The school year is about to begin once again. The students are moving back into thier off-campus housing, faculty are prepping for thier classes. It has become a regular rhythm for me. Spending the summer working on productions, teaching and productions during the rest of the year.

My kids find repetion comforting, reading the same book at bedtime night after night or watching the same movie a couple times in a row. But maybe that is true for everyone. Having a routine can be grounding. It can give a sense of stability in a world that is constantly changing. So having the year come full circle is good.

Although I always welcome variety. ;)

I saw these things online and I thought they were definitely worth sharing. It goes to show what you can do with a bit of rehearsal.

And their sequel:

Found a great “TED Talk” by Gever Tulley Entitled Life lessons through Tinkering. It looks like something all kids should be doing.

see it below:

The publications department of my school has posted a full video of our recent aerial dance concert. There was some really good work in this production, some of the students had never danced or choreographed before.

Enjoy.

We performed our children’s show over the weekend. I was in an ensemble piece and had a part in one of the fairy tales(see below). It is always fun to perform for kids, they are very honest some times to much. There were four fairy tales intermixed with original songs. I recorded one that I was in. Unfortunately the camera was bumped after I set it up, but maybe that gives it a fun jaunty look?

Oh, just for clarification, we just performed ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ so one actor was doing a quick change from silly boxers(as the emperor with the invisible clothes) into his normal clothes. You may notice him in the left side of the shot.

Princess & the Golden Ball from Owen Collins on Vimeo.

Let me know how i did.

Since the passing of Michael Jackson, I have been listening to his songs, as I am sure lots of people are doing. I have also been looking up his old videos on YouTUbe.
One of the them was Smooth Criminal, which I loved as much as Thriller.

What I always remembered was the part of the dance when they lean over incredibly far and then keep dancing. It was so amazing. What I didn’t know until recently was that he filed a patent for the mechanism he (and others) created for the effect. The pictures look super cool(as patent filing pictures go):


They had a bolt that was pneumatically actuated to rise up from the floor and it locked into the heel of a specially constructed Shoe. That locked the feet in place. The shoe had a ton of ankle support, like rollerblades but flexible, which allowed them to bend over. It is neat to see something I thought was magical as a kid and now know not only how they did it, but understand the mechanics of building it. Makes the magic feel kinda attainable. Which is a good feeling to have.

Luna moth I found on the front porch. It is over 4 inches long from tip to tail. Pretty amazing.