The Alegria Allegory

This just in: I want to watch Kooza. You should too.


I've watched the DVD of Cirque Du Soleil's show "Alegria" at least 6 or 7 times now. Partly because it has amazing music and acts, partly because Francesca Gagnon is freaking ADORABLE, and partly because there is a bare thread of a storyline or the appearance of related events running through the whole show. It's not a cabaret like Zumanity and it's not a difinitive story like Varekai but there's something there tying it all together. This story line has resulted in hours spent at IHOP tables at 3 AM trying to decipher the underlying meaning of the show.

Is it about power and a crumbling kingdom?
Is it about the homeless youth struggling to yell loud enough to have their cries heard at the top of the heirarchy?
Is it about conflict between religion?
Is it about generational conflict?
What is the purpose of the Singer in White? Who is she supposed to be?
What about Tamir and Little Tamir? Who are they supposed to be?
Should I know something more about life coming away from this show that I did when I first started watching it?

The thing I love most about all of these questions is that, in the tradition of Cirque, there are no real answers. You can watch it again and see something different. And again the next time, and the next.

This time I took away the idea that there are few things better in life than watching someone who is utterly batshit crazy run around and set a stage on fire using a Fire-Knife.

This just in:

I don't understand WebCT courses AT ALL.

So I'm sad to say I ended up dropping my cyberfeminism course because I didn't understand how it was supposed to work and I don't know how to ask questions. It's disappointing but I tend to roll that way. I'll keep up my blog as a personal one.

Not gonna lie, I was totally intimidated by the fact that I don't know what "feminism" is or "feminist theory" for that matter. I hope some department somewhere picks up the cyber-activism concept and start teaching courses about it. There needs to be a major. Seriously.

If you are hardcore into the ideas of cyber-activism I highly recommend "Taking On the System" by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga who is the founder of the Daily Kos, one of the most popular blogs on the net. It gives basic outlines how to make arguments and win them and generally wage activist web-wars in general. It's much better than I make it sound.


This just in Part II:
I don't understand paragraph breaks or grammar rules in general anymore. Stay in school, kids.

Note to self

Methylphenidate is a stimulant and will keep you awake if you are dumb enough to take it at night.
Hello walls! I will be staring at you now.

Also, if you haven't heard it, you really should listen to the Manic Street Preachers cover of Umbrella. It's lovely.

This just in:

I suck at college and still want to move to Siberia. I have a Political Research Skills test in less than 12 hours and am grossly unprepared and procrastinating like a fiend!
...More details at ten.

Also, did you see the Oscar acceptance speeches by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn?
If you haven't you fail at life.

Final note: Rachel didn't host her show tonight which is slightly devastating but one less distraction from not studying.