in the eyes of every child and their families who walk through the doors of the Hershey Medical Center. I am amazed and you should be proud of yourselves!

To everyone involved: Overalls, Captains, Committees, Orgs, and Spectators all over the globe, THANK YOU for making THON a HUGE success!!!!

I am honored to be a part of such a great organization.

Truly, if Penn State Students Ruled the world, everything would be fine.

To the Kids and Families: We are honored to dance for you! You are part of our family and our love is your love! Thank you for sharing this weekend with us! You make this weekend more special than it already is!

Wow! I can’t get over it! I am speechless!

Visit: www.THON.org   for more info and a rundown from this weekend.

“One day we will dance in celebration, but until then we will dance for a cure!”

GO STATE, BEAT CANCER!

Precious February 21, 2009

So I was at THON from 4pm on Friday until 8am on saturday with a bit of a small train home to shower in between. I had been up for 27 hours by that point so I came home after my last camera shift and pass out cold. I just woke up around 2 15. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! As an ex dancer I knew I could stay awake all 46 hours. But then I would have to explain to my professors why I missed class and that’s not really good.  So getting some sleep is great! The dancers at just about at the 21 hours mark right now and our dancers seem to be doing well. 

I keep sending them texts to let them know how amazing they are since I haven’t been able to get on the floor….no one wants anything which is shocking because I would be milking this for all I can…and I did….I craved smoothies a LOT during THON. I’m going to head back soon for a little bit just to say hello and give them some friendly faces to look at and see. I have a dinner and my family will be here shortly too. 

Then I’ll head back in the wee hours of the morning and stay until 4pm. Well more like closer to 5. 

If you go on THON.org and read the blogs they are starting to get funny. People are saying how other ppl are annoying, they are tired, they don’t know what time it is but don’t worry they aren’t delirious yet. It’s great! Also, the webcast looks great! I’ve been watching it since I’ve been awake. Love it!

That’s all for now…I’ll try to post again but if I don’t look for the follow up with pics and the total!!! 

FTK!!! THON ON FOR THE KIDS!

Who’s Your Favorite Jo Bro? February 21, 2009

LOVE IT!!! Was at THON from 4-12 and am going back in about 1 hr. I am on call for about 6 dancers if they need anything at all and I LOVE IT!!! Nothing like being an ex moraler, shunned THON member because you were away for a semester. No hard feelings THON!!!

I am loving the fact that I will sleep ALLLL DAYYYY tomorrow and go back to THON at night and staying until the end. I have one more shift on Camera for the Webcast so check it out at THON.org. 

I have entered the Jonas Brothers Raffle and hope to win! Also, I have learned the line dance and visited many dancers on the Floor. This year looks super promising! I can’t wait til our Family and my actual family come tomorrow!!! YAY!!!

Here are some pics so far…

THON 2009! February 20, 2009

Hey all!

 I plan on writing a lot this weekend and updating you on THON happenings. If you are interested in this AMAZING Dance Marathon Penn State Puts On every year you can check out the LIVE Webcast (which I am helping as a cameralady) at www.THON.org. There will also be DANCER BLOGS!!! I LOVE These because Dancers are CRAZY! I should know I was one in 2007! 

So at 4pm The madness starts! Pre THON starts at 5:15 and then we STAND at 6pm!!! I AM PUMPED!!!

THON is a dance marathon where Penn State Students stand for 46 hrs to help raise money for Kids with Pediatric Cancer, The Hershey Medical Center, and the Four Diamonds Fund. We STAND without sleeping for 46 hrs to show those who are fighting, those who have won, those who have lost, their families and their friends that THEY ARE NOT ALONE! This weekend we strive to put smiles on kids faces no matter how bad our legs hurt. We laugh and sing and cry and celebrate life in all forms!! This weekend we FIGHT for a CURE! 

THON begins in the fall and builds until February and THON weekend. We are here to love and to share and to witness.

One Day we will dance in celebration but for now, we dance for a CURE! 

FTK KIDS! I AM SO PROUD OF ALL OF YOU! SHANA, LAUREN, CARRIE, LEO, ALI, RYAN, BECCA, MY MORALERS!, MY CAPTAINS, EVERYONE I KNOW INVOLVED IN THON! YOU GUYS ROCKS!

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney

Where Do We Go From Here? February 19, 2009

So tonight was a little emotional. I was talking to my mom and she asked me about my facebook status which currently states: Lauren is hoping she is dong the right thing, but isn’t sure. 

What did I mean?

I meant I have no idea where I want to go after Graduation in May. I LOVED working for Disney and would give everything to work for them again. I need to network more down there which is hard to do up here. There is a summer alumni program for the College Program and it’s working in the parks which would give me more opportunity to experience Disney as a company and I would love to do that, it would just be hard for me to be away from my family again for another summer. Miss another family experience. I already missed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I don’t want to miss any more. I know that I have to grow up and move on and do my own thing, but I love my family so much. I feel like all the time I have with them is precious. I wish we could relocate to Florida…all of us, grandparents included. But that will not happen. 

I know I want to work with videography and editing. I love doing that kind of stuff. Mixing music for videos, making video blogs, and I love learning about it. I feel like I haven’t had enough opportunities to do that. I am now learning photoshop on my own. 

I love to write! I am working on a novel and I love writing, especially about Disney and Love. I love doing character analysis studies and so on. 

I love singing and acting and I would love to perform somewhere…anywhere. I LOVE performing. I am currently in the Children’s show as RAINBOW FISH!!! I am excited. It’s something I love to do. I also love technical theatre work. I’m not advanced in it, but I love it. I know how to build sets and how to dress a mic. 

How do you put all of this on a resume? How do you market yourself like this? How do you tell people who you are? How do you find a good job in a market like this that is something that you LOVE to do? 

So many questions, I wish I had answers.

Until then, I’ll be searching and trying to figure out what I want from life. I know one thing, I just want to be happy.

A Love Like That February 18, 2009

So I have been bothered by the whole Twilight Series over one simple fact. Since I have to be at class soon I will try to sum it up quickly on here.

I cannot comprehend Edward’s love for Bella. It has bothered me so much. However, in finishing the books and seeing the film many times over this past weekend, I am finding that I am beginning to compare the love of vampires as Eternal Love. At least in the Cullen’s sense. When you look at it: Carlise’s love for Esme, Emmett’s for Rosalie or rather Rosalie’s for Emmett, Alice’s love for Jasper…..they are these super strong bonds. Eternal love.

One thing that is sticking out to me is two scenes from the movie:

The first is when we first are introduced to the Cullen children…When Alice is introduced Jasper lightly twirls her as if showing her off. What a big statement about their relationship. We see that they are comfortable with each other. We also see how each of them look at each other. With such love and care and knowing. It’s amazing.

The next scene is when they are in the car taking Bella out of Forks, Alice places her hand out at the same time that Jasper grabs to reach it. It’s not a grab motion at all. In fact, it’s as if they were fitting two pieces of a puzzle together. It’s crazy.

I just cannot fathom this eternal, everlasting, unbreaking love that the Cullen family has.

I can sort of fathom it if it relate it to God’s everlasting love for us. And maybe that’s how I am supposed to see it. As a sign, a huge note. But to see it in a real fiction character….It makes me want to believe that it’s real when everything I have experienced tells me it’s not. What does one do? This unbelievable sense of love. What does one do with it?

Watching February 16, 2009

So I saw Twilight 3 times this weekend. Thursday, Saturday, and tonight. Each night I noticed something different each time.

For example: I noticed that James says to Waylen “Nice Jacket” and after Waylen is dead, James wears the jacket for the rest of the movie.

I noticed small things: things on Bella’s walls, Edwards moment of vulnerability, and so on. 

It was interesting. While I think the movie is horrible in the technical sense, like the book, I still love the story and the characters are played well. Bella could be a little more dynamic, but K Stew is K Stew and well not that great.

I love Rob though. I think he does a good Edward. Especially because he chooses to use facial expressions to convey Edward’s feelings. Edward is not very good at expressing his real feelings. It’s interesting. Edward’s character is something I would like to encounter in real life. I want to be amazed at his mere personality. There’s a line in the movie that sticks with me. Bella has just revealed the fact that she realizes he’s a vampire. He shows her all the things that make him the world’s greatest predator. Bella tells him she’s not afraid. The following conversation ensues:

Edward: I can’t read your mind. You have to tell me what you’re thinking.

Bella: Now I’m afraid.

Edward: Good.

Bella: I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of losing you. I, I just feel like you’re going to disappear again.

Edward: You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you.

Unreal. I can’t fathom it. And it happens. I have friends who can prove that something like this happens! Not vampire human love, but love in the purest sense. Love at first sight. Love love love. 

And I wonder…How long will I have to wait? How many decades? I’m not immortal. So how long?

Thoughts On Bond February 14, 2009

I want to examine this line from Casino Royale and think about it in other terms.

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Vesper Lynd: You’re not going to let me in there, are you? You’ve got your armour back on. That’s that. 
James Bond: I have no armour left. You’ve stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me – whatever is left of me – whatever I am – I’m yours.

Now. James has just been very much injured…its probably the one part of the movie I cannot sit through, even though he laughs during a part of it. And Vesper is talking to him and this is the part where he tells her he loves her and yadda. I never really thought there was supposed to be a love story with James Bond, but then again I never watched the classic ones. Which I should do, I know. But I find these lines interesting.

Jame’s Armour is his secrets. He has some he won’t tell Vesper even though he says that he has no armour left. That he is completely and utterly hers. I’m a bit confused but its the line that stuck out to me the most in the movie. It was just simply there and nagging at me for the last 25 minutes of the movie. REally James? Really?

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the part of the stairwell chase and Vesper is sitting in the shower. She is shaken but what she has just witnessed, not quite as strong as James thought her to be. James goes and sits with her in the shower and “takes care of her” so to speak. Thus starts and sparks their new romance. There we see Vespers Vulnerability and later we see James Vulnerability in his armour speech. 

So what do I think this all says….

In order to be completely in love with another person and to give yourself over to them fully, you must be completely shed of all armour and vulnerable. You must deal out your faults, your fears, and so on. You must give up yourself  (as does the other person). To each other in all honesty is to know the faults of the other. To know their strengths and their weaknesses. 

You catch my drift? Thoughts? Opinions? Arguments?

What a Day. February 14, 2009

I’m watching Casino Royal right now and the opening sequences are amazing! They did such a great job with it. I really like this movie for that reason. I have to keep from commenting on it because I am watching it with her friend and he beau. But it really is sheer genius. 

Today was better than yesterday. I was productive in my outside of school activities. I finished Breaking Dawn, was a bit disappointed but that’s life I suppose. It was a good series though, bad writing, good story. I also did a lot of writing with my story. I wrote another two-three pages because I was so inspired. I really have to get other opinions on this story. I need to make sure it flows and that it works. I edit a lot. That’s good I think.

I need to get my school work done but it’s really boring. It doesn’t interest me. I’m sure tired of it. Maybe something will become interesting I’m not sure. I am noticing a lot of things in movies now that I have two film and lit classes. For example the filmography for Casino Royal is unbelievable. The filmography for Twilight is not so good. I hope the new director is better. 

So my dad is better. I’ve had a lot of reflection time, thinking time. I have been able to reevaluate things. I know I am going to be just fine. It’s just hard.

I have to go and relax. I am singing the National Anthem tomorrow at an ice hockey game here at school.