The Big 1,000

Thats right, 1,000 views!  Actually, 1,004 (I guess I haven’t been checking obsessively enough to see that I was at a thousand).  That’s great!  Thanks to everyone who has been reading, and I hope that those of you who just happened upon this blog enjoyed and will come back for more.

Coming tonight/tomorrow morning:
The plot choice that I’ve decided to work with for now and maybe some character snippets.

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Now that I have more time…

The process of settling in to the apartment is drawing to a close, so for the next few weeks I should have a bit more time to work on things on a more consistent basis.  So I’m going to try to post something every Sunday night or Monday morning from now on at the very least.

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2009, pt. 2

This month I’ve been moving.  Thusly, not much time.  Now the place where my bed and food and internet and phone and whatnot are is not the place where all my miscellaneous crap is.  Also, moving takes about 4 hours a day, plus looking for a job, plus other general life things.  Long story short…I’m falling a little short on this months goals.  (see post on that here) But I will have it completed by the end of February.

This post was mostly for me, to keep myself accountable.

Thanks for reading!  Don’t forget about me!

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2009

Well I know it’s been quite some time.  Holidays, personal life, etc.  I’m not gonna go into the gory details here (although feel free to find out if you’re curious over at my personal blog) but I just want you all to know (all two of you) that I have been working on the show, and I have some structured goals for the show for this year.

This month I plan to:

• Finish up a story outline
• Get a general cast of characters sorted out

Within the next 6 months:

• Finish a rough draft
• Share it with a few people for editing and input

By the end of 2009:

• Have a few drafts under my belt, altho not necessarily a final (the addition of music may cause the need for tweaking)
• Get some more people involved and committed
• Start writing the music! (Like I said, story first.)

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this is an example of my “humor”

Well, I have this other blog with my roommate/best friend.  And on it we try to be funny.  I figure it’s good practice for when I have to be funny while writing the musical.  Since I intend for it to be funny.  This is an example of something from that blog [which is linked on the sidebar as The Froomies].  It’s one of the few times I’ve actually sat down and thought out/written something with the intent of being funny.  It’s not Disney-related…it’s actually Harry Potter related.  But I’m posting it here to let you see how much I suck at pre-meditated humor so you realize how tough it’s gonna be for me to write a whole show that is chuckle worthy.  Ha.

‘We all know Draco Malfoy as the snivelling douche (pardon my French) who prides himself on being a Slytherin-shaped stain on the parchment that is Harry Potter’s life. (that analogy was way too long, sorry).  But did you know he has a theme song?  Of course you didn’t.  For one, this post is titled things you didn’t know about Harry Potter.  And secondly, the theme song is never heard by anyone but Malfoy.  It’s a personal theme song, you see.  But luckily in an exclusive Froomies interview, I was able to weedle the information out of him.  Following is an excerpt of that very interview.

Froomies: Mr. Malfoy, earlier in our conversation you mentioned the importance of confidence and self-esteem when making the jump from classic school bully to villain.  What do you find helps you most when it comes to self-confidence?

Draco Malfoy: Well, you insisting on calling me Mr. Malfoy certainly helps.  (chuckles)  Aside from that though, there are a few little tricks that I use regularly in my own life, and they are still helfpful to this day even though I’m no longer on the path of villainy.  One thing that I do is try to avoid negative thinking.  Whenever I catch myself thinking myself down or beating myself up, I refute myself with a hearty ‘Yeah, right!’.  For example, before a job interview or first date, which as well all know is very much like an interview, you might think something along the lines of ‘I’m going to say something foolish and they’ll think I’m daft.’  When I find myself thinking this way, I simply say to myself, ‘Nonsense!  I’m the most debonair smooth-talker this side of Trowbridge [the county seat of Wiltshire, where Malfoy manor is located] and I’m going to blow them away!’  It works every time. And then of course there are a few little charms and things to take away anxiety, but those are to be used with caution and since I’m talking to a Muggle I suppose that advice would be pointless.

TF:  Haha, well I would have to agree with you there.  The other tip, however, was very helpful.  But I know I do things within my head or on a personal level to help me out from time to time, when I’m scared or what have you.  Do you have anything like that to share with us?

DM:  Well, I do.  But as far as sharing goes I’m not so sure.  (brief pause) Well, fine.  But I’m going to have to hear your secret too.  Don’t worry, I’ll wait till we’re off the record.  My little trick that I use quite often, in fact I used it today for this very interview, which as we know is more like a first date, is…embarrassing to say the least.  Here goes though!  I have a theme song.  No, I won’t hum it for you, so don’t bother asking.  I will tell you this:  It highly resembles the theme song from the old Smurfs television show.  I just kinda hum it to myself…not even out loud.  I hum it in my head …not even out loud. I hum it in my head, if that makes any sense. I hope it does, I can’t think of how else to explain it. At any rate, it exists. And I use it to give myself a bit of a musical pep talk, if you will. Every time I’m facing a situation that makes me nervous or doubtful I kinda play it in my head to give myself a boost. It’s a bit silly, but it is quite helpful.

Well, there you have it! And keep in mind, that was just an excerpt. Later I’ll post the rest of the interview, in which Draco talks candidly about his Voldemort-assigned task, his feelings about Harry Potter, life at home, and a secret relationship! Sorry fanfic writers, I can assure you it was not with Hermione. So stay tuned kids! And thank you for chilling with the Froomies.’

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biting the bullet

Well, I can’t put it off much longer.  It’s time for me to start with this whole story thing. 

I was thinking about characters today, and I decided to start with the host/wish-granter/narrator type person.  At first I thought of him as someone like an older Danny Kaye, like in this video [which is from the Disneyland 25th anniversary, as it were]:

(He’s the one in the beginning, and reappears numerous times among the other celebrities, dressed up in various costumes)

Unfortunately, I don’t know any really cool old guys who would be willing to do this.  Although I could just write it and worry about casting later.  Or buy some wigs and fake beards.  That might work too.  Anyway, again I’m getting ahead of myself. 

So that’s the visual I have in my head when I think of this character.  Or I could go with a different option, someone younger [it’s easier for me to recruit young people, since they tend to be more into Disneyland, more willing to put time into amateur projects, and more willing to listen to someone who is also young], which could be male or female.  Probably female though.  Isn’t it funny how the brain works?  Whenever I think of this type of character I either think of a sprightly old man or a young lady. 

I was also thinking of having maybe a Scrooge-type character who humbugs the Disney spirit, but thats a little cliche.  So I’ll try it out for a bit, but I’ll probably end up cutting that idea.  The main reason I considered that idea was because I need the narrator person to have a purpose.  Like, they’re a narrator, but they’re also a character.  Kinda like Into the Woods.  Except my narrator isn’t going to die.  At least I don’t think so…

So this week I’m going to try to start getting some serious character development going with him/her.  It’s gonna be difficult to get too much done because of Thanksgiving, but I’m going to be home alone up until Sunday so there won’t be any distractions at the dorm, at least.  Check back in soon!  And if I don’t post anything up before Thursday, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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the new mary poppins?

I have this idea.
It’s really cheesy.
You might hate it.
But I like it.
And like I said, Disneyland is really the home of cheesiness.  Maybe not the original home, but one of them.  Or at least it’s vacation home.
Anyway, that was basically a big warning.
[ps:I’m not talking to Sara anymore.]
Okay, so here’s my idea:

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explanation

Hey all.  I’ve been getting a few remarks lately [not in the form of comments, but in ‘real life’] about how I never really post anything on here, I’m obviously not working on the musical, etc.  And I figure if one or two people I know feel this way, the people reading this who don’t know me must as well.  So I’m gonna tell ya how long this thing is really going to take.

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whats to come

This evening Jeremy randomly decided to have a brainstorming session for the musical, and nothing really solid came of it tonight but who knows what may happen with the teensy ideas we came up with?  There is one idea in particular that I want to work on some more before I post it up, but I really like it.  It’s cheesy, but cheesy is a way of life…and I’m living it.  And Disneyland supports that lifestyle.  So look out for some actual plot development in the near future!  Yay!

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a quick thanks

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, which is not for a couple weeks but so be it, I’d like to give a quick shout out to those of you who have commented [all three of you, haha] and those of you who linked to this site [one of you, go cousin!] and also to those of you who have been checking back to see what’s new.  I know I haven’t posted in quite some time, life got magically busy and while I have been working on the show it’s not been enough to post on here.  Still working on some lyrics and trying to be funny.  Also figuring out how things are going to progress in the show.  How different situations will lead into another.  I think that’s a very important element.  Also many thanks to the people checking in with me in “real life” to see how things are coming along, it really means a lot that you ask…oh wait no one does that.  Damn.  Haha.  But I see the stats, and I still get around 10 views a day, so someone must be checking, and I appreciate that, I really do.  To those of you who left comments, they were very helpful.  John especially, your comment made me smile and made me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing.  I’d really appreciate more if anyone wants to say anything at all.  Even if you think the whole idea is stupid, let me know and tell me why.

Other than that, not much has been happening.  I’m gonna try to update this more often though, so we’ll see how that goes.  It may not be specific to the show…it might be about Disney/Disneyland, showtunes, music, etc…but I’ll try to make it somewhat relevant.  And hey, it’s better than nothin!

Thanks again, I really appreciate the support.

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