Dear Madonna,
Coincidence? Since my last message to you, "In Praise of Improv", I got hooked up with a group that calls itself Improv in Toronto and took part in kind of a flash mob event that had a couple of hundred people dancing to their iPods in the Toronto subway.
It was not as anarchistic as it sounds. There were rules:
1. No interfering with regular subway patrons
2. No dancing on the seats
3. No "dirty" (lewd) dancing - hey, there were kids around
4. No "pants-less" dancing - apparently that was worth mentioning
We staged ourselves at Museum Station and entered two consecutive trains, about 15-20 people per car. Right away one person in each car started dancing - to music that only they could hear on their iPod, so they looked like complete freaks. At the next station, two more people started dancing, and then at the next station, two more until we were all dancing to our own tunes. (I was dancing to an all-Madonna playlist of course!)
At Elginton Station we disembarked and took a bow on the platform as the other riders applauded and the driver on the train I was on blew the horn several times! Unfortunately our return trip was not as successful. After about three stations there was an announcement: THIS TRAIN WILL NOT CONTINUE UNTIL EVERYONE STOPS DANCING. EVERYONE MUST STOP DANCING. It was a bit surreal.
I'm not ignoring the big news story of Michael Jackson's death, and I do think it's a sad, sad waste (he was *our* age!) but I do feel he'd been "gone" for quite some time now.
Bye for now,
Julie
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
In Praise of Improv
Dear Madonna,
Do you ever watch "Inside the Actors Studio"? They should really invite you as a guest some day. Anyway, recently they had on talk-show host Conan O'Brien. He spoke surprisingly eloquently about the art of improvised comedy, a.k.a. "improv", and the great training it is for listening and being in the moment. It seems obvious, but time and time again on that show those skills are mentioned as being the key ingredients for being a good actor.
Also last week the great Carol Burnett was interviewed on "Q". She mentioned some of the skits that they used to do on her show, with Tim Conway, and how he would start ad-libbing and improvising to the point where a three minute bit would morph into 15 minutes of mayhem where the audience KNEW they were seeing something that was being made up - right before their eyes.
I think that's why I like the "Jack & Jill" and "Strictly Swing" (improvised) formats for dance competitions so much. Though I do admire the creativity and hours of practice that go into a flawless "routine", even the word "routine" belies its essence as a product that's been repeated over and over.
There's something magical about seeing something created in real time...a freshness that almost makes you feel like you're a part of the process. That may explain why - when you see some awesome Jack & Jill performance and can't wait to buy the DVD - that it's never quite as good as you remember it to be, when you were right there, in the moment along with the dancers.
Congratulations on your final concert date in Isreal. Your Sticky & Sweet tour has certainly been a success - while you've been going through all kinds of personal challenges. Life certainly doesn't get any less complicated as we grow older, does it?
Ciao,
Julie
Do you ever watch "Inside the Actors Studio"? They should really invite you as a guest some day. Anyway, recently they had on talk-show host Conan O'Brien. He spoke surprisingly eloquently about the art of improvised comedy, a.k.a. "improv", and the great training it is for listening and being in the moment. It seems obvious, but time and time again on that show those skills are mentioned as being the key ingredients for being a good actor.
Also last week the great Carol Burnett was interviewed on "Q". She mentioned some of the skits that they used to do on her show, with Tim Conway, and how he would start ad-libbing and improvising to the point where a three minute bit would morph into 15 minutes of mayhem where the audience KNEW they were seeing something that was being made up - right before their eyes.
I think that's why I like the "Jack & Jill" and "Strictly Swing" (improvised) formats for dance competitions so much. Though I do admire the creativity and hours of practice that go into a flawless "routine", even the word "routine" belies its essence as a product that's been repeated over and over.
There's something magical about seeing something created in real time...a freshness that almost makes you feel like you're a part of the process. That may explain why - when you see some awesome Jack & Jill performance and can't wait to buy the DVD - that it's never quite as good as you remember it to be, when you were right there, in the moment along with the dancers.
Congratulations on your final concert date in Isreal. Your Sticky & Sweet tour has certainly been a success - while you've been going through all kinds of personal challenges. Life certainly doesn't get any less complicated as we grow older, does it?
Ciao,
Julie
Monday, May 25, 2009
Five-Oh-Plus-One
Dear Madonna,
I can't quite believe that I'm 51. Today. Yeah, no "JulieFest" this year, and I'm in Montreal today at the Hilton Bonaventure with a client - stuffing delegate bags, attending the pre-con (that's short for Pre-Convention Meeting), and if I'm lucky (?) going on a site visit of the new Westin later today. Oh, and it's early to bed tonight to be up and at the Registration Desk by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
But I did have a fabulous birthday "steal" dance on Friday night with Nick, Clem and Wij. It was so much fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy watching it as well. Steve Randall posted a video of the dance on Facebook, so I've been getting lots of messages from people I haven't heard from in ages. Cava-Karen sent me a beautiful card with paper products from Japan, and Louise knit me blanket - can you believe that? I got managed to get together for "Birthday Month" with Midori (whom I haven't seen forever) and Holly (back from celebrating her 30th in Paris). I suspect there are one or two more "acknowledgements" coming....
So may-be this *is* a kind of JulieFest after all - but without Mike Topel, the Dear Johns, Dianne, Cava-Karen, Andy & Tara, Karaoke, the Condom Garden, Elvis Priestly.....
On to stuffing!
Julie
Let me get back to you in a bit to let you know
I can't quite believe that I'm 51. Today. Yeah, no "JulieFest" this year, and I'm in Montreal today at the Hilton Bonaventure with a client - stuffing delegate bags, attending the pre-con (that's short for Pre-Convention Meeting), and if I'm lucky (?) going on a site visit of the new Westin later today. Oh, and it's early to bed tonight to be up and at the Registration Desk by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
But I did have a fabulous birthday "steal" dance on Friday night with Nick, Clem and Wij. It was so much fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy watching it as well. Steve Randall posted a video of the dance on Facebook, so I've been getting lots of messages from people I haven't heard from in ages. Cava-Karen sent me a beautiful card with paper products from Japan, and Louise knit me blanket - can you believe that? I got managed to get together for "Birthday Month" with Midori (whom I haven't seen forever) and Holly (back from celebrating her 30th in Paris). I suspect there are one or two more "acknowledgements" coming....
So may-be this *is* a kind of JulieFest after all - but without Mike Topel, the Dear Johns, Dianne, Cava-Karen, Andy & Tara, Karaoke, the Condom Garden, Elvis Priestly.....
On to stuffing!
Julie
Let me get back to you in a bit to let you know
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Can you really have too much lace?
Dear Madonna,There's an article in this month's Flare (it's a Canadian fashion magazine, and no, "Canadian fashion" is not an oxymoron) citing the most aggregious fashion crimes of the last 50 years or so. For some reason "lace" got dissed. Crazy.
My birthday's coming up at the end of this month and I'm definitely going to celebtrate by treating myself something lacy.
Either that or I'm buying a Blackberry.
Ciao ciao,
Julie
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Free Coffee and a Free Ride
Dear Madonna,
I was pleasantly surprised when I went for my daily Short Bold today at Starbucks. As usual I had my "green" tumbler with me - something I started doing at the beginning of this year as my new year's resolution for the planet - and I was told that my coffee was free, in celebration of Earth Day, and as a reward for bringing my own cup. YAY!
I did something similar at my dance classes this month: offering a $5 discount for anyone who brought their own water bottle. I included the $5 drop-in fees as well and am able to make a donation of $350 to Markets Initiative.
My cousin NJ lives in Vancouver and works for the organization which lobbies publishers to use more eco-conscious paper sources. A couple of years ago Markets Initiative honoured JK Rowlings for demanding that 16 publishers around the world print her books using paper that was free of ancient or endangered forests. A more recent coup was the pubilication of a glossy magazine - Canadian Geographic - printed on paper made from wheat.
You can find out more about Markets Initiative at http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/
Oh, and another fun thing happened today. I was on my way to a business lunch at the Design Exchange, waiting for the bus, when a couple of Citytv guys pulled up -a camera man and a talking head with microphone -stopped and asked if anyone wanted a free ride. Another woman and I hopped in and we were interviewed as we made our way down Bay Street. It was all in aid of some "random-act-of-kindness" stunt - I can't remember what they said they were doing. I just hope I didn't flash the camera when I was climbing out of the car.
What's this I hear about you falling off a horse and blaming it on a pizza delivery guy? Is someone having me on?
Ciao for now.
Julie
I was pleasantly surprised when I went for my daily Short Bold today at Starbucks. As usual I had my "green" tumbler with me - something I started doing at the beginning of this year as my new year's resolution for the planet - and I was told that my coffee was free, in celebration of Earth Day, and as a reward for bringing my own cup. YAY!
I did something similar at my dance classes this month: offering a $5 discount for anyone who brought their own water bottle. I included the $5 drop-in fees as well and am able to make a donation of $350 to Markets Initiative.
My cousin NJ lives in Vancouver and works for the organization which lobbies publishers to use more eco-conscious paper sources. A couple of years ago Markets Initiative honoured JK Rowlings for demanding that 16 publishers around the world print her books using paper that was free of ancient or endangered forests. A more recent coup was the pubilication of a glossy magazine - Canadian Geographic - printed on paper made from wheat.
You can find out more about Markets Initiative at http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/
Oh, and another fun thing happened today. I was on my way to a business lunch at the Design Exchange, waiting for the bus, when a couple of Citytv guys pulled up -a camera man and a talking head with microphone -stopped and asked if anyone wanted a free ride. Another woman and I hopped in and we were interviewed as we made our way down Bay Street. It was all in aid of some "random-act-of-kindness" stunt - I can't remember what they said they were doing. I just hope I didn't flash the camera when I was climbing out of the car.
What's this I hear about you falling off a horse and blaming it on a pizza delivery guy? Is someone having me on?
Ciao for now.
Julie
Friday, April 10, 2009
Mercy!
Dear Madonna,
Sorry to hear you were denied the opportunity to adopt Chifundo (a.k.a. Mercy) James from Malawi. It seems almost cruel to base the decision on some trifling bureaucratic technicality, like citizenship. You're appealing, right?
Did you happen to catch some of the uproar surrounding Billy Bob Thornton's bizarre interview on the CBC program 'Q' this week? It reminded me of the press conference you gave at The Sutton Place Hotel, which I inadvertently stumbled into. One of of the reporters asked you a question about your personal life and you reminded him - very firmly, but politely - that you were only answering questions about music, the 'Ray of Light' tour, and the new album. Unlike Billy Bob - who must have been smoking something. You can watch the entire train wreck at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw
By the way, Billy Bob and the boys are no longer on tour here in Canada. Seems a couple of the band members have come down with the flu.
Ciao.
Julie
Sorry to hear you were denied the opportunity to adopt Chifundo (a.k.a. Mercy) James from Malawi. It seems almost cruel to base the decision on some trifling bureaucratic technicality, like citizenship. You're appealing, right?
Did you happen to catch some of the uproar surrounding Billy Bob Thornton's bizarre interview on the CBC program 'Q' this week? It reminded me of the press conference you gave at The Sutton Place Hotel, which I inadvertently stumbled into. One of of the reporters asked you a question about your personal life and you reminded him - very firmly, but politely - that you were only answering questions about music, the 'Ray of Light' tour, and the new album. Unlike Billy Bob - who must have been smoking something. You can watch the entire train wreck at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw
By the way, Billy Bob and the boys are no longer on tour here in Canada. Seems a couple of the band members have come down with the flu.
Ciao.
Julie
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Not convinced
Dear Madonna,
Kabbala. Wasn't there a big furor when you started studying it? Since you're not Jewish, weren't 40 years old at the time, and not male. I went to a free information session today and found it a bit Eckhart Tolle meets T.Harv Ecker. Not my cup of tea I'm afraid.
Had a surpise call from my old friend, Val today. She's been "packaged out" by her company, so has gone from having no free time to, well, having a LOT of free time. She'll be coming downtown tomorrow for a seminar or workshop or something to help laid off employees to find new work. I'm having her over for lunch afterwards.
It'll be great to catch up. Val and I shared apartments, cats, and a passion for latin music. We even dated guys who played in the same band. She ended up getting pregnant and moving to Mississauga, which is pretty much the antithesis of my lifestyle so we, sadly, don't see each other very often.
Gotta go. I kind of slacked off this weekend and want to get a bunch of stuff done to start the new week off right...
Julie
Kabbala. Wasn't there a big furor when you started studying it? Since you're not Jewish, weren't 40 years old at the time, and not male. I went to a free information session today and found it a bit Eckhart Tolle meets T.Harv Ecker. Not my cup of tea I'm afraid.
Had a surpise call from my old friend, Val today. She's been "packaged out" by her company, so has gone from having no free time to, well, having a LOT of free time. She'll be coming downtown tomorrow for a seminar or workshop or something to help laid off employees to find new work. I'm having her over for lunch afterwards.
It'll be great to catch up. Val and I shared apartments, cats, and a passion for latin music. We even dated guys who played in the same band. She ended up getting pregnant and moving to Mississauga, which is pretty much the antithesis of my lifestyle so we, sadly, don't see each other very often.
Gotta go. I kind of slacked off this weekend and want to get a bunch of stuff done to start the new week off right...
Julie
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