Yes yes, TEO fans! It's page number fifty-two of TEO! Meaning… well… uh… it's twice twenty-six. And if you printed out each page, you could make a deck of playing cards out of them. Though that would be kind of lame. (Note to self: TEO playing cards– great merch opportunity– get more info on printing…)
This page isn't too neat, thanks to all the gradients and photo backgrounds, but I think that the story makes up for it. After all, we see Thornton and Whirlypants again! They're the most awesome scientific duo that you just barely remember. (You might want to read the old pages over again– they'll be important in the upcoming plot.) Also, that there is a ridiculously fruity drink.
In other news this week… um… I'm in a school play! Two school plays, actually! Two school plays that are fighting against each other! I'd tell you about it, but to save time and provide a much more interesting and opinionated viewpoint, here's an excerpt from a (retrospectively somewhat cynical-sounding) letter I sent to a friend on the subject.
I'm in two plays at school right now. One, based on Norton Juster's classic children's novel The Phantom Tollbooth, is our main spring non-musical event; I snared a choice role as the Humbug, one of the three main characters of the play. The other, Much Ado About Nothing, is being put on by the Shakespeare Club, a brand new group at my school headed up by the uber-talented Anya Lamb. To know why there are two major plays in the spring semester competing directly against each other, you must first know these five points of information:
1. Phantom Tollbooth is being directed by Ms. Germanos, French teacher and SPHS's long-time head of the Drama Department. Beneath her soft, grinning, Weeble-shaped exterior is a conniving mind that will allow absolutely no compromises in her bizarre pastel musical-number-infested interpretation of theater (she reportedly[!] sabotaged many rehearsal dates for Much Ado About Nothing). Also, she likes fairy tales. A lot. Often these two things get in the way of her ability to direct well.
2.Much Ado About Nothing has a cast that consists mostly of Thespians– kids who are officially registered in the National Junior Thespian Society (the ultimate pretentious college-application-padder for any aspiring actor). Now, I don't want to make broad generalizations here, but Thespians tend to be pretentious, preening, snotty little twerps who believe that they already know absolutely every single thing there is to know about acting thanks to their four years in prestigious shows such as Starmites and Footloose. Like Germanos, they won't compromise in their vision of theater; but they hate Germanos with a burning passion, and they are basically using Anya and her Shakespeare Club as mainly a tool to show Germanos how things could be, if only she listened to their sage advice.
4. Katie Gahs is the student director of Phantom Tollbooth. She has directed two One-Acts and a slew of independent films, and she hasn't gotten much credit or recognition for any of them. This is her senior year, and if Tollbooth fails at the box office her soul will shrivel up and die.
5. I have never shown much allegiance to either camp, and, up until now, I have only landed parts with names like "Soldier #1" and "Man #3" (the latter being in a small play with only ten people and, indeed, no Man #1 or 2). I only got into Tollbooth because the lack of Thespians meant that Germanos was willing to take whoever was left (we probably have the widest array of speech impediments ever seen in a theatrical production. Say what you will about Thespians, but they are at least halfway decent actors), and I only got into Much Ado because, apparently, I fit the role of Dogberry perfectly. (If you've seen the play, that either says a lot about my known proficiency at comedy or the Thespians' general opinion of me.)
So, yeah, either one or the other is destined to fail miserably, and right now, my money's on Tollbooth. But it's a good play, and it's my first large part, so I'm gonna try to press onward with both. Stay tuned for more info!
Thespian kids, Ms. Germanos, Anya, Katie, if any of you are reading this right now, I'm going to say that it was late and I was a little cranky when I wrote this. Other than that, though, it is, to my understanding, what is going on, and most of the views here were originally culled from the statements of other people. ("Captain! Captain! We've reached Critical LiveJournal Mass! She's gonna BLOOOOOOW!!!") Anyways, if you actually end up reading this, tell me if you think I'm right or wrong. (That way I'll know you read my webcomic! Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!)
In other news… not much. I learned what bacne was earlier today. (It's like acne… but on your back!) And we watched Pride & Prejudice, which my dad liked more than my mom. (Mom: "All it was, was British people talking and talking and talking. They never did anything!" Dad: "So the 'Prejudice' in the title doesn't just refer to Mr. Darcy, but of Elizabeth's family's own prejudice against themselves. …Oh yeah, and Keira Knightly is HOT.") And we got bagels from Atlanta Bread Company which are surprisingly good. Their multigrain bagels are so badass, they have actual pumpkin seeds stuck on the top, along with a myriad of other nuts and grains. They are like bread to the extreme.
And now for the TEO Inquiry of the Week (doot doo doooooo!): Did you ever have an imaginary friend when you were growing up?
Gotta go. That Speed Racer DVD ain't gettin' any farther from its due date!
Sincerely,
Ian Jay
PS: Yeah.
After reading my previous post, I realized that it was kind of unwise to print that. I am a BAD PERSON for printing them. A bad person and, moreover, a bad friend.
But Thespians? Germanos? Anya and Katie? If you're reading this, don't be mad. (More importantly, don't kick me out of your play.) There's no need to get, well, dramatic about all this. Instead, if we work hard enough, and maybe reconcile some arguments, then both plays can succeed, and I'll be standing there cheering and applauding while you guys bask in the limelight of fame and fortitude.
I'm very, very, very sorry for offending you guys. Hope you don't take this the wrong way. (Of course, the fact that I've tacked this apology on the end pretty much assures that you'll take it the wrong way, and think "Oh, he was trying to offend me personally!" instead of "Oh, he was making an overall satire of the entire Drama Department instead of playing favorites with one side or the other!" Don't take it too harsh, guys.)
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