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5 Tips to Delight Your Girlfriend
By: Marie White
Tags: Valentines Day

There are endless questions that can spin around your head before and during a date. Before you date, you are overwhelmed by the thoughts how to impress that girl? During a date, you bother to choose gifts for your girlfriend on Christmas Day or some anniversaries. However, many things always go by contraries in our life. Especially in dating which is more like a tricky business, some gifts that you think will delight your girlfriends always disappoint and even mad her even if you spend a lot of money and time. Therefore, it’s quite necessary to send proper gifts to impress and delight your girlfriends before and during a date. So here are some tips for you.

1. Send Her a Gorgeous Bundle of Red Roses to Work

I’m sure no girls will say “no” to receive a bunch of roses. Every woman loves the looks of envy she gets from other women at the office, whose husbands or boyfriends don’t ever send them flowers. Therefore, you just need to order on some flower website like ProFlowers where you will save a lot, and wait to receive thanks from your girlfriend.

2. Buy Her a Box of Chocolates and Hide a Love letter in It

You can order some chocolates from the website such as See’s Candies, and simply remove one of the candies and replace it with a tiny wrapped love letter. This works perfectly for something small, like a necklace or a ring.

3.Select a Dress for Your Girlfriend

You can choose a dress from Fashion Nova and send her on a special occasion, which will show you are a considerate boyfriend. She will be delighted and think of you at once whenever she wears that dress.

4. Buy Cosmetics for Her

To delight or impress a gift, it’s a good idea to send her cosmetics. You just need to select from some online website like Aveeno. Because this is a weakness of every young girl. The moment she receives a collection of cosmetic items, she will start doing makeup and look in the mirror in front of you. Especially, you will have a better impression on her when she uses the makeups you send with a shining smile on her face.

5. Take Her on an Unexpected Travel

It would be wonderful if you can go on a journey with her for a week, but most of us don’t have that much time or money to spare. Don’t worry — just take her out for a day somewhere for a little travel booked on a travel website like Priceline.com. Even time spent walking in a beautiful nature area, followed by dinner at a nice restaurant and a romantic night at a nearby hotel would be a nice surprise for your girlfriend.

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoy my list and that it gives you plenty of ideas to keep your girlfriend happy.
Mystery Valentine
By: Rabia Hafeez
Tags: Valentines Day, Love, Stories, Romance

Surprises are not something I like. You know what I am a big admirer of, don’t you? Chocolate. Dark chocolate, preferably with a cocoa level of at least 70%, is preferred.

You haven’t told me where we’re heading yet, have you? I started this while brushing my chocolate-colored hair out of my eyes and away from the iced mocha that was waiting for me at the Starbucks counter.

“Patience,” he said, a grin on his face, “you’ll find out soon enough.” He grabbed my hand in his and escorted me out to his vehicle, where we parted ways.

We continued driving for a bit before turning onto a gravel road that led into a grove of pine trees on the other side. The light had vanished behind us, and all that was left was a dusty track leading deep into the trees, to nowhere.

After walking for approximately 10 minutes, we came to an abandoned cottage nestled between two craggy mountainsides, which were carpeted with rich green mosses and ivies that were strung from the branches of the trees.

Inside, the room was gloomy and dusty, but there were candles lighted everywhere and rose petals sprinkled on the floor to create a romantic atmosphere.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said as he went up behind me and whispered in my ear.
Fun Team Building Activities for Valentine’s Day
Tags: Team Building, Teamwork, Games, Company Culture, Valentines Day

1. Play Valentine-Themed Pictionary:

Make a team of 5 members each. Before the game begins, ask them to write their favorite romantic movies and songs on a piece of paper. One team member from every team has to come forward, pick a chit form a bowl and enact what’s written on it with actions so that others could guess. If they get the movie right, the team wins.

2: Secret Valentine’s:

It is similar to Secret Santa. Write the names of your team members on a chit and put those chits in a bowl. Ask everyone to come forward and pick up a chit. Now, each team member has to give a small gift to the person whose name is written inside the chit.

3: Flowers:

Ask everyone to bring some flowers on Valentine’s Day and let them spend some time to arrange those into a bouquet. Make teams to spice things up and the team who arranges the flower bouquet first wins the competition.

4. Heart-a-Stack:

Buy some packets of candy hearts. Make teams of 2–3 people. The team who stacks the most candy hearts to the build the highest tower within a minute wins. Sounds simple, right?

5 Be My Valentine:

Let everyone gather in a circle and blindfold one from the group. The one who is blindfolded has to count till 10 and say ‘Be my Valentine’. Now, whosoever is holding the box will be his/her Valentine and let the game continue.

6 Never Have I Ever:

This is a fun drinking game for Valentine’s day that will help you to get to know each other in a fun way. Employees have to sit together in a circle with a drink. The first person begins with “Never have I ever….” and complete the sentence by saying something interesting something like “I never had one nightstand”. Those who have done it must take a sip. Continue the game until someone finishes his/her drink.

7. Heart Hunt:

This is a one v/s all game. Let someone volunteer and blindfold him. Give handmade hearts to the rest of the team. Everyone has to hide the heart given to them somewhere in the office so that the volunteer can find them when he is sighted. Make the game time-bound to add an element of fun. At the end, the winner gets a prize.

Liked this post? If yes, then you are going to love this one as well —
Promise Day WhatsApp Status 2018
By: Valentina Quotes
Tags: Love Status, Promise Day 2018, Whatsapp Status 2018, Happy Promise Day 2018, Valentines Day

Valentines Day 2018 is near and people have started planning for it. Valentines day is biggest event of love celebration, so it is necessary that you do good preparation for this lovely day.

Valentines day is not a single day event it is an event which last for at least for a week. Promise day 2018 is one of important day of this love event. People celebrates Happy Promise Day 2018 via exchanging promise day cards 2018, promise day wishes 2018, promise day quotes 2018, promise day messages 2018 etc.

These days WhatsApp become a big source for showing your feelings, so today we are sharing best collection of Promise day WhatsApp Status 2018 for you and your beloved.

Happy promise Day 2018

Promise Day WhatsApp Status 2018

“I Can’t Promise To Solve All Your Problems, I Can Only Promise, That I’ll Never Let You Face Them Alone. Happy Promise Day.” “I swear 2 u on everything I’m and I dedicate 2 u all tht I have and I promise u tht I’ll stand right by ur side forever and always until da day I die. Happy Promise Day” “If you are cold at night, let the promise of my love cover you like a warm blanket.” “I loved you from the beginning, I loved you up until now. I will love you forever & ever. this is my promise now.” “I want someone who promise me nothing but tries to give me everything.”

“God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, but He promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way! Happy Promise Day” “A promise made is a debt unpaid. ~Robert Service” “I want someone who promise me nothing but tries to give me everything.” “Don’t Promise me the Moon or the Stars…. just Promise me…. You’ll Stay Under Them With Me…”

Promise Day 2018

“If one-day u feels like crying, call me. I can’t promise to make u laugh, but I’ll b cry with u.” “Friendship Is A Promise Made In The Heart…. Silent, Unwritten, Unbreakable By Distance, Unchangeable By Time, Its Lovely To Have You As One…! Happy Promise Day”

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Preserved roses
Tags: Weddings, Valentines Day, Preserved Roses

We have selected for you the best alternative to a bouquet of roses. Sonnet 54 Preserved roses in Los Angeles in a glass vase are the best gifts for a wedding, birthday, and other holidays. In our catalog, you can buy an eternal rose, placed in a durable glass case, which will delight you with its appearance for an unlimited amount of time.

An alternative to bouquets is flowers, whose stunning appearance has been preserved almost forever. Our products are created using plant stabilization technology, which stops the destructive processes in the structure of the flower, keeping it young and aesthetic.

Why choose a rose in a glass dome?

The stabilized rose is an excellent alternative to a bouquet of flowers, as it will remain alive even after a long period of time. The increased elasticity and strength of the rose in the bulb prolongs the life of the flower.

Anyone will be happy with such a gift, because this is a good alternative to a bouquet of flowers — for a wedding, birthday and other holidays. This present will always be in place due to its versatility and ability to complement any setting.

Eternal Rose Benefits:

• Long life (up to 3 years);

• No signs of aging: immediately after cutting rose is getting stabilized;

• Absence of harmful substances: the technological process involves the use of chemical compounds that are extremely safe for humans based on glycerin.

• If you need an alternative to a wedding bouquet, choose eternal roses from our catalog.
How To Treat Your Valentine During Valentine’s Day With Our Carmellimo Services
Tags: Nycairportlimousine, Valentines Day, Newyorklimousines, Limoairportny

Valentine’s Day is around the corner and what would you prefer to surprise her with? We know it’s been a wonderful journey so far and thus do you prefer to show up with a store bought card or want to be little classy? We offer airport drop and pick up service in our pristine range of limos which means that while our chauffeur navigates the light and traffic, you can kick back, sip your drink and enjoy the romance!

We help in adding unique pinch to your Valentine:

Any valentine is incomplete without flowers, love notes, jewelry and dinner but if she is coming to meet you then pick her up in limousine and make it a night that she will never forget! Our quick and easy to book limo service can cover for all the complaints that your lady makes! This is your chance to make this special day unique and unforgettable! In this hustle bustle of life, couples generally stay away from each other but on this day of love if she is visiting to meet you then here is a special treat for you! We provide transportation to and from three airports in New York — JFK, La Guardia and Newark airport which means that you have a golden chance to sweep her off her feet with our five star services.

Perfect way to surprise your Valentine:

So if you are looking for safe, reliable and luxurious New York Limousines service then look no further! Our clean and classy fleet of vehicles and well trained chauffeurs will help you in making her day! If she is traveling miles to meet you on this special day then it’s your prime duty to impress her with something which she hasn’t thought of! Women love to have men who have something nice up their sleeves and while they never say but they do expect you to do something which is different from every year! You can select from our wide range of packages as our Limo New York service will definitely fit the bill.

Ladies, if your man is coming to spend this special day with you in person and he is not as romantic as you are (that’s why you are reading this post!) then why not hire a Limousine and show him how it’s done! While you must have already planned on how to make the night unforgettable for him, adding a limo ride will definitely surprise him! No matter he is coming for a business or pleasure trip, our safe and reliable range of services will act as icing on the cake to make your Valentine’s Day special!

Are you interested in hiring NY Airport Limousine?

Carmel Limousines New York city are available at cheaper and pre-quoted price. This means that there are no last moment surprises when you are actually surprising your valentine! You can visit our website for detailed information about the routes, availability and prices! We also have some of the special packages for Valentine’s week! Contact us today for more information!

Copyright @Carmellimo.com
February 14, Valentine’s Day: All you need is love!
By: Hannah Watson
Tags: Valentines Day, Roses, Love, Flowers

If the days go by too quickly, without time for a smile, a hug, and an “I love you“, then there is no doubt about it: All you need is Love! And then Valentine’s Day is near: fall in love, fall in love! Yet, again, always!

If we are angry, tired, disappointed with everything we need is love. And ‘affection, warmth, smiles and hugs that we need to make our day the most beautiful and rewarding. On 14 February is around the corner: the appointment with love, with heart and passion, is here, just a step from us.

You just have to surrender to your feelings, the desire to be close to those we love and who loves us, no longer put off until tomorrow. No more fear to love. Good Valentine’s Day, then! What better time to linger over and not say yes?

And let’s say it with flowers: there is no message, feeling, passion flowers that cannot express. And the flowers are at their best when we speak of love and passion, just on Valentine’s Day!

Roses, for example, if a lover gives a red rose sends a clear message. The red rose on February 14 means love, passion and absolute dedication. Just remember to remove the thorns will demonstrate a strong and passionate love, but that does not expose you to the risk of getting burned or injured by a” spine”.

If the color of this famous flower is the rose, then the message is that of friendship, innocence and a feeling of deep and sincere. The white rose symbolizes purity, innocence, candour, while the yellow rose alludes to jealousy. And again, the rosebud is the purity of women, while the pink corolla with just blossomed pays homage to youth and femininity.

A valuable ally of the messages of love is also the tulip. An ancient Persian legend has it that the tulip was born from the drops of blood of a rejected lover. And besides, you know,” speak of love the tulle — tulle — tulle — tulip”!

Another flower is the orchid messenger of love, which “speaks” of absolute dedication, passion and belonging exclusively to another. The condition of the lovers, then.

Perfect for the same day on a Valentine’s Day and also the red camellia and red carnation, both a symbol of passionate love and desire. While the flower of a peach tree represents eternal love.

Feeling less carnal, more platonic and “pure” can be expressed with lilac and white rhododendron, symbols of chastity and innocence. For the nobility of feelings is the magnolia, poppy with pride, the vanity lily and rose to be a bit ‘original and amaze is a fine flower of Hypercom.

To express loyalty, which for many is inseparable with love, there are iris, gardenia, and carnation, if chosen in the color white also express sincerity.

Sending flowers or gift them done in person cannot be complete without a note penned with your hands: a thought from my heart, a simple sentence dictated by the feeling that motivates you to make the floral tribute full of meaning. It will be a special moment unforgettable!
Podcast: Dance Dance XRevolution
By: No Proscenium
Tags: Podcast, Music, Xr, Theatre

Podcast: Dance Dance XRevolution

There’s a theme to this one, if you look hard enough.

XR Artist and Immersive Media Director Brenda Chen (The Wave) is on hand to talk about her work bringing virtual concerts to life.

Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton — co-directors and choreographers of the production of Head Over Heels currently playing at the Pasadena Playhouse join us to talk about the all-new experientially staged vision of the GO-GO’s jukebox musical.

And Ian Hamilton of Upload VR drops in and we get philosophical about what all the buzz about the metaverse means for shaping how we all see the world.

Plus: a Next Stage Update, The Pick of the Week, and Headlines

RUNDOWN

Open and Next Stage [0:00]

Headlines [3:45]

Brenda Chen [6:50]

Jenny Koons & Sam Pinkelton [26:45]

Pick of the Week [40:35]

Ian Hamilton [45:00]

Close [1:08:30]

Associate Producer: Parker Sela

Music: Chris Porter of the Speakeasy Society

Headlines: Kathryn Yu, Executive Editor of No Proscenium

Host & Producer: Noah Nelson, Publisher of No Proscenium
Fangas Nayaw
By: Indigenous Contemporary Art Taiwan
Tags: Contemporary Art, Performing Arts, Taiwan, Indigenous, Theatre

Fangas Nayaw / Amis people / Taiwan b.1987

Co-Artistic Director of Fist & Cake Production. Indigenous creative performing artist. His recent performance, choreography, and creations stretch across film, drama, and dance; thus, he gained the name, “Creative Monster.” His creative styles vary and probe into the nature of human taxes and dynamics, which led him to submerge himself in nature and search within it. His directing piece, “Mailulay: Traces on the Wall,” won the 14th Taishin Arts Award annual top five artworks prize. Another, “A Song Within Us,” was shortlisted in South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festivals and Kaohsiung Film Festival VR competing films. He was the choreographer for the opening program of the Taipei 2017 29th Summer Universiade and resident artist in Xitee International Art Village in Paris in 2018. His curatorial and directing work, “Three Hundred Masingkiay Songs,” was invited to Cosmopoli Biennale at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He was the performance curator and coordinator of 2020, 2021 Nuit Blanche Taipei, and 2021 Taiwan Cultural Expo theme house. He was invited to participate in the 2021 Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art Taiwan Indigenous Exhibition in Australia. As a director, choreographer, performer, and lecturer, Fangas Nayaw has participated in numerous artworks and activities in various venues, including National Theatre & Concert, National Taichung Theater, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), and Taipei Art Festival.
Volunteering
By: Lukas Oberhuber
Tags: Schools, Volunteering, Video Editing, Theatre

@here and @far #26

With my “copious” time off, I’ve had time to volunteer. I’ve helped out with my youngest daughter’s yearbook and her Christmas play Snow Queen (my daughter is “Snow Queen 2” and she ROCKS!)

What is volunteering like? In this instance it meant a Saturday afternoon duct taping tinsel all over the auditorium stage and then on Monday and Tuesday, taking and helping to take photos of the three forms (classes) in year 6 and videoing all their performances. And then there’s uploading files and editing films. The editing finished at 2AM on Friday (only my sleep tracker ever called me an ‘early bird’, and that’s because of the kids).

The finished stage

It’s been great fun. And rewarding. Something I’ve not had time for in the 8 years my two offspring were in primary school. Work always kept me hopping.

The dad who shot the portrait shots for the yearbook is a real film, TV and commercial professional, and a pleasure to “work” with. He appreciated my ‘assistant director’ role. He’d take the amazing pictures, and I’d hustle him along so we could squeeze in all the photos we needed between when the kids came out of makeup and the dress rehearsal began.

Let’s talk about movies. I loved shooting and editing a two camera video of my daughter’s class’s performance (I did do the other two classes, but only had one camera). What is a two camera video? It’s one camera for the shot of the whole stage and another for close ups. That was a first for me, even though I’ve been crazy for movies and filming from a very early age.

And I’ll tell you, for a basic edit (almost no skill from me) it was slow work. The 30 minutes of show took about 2 hours not to mention the many iMovie “how to” videos I watched on youtube. But whoa, I have a new capability!

A little space can create a lot of space.

And I’m so proud of my daughter, and so happy I could be there for her.
The Mirror and the Light
By: Janet Hitchen
Tags: Theatre, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Thomas Cromwell, Henry Viii

The Mirror and the Light

Ben Miles as the condemned Cromwell

What a triumph. The last of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy chronicling the ultimate in social mobility Thomas Cromwell.

Anne Boleyn is dead. Henry is wed to Lady Jane and looking forward to restarting his dynasty. Cromwell is safe… for now and looking to secure his legacy in his son Gregory.

This is primarily about the political plotting of the men at court (not much change there then). Norfolk is looking to secure his dynasty by lining up his niece to please the King, One is bungling along sometimes in favour, sometimes not but so far not yet dead, courtiers come back from abroad, tensions rise, deals are made, no one is to be trusted. Apart from the ghosts of those past who have the freedom to speak the truth.

Women don’t fare well. They are property. They are abused. They are unfairly and unkindly treated and of course they are subjected to the dread of birth during the Tudor period — although this is their only way to prove value.

The set design is a brutalist court with an ominously descending metal scaffold. It’s beautiful and stark to look at. You know it could turn on you at any time. It’s not really your friend. The lighting is superb and quite magnificent. The backdrop of a George cross that looks a little like a castle arrowslit. To defend the realm, the legacy… I love this set.

The cast are all fabulous. There are no weak moments. The stand out is of course Ben Miles as Cromwell. He’s outstanding. He’s on stage for most of the play and the dance like movements as scenes change effortlessly and with grace is divine to watch. He’s masterful. He’s the fixer who finds he can no longer fix. He’s the condemned man awaiting his fate.

I lept to my feet to give a standing ovation for Ben Miles. Something I so rarely do. This has been a career defining performance and one that I am thrilled to have seen. For me he can’t be beaten on stage — Richard II, Lehman Trilogy, and each of these 3 Wolf Hall plays. He even worked with Mantel to adapt her third book for the stage. Bravo.

There are still a few tickets left. Do it.

The work, the script, the class of the RSC production and the cast. All of it is a complete joy.

5/5
The Most Personal Is the Most Creative
By: David Russell Beach
Tags: Creativity, Personal Growth, Playwriting, Theatre

A Year of Essays: December 29, 2021

Before I made the conscious choice to become a theatre artist in my mid-fifties, I had seen close to a thousand productions ranging from school plays to Broadway/West End. I saw every kind of theatre one can imagine — classical, modern, absurd, divisive, stellar, and downright awful. I’ve walked out on three productions: The Lion King (yes, I did), We Will Rock You (the musical about Freddie Mercury), and an all-male nude production of The Importance of Being Earnest (truly awful, even if I had acquaintances involved in the production).

I resisted musicals for a long time, preferring the storytelling of straight plays. In 1996, I saw Talking Heads in London, a double bill of Alan Bennett monologues. The first monologue was Soldiering On, of a widow tidying loose ends after her husband’s death. The second was Bed Among the Lentils, of a disillusioned and detached alcoholic. The actors: Margaret Tyzack and Maggie Smith. That work, and Yazmina Reza’s West End premier of “Art” which I saw a few days later, sparked the notion I might become, one day, a theatre artist. It would be 15 more years until I took that spark seriously.

I have always been a storyteller. Structurally, I have found monologuist and duologist works tell strong stories, like those works mentioned above, and they have served as the structure for my recent plays, Desperation for Glue and Mothers and Terrorists, two highly personal works.

Desperation for Glue is an elegy for my “brother from another mother.” We met when he was a poet in an MFA program, and we spent Fridays working in a writing center. He stopped writing in the late ’90s. After his death, I retrieved a cache of his poems, rereading each, inserting them into my own (or, really, our own) story. He had a daughter. She wants to be a writer like her father. Initially, writing this play was to work through my own grief. Then, it became something else: for his daughter so she’ll have access to his creations and to some of his life, and for the world so his work could live on in some way.

Mothers and Terrorists is the outcome of working with 105 emails I received or sent on September 11, 2001, and for a two-week period thereafter. In the months prior to 9/11, I put my mother in a nursing facility and tended to dismantling a life to which she would never return. Around noon on 9/11, the only thing I remember thinking was that my mother was in the facility’s common room in front of a television. In the first draft, Mom appear half-way through, after a long exposition of the attacks. From that point on, it was all about my mother. The play became an exploration of juxtaposed emotions — personal, national, existential.

When Bong Joon-ho accepted the Oscar for directing Parasite, he said he was inspired by something Martin Scorsese said: “The most personal is the most creative.” I’m happy I’ve learned that lesson.
Stephen Sondheim
By: Richard Goodman
Tags: Father And Son, Musicals, Music, Theatre, Fathers

I read the news yesterday about Stephen Sondheim’s death. Like many others, I was saddened and shocked, even though he was 91.

But the first thing I thought of was not his music, not his Broadway shows. It was his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein. Hammerstein was a lyricist who co-wrote, with Richard Rogers, South Pacific, Oklahoma and The King and I, among other standards of the American musical theater.

He was also a surrogate father to Stephen Sondheim.

Sondheim talks about this often in the many interviews he did over the years. Here’s one I like especially, with Adam Guettel, a composer and Richard Rogers’s grandson. In this interview, and in so many of the others — which are always fascinating — he speaks of Oscar Hammerstein’s influence and of his generosity. He met Oscar and his wife Dorothy in Pennsylvania where his mother had gone to live after divorcing Sondheim’s father. Sondheim became friends with the Hammerstein’s son, and so that’s how he got to know Oscar and Dorothy. He liked being with them, he said, because they were a family. He didn’t have a family. They became his.

He wanted to do what Oscar did. And because Oscar was involved with music, that’s what Sondheim decided he wanted to do. “If Oscar had been a geologist, I would have been a geologist,” he has said.

But Oscar wasn’t a geologist. He wrote lyrics to music. And that’s how Sondheim got his start, writing the lyrics to West Side Story and then to Gypsy before going out on his own to write both the words and the music from then on.

He has said that Hammerstein taught him everything he needed to know about writing for the musical theater in one afternoon.

Oscar Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim

I love hearing Sondheim speak about his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein. Everything about it is hopeful, encouraging, and optimistic. Hammerstein lived long enough — he died in 1960 — to see West Side Story and Gypsy, but not any of Sondheim’s musicals in which he wrote both the music and the lyrics. Still, he knew his protégé was well on his way. When Sondheim asked Hammerstein to inscribe a photo of himself, Hammerstein wrote, “For Stevie, my friend and teacher.”

What moves me about this relationship is that this shows you can find the father you need in your life. Maybe your actual father can’t, or won’t, give you what you need, but there may well be another father out there, waiting for you. Someone who, though not tied to you by blood, nevertheless will treat you like his own son. Who sees you. Who will give you the love you require.

Stephen Sondheim found his father.
5 Musical Theatre Moments That Always Brighten My Day
By: Ani Chaucer
Tags: Musical Theatre, Pick Me Ups, Theatre, Tony Awards, Musical Theater

I am a theatre kid. It’s something I can’t deny about myself.I’ve tried everything to *not* be a theatre kid, but it’s an inescapable part of my being. It is just one of the things the Lord above has made me to be.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I want to introduce you all to some of the best musical theatre moments I have come across in my 22 years of life. I have had to exclude a few entries due to them being “slime tutorials.” (In the world of musical theatre, the term “slime tutorials” refer to illegally shot bootlegs of Broadway productions or otherwise. I’m planning on writing an article soon about my thoughts towards bootlegs.)

These are in no particular order, by the way.

1. Any of Neil Patrick Harris’s Tony Awards Opening Numbers

All that Neil Patrick Harris does is absolute golden. I am quite obsessed with everything he does, but there is something so satisfying about his opening numbers at the Tony Awards. It really is hard to just choose one for this list, but the reason I linked the 2013 moment is because of NPH’s spectacular rap at minute mark 5:45. It brings chills to my body. Every. Single. Time.

2. Stephen Sondheim Coaching “I’m Not Getting Married Today” from Company

Oh, gosh. This video.

The first time I saw it: I cried. Granted, it doesn’t take much for me to cry. However, I won’t let that discount the ray of sunshine that fills my soul when Sondheim looks at the woman playing Amy with a look that only a proud father can give.

Ugh! It just melts my heart!

3. SNL’s “Diner Lobster” Sketch feat. John Mulaney

Although this sketch premiered on SNL in 2018, it was actually written eight years before by Colin Jost and John Mulaney (Here is the proof!).That fact alone adds another layer of hilarity to this sketch. It’s so outlandish and stupid and completely isolating to most people outside of the theatre world. Of course it never should have been greenlit!

But it was. Eight years later. And I am so grateful for that.

4. This Specific Performance of “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Skid Row”

I am obsessed with this production from the set to the choreography to Jeremy Jordan. Admittedly, I don’t think I have ever disliked anything Jeremy Jordan has done. He has a swag and charm that no one can deny. And he throws it all away to play the meager and clumsy Seymour. It’s brilliant.

I could honestly watch this performance over and over and over again and not get sick of it. And I have!

5. “Someday” from ZOMBIES

Listen. I know. This probably shouldn’t count. This is a Disney Channel movie musical. It’s not live theatre. I hear you. I really do.

But!

I think the writers of this song put actually crack in this performance. I genuinely want this song played at my funeral. It’s so good. Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly put their heart and souls into this song and you can FEEL IT. I am unashamedly one of the biggest ZOMBIES fans and I won’t be made to feel guilty for it. As I stated in a previous article, “I can like things that are stupid and I don’t have to justify them.”
My Plan for Chinese
By: Ryan Shaw
Tags: Learning, Language Learning, Chinese, Language, Self Improvement

When we’re in school, it can be hard to notice just how good teachers are at doing a lot of our thinking for us. When I started learning Chinese, I knew nothing. Just by doing the assignments throughout middle school and high school, I was able to reach conversational fluency.

Once I graduated high school and was on my own, I tried my best to keep studying Chinese. I would get lists of vocabulary in alphabetical order and relentlessly study to prepare for the HSK tests. I got Anki and used spaced-repetition flashcards. I got Chinese books and tried reading those. I tried watching Chinese TV and movies. I fell in love with the freedom. There was no structure to hold me down. Little did I know that the structure was the very thing that propelled me all those years.

My teachers knew that they had to design lesson plans that would engage their students. Stuff that would excite them and make the learning enjoyable. When teachers make lesson plans, they do so with intention. They know that if they force us to memorize arbitrary lists of vocabulary, we would lose interest and make no progress. Teachers also know that you shouldn’t give students more work than they can handle. Instead, they break things down into manageable chunks.

I am going to do my best to recreate my experience of learning Chinese as I did throughout my middle and high school years.
The gaming addiction for youth in a modern society
By: Abdul Aziz Arakji
Tags: American, Chinese, Videogames, Politics, Youth

The story seems like a joke, and a fun experience to share. Obviously the situation that will be shared is based on a personal experience in life, and how it is affecting the personal daily life.

Started playing video games at a young age, happened to get more comfortable being alone and avoiding people, from this point on, my life was about having closed doors. From middle school until graduation with a masters degree my life was based about coming home and playing with my friends at night. Seems to be a fun life, yet the experience itself is a nightmare when you see people advancing in life and you are stuck between four walls and a screen.

Seems like going to work or studying are hobbies that filled my life. Not the other way around.

It is a negative effect on the youth, since the life became based on human interaction through a microphone, that eliminates the strength of a face to face interaction.

The future of societies are based on sitting in rooms and not being strong enough with man-labor jobs. An addiction exist and grows on daily bases from a young age and to eliminate it is to quit video games, yet it became a drug for me and many youth around the world. Coming in to adulthood seems like a strange way of interaction and incapable of dealing with it the right way.

China’s decision on banning video games for young children could be in their political advantage since their next generation seem to care about labor power and not staying at home. The western societies might lack such an ability, especially that the rights given to people in the western societies are way more than the ones in China or Russia.
UN Online Volunteering: Support the Translation of a Children’s Book from English to Chinese
Tags: Chinese, Onlinevolunteering, Translator, UN, Unitednationsvolunteers

The online volunteer will support the work of the primary level of the Education 4 Justice Initiative of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration. This will include translating a document related to education on rule of law related topics. The document to be translated is a children’s book for primary school students — approximately 6 pages need to be translated. Knowledge and experience on primary level education is an asset, but not a requirement.



After the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Qatar, the Doha Declaration was adopted. Calling for the integration of crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider agenda of the United Nations, and endorsed by the General Assembly, the Doha Declaration has at its centre the understanding that the rule of law and sustainable development are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. To put the Doha Declaration into reality, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime — with the financial support of the State of Qatar — launched a Global Programme aimed at helping countries achieve a positive and sustainable impact on crime prevention, criminal justice, corruption prevention, and the rule of law. The programme promotes peaceful, corruption-free and inclusive societies for sustainable development, through a people-centred approach that provides access to justice for everyone and builds effective and accountable institutions at all levels.
How to create & verification a Baidu account without a phone number?
Tags: Search Engines, Chaina, Chinese, Baidu

Baidu is the dominant internet search engine company in China. Its features and services are similar to those of Google, but its focus is on China, where it controls most of the search market. Baidu censors search results and other content in accordance with Chinese regulations.

As Google maintains its stronghold in the global internet search arena, Baidu has the upper hand in China, with 72.37% of the nation’s market share as of May 2021. Baidu remains focused on the local Chinese market, while Google is global and continues to expand.

Baidu offers various services, including a Chinese search engine, as well as a mapping service called Baidu Maps. Baidu offers about 57 search and community services.

Baidu engages in the provision of internet search and online marketing solutions. The firm’s products and services include Baidu App, Baidu Search, Baidu Feed, Haokan, Quanmin, Baidu Post Bar, Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia, Baidu Input Method Editor or Baidu IME and Overseas Products.

Now You can use the sms-man service to create & verification a Baidu account without a phone number, Further, you can use the sms-man service for phone numbers of 358 countries. More….
Hanyu Pinyin: Learn the pun, find the fun
By: Linz Lim
Tags: Creative, Language Learning, Chinese, Design, Ideas

Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音) is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, created by the Chinese. Tones aside, there are two parts to each character — Sound (声母) and Rhythm (韵母), also known as the Initial and the Final to English speakers. Although these combinations are made up of modern English letters, they do not always sound like the English pronunciations that we are accustomed to. It is a functional system and has its merits for learners who start at a young age with no prerequisite of another language.

At the age of 7, in Singapore, I learned English and Mandarin Chinese concurrently in separate classes. In English class, the pan refers to a cooking device while in Chinese class (tones aside), the Hanyu Pinyin “pan” usually refers to the plate (盘) and it actually sounds more like the English word for a play on words, pun. Although they were both “p-a-n”, I had not connected the English pronunciations with Hanyu Pinyin, because they were equally foreign and new to me at that point.

When I took up Russian class at the age of 24, my first instinct was to read “Москва” like an English word. It is in Cyrillic but between English and Mandarin that I already knew, I instantly drew an association to the former. I read it as “Mock-bah” and soon learned that it should sound more like “Mosque-va” which means Moscow.
Coming Soon: “Repossession”
By: Shain E. Thomas
Tags: Horror, Film Releases, Coming Soon, Chinese, Independent Film

Repossession, produced, written and directed by Ming Siu Goh and Scott C. Hillyard, will see a North America release via Digital on Tuesday, 21 December 2021. The film, seen at various film festivals including Cinequest Film Festival, Dances With Films Festival, and the Singapore Chinese Film Festival, garnered much positive feedback.

Video Credit: Film Threat

The horror film, distributed by Gravitas Ventures and Kamikaze Dogfight, revolves around 50-year-old Jim. Jim has managed to construct for himself a perfect life in the world’s most expensive city. Curiously, when Jim is unexpectedly laid off, he desperately clings onto the symbols of his success. Not long thereafter, plauged by his past, we find Jim wrestling with resurfacing demons.

Repossession, frequently compared to Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019), stars Gerald Chew as Jim. Chew’s previous work includes The Tattooist (2007), Apprentice (2016), and Wonder Boy (2017). More recently, playing Tommy ‘The Scorpion’ Chow, the actor could be seen in the Dean Devlin/Gary Rosen co-created television series Almost Paradise.

Video Credit: Cinequest

Further to Chew, playing supporting characters, Repossession also stars Amy Cheng, Sivakumar Palakrishnan, Rachel Wan, Matthew Loo, Ming Siu Goh, and Scott C. Hillyard. Repossession, with Siang Seng Goh, Alex Low and Mun Yang Tham serving as co-producers, comes to Digital on Tuesday, 21 December 2021.
Crypto mining reportedly rises in Thailand due to Chinese crypto ban
By: Mark Musk
Tags: Due, Chinese, Ban, Crypto, Bitcoin

Crypto mining reportedly rises in Thailand due to Chinese crypto ban

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Retail cryptocurrency mining in Thailand has apparently received a boost due to the capitulation of Chinese miners triggered by the country’s new crypto mega ban enforced in September.

Thai entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency businesses have been increasingly capitalizing on Chinese miners getting rid of their crypto mining machines, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday.

“The moment China banned crypto, we were ecstatic,” one Thai-based Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiast and turned miner said.

The miner, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed to have set up a small solar-powered crypto mining unit for about $30,000. “I made it all back in three months,” he said.

Another industry entrepreneur, Pongsakorn Tongtaveenan, started a reseller business for crypto mining devices in Thailand, reportedly selling hundreds of Chinese application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners to small local investors.

According to Pongsakorn, the price of ASICs like the Bitmain Antminer SJ19 Pro collapsed 30% due to the Chinese miner exit before returning to normal amid the growing local demand.

Pongsakorn believes that the increasing popularity of retail crypto mining in Thailand is triggered by people looking for a stable income during the pandemic as well as investors getting more optimistic about the future of digital assets.

“Bitcoin is the gold of the digital world. But a mining rig is like gold mining stocks: you’re paid dividends according to the gold price,” he said.

Thailand is not the only country whose crypto mining development has benefited from China’s crypto miners’ exit. Countries like the United States, Kazakhstan and Russia have seen a massive influx of new crypto mining operations due to the Chinese crypto crackdown.

Related: Thailand to define ‘red lines‘ for crypto in early 2022

The growing popularity of crypto mining in Thailand comes in line with the booming local cryptocurrency adoption, with the turnover at several local crypto exchanges surging to $6.6 million in November 2021 from just $538 million last year.

The institutional demand for crypto in Thailand has been notably growing as well. In early November, Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, paid $537 million to buy a 51% stake in BitKub, Thailand’s biggest crypto exchange.

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Source https://cryptomusksite.com/crypto-mining-reportedly-rises-in-thailand-due-to-chinese-crypto-ban/?feed_id=2282&_unique_id=61cc4224661af
Interesting Marriage Traditions Around the World Wedding customs, which are influenced by the geography, culture, religious beliefs and political structure, show great differences in the world. In fac
By: Ayşe Zehra Doner
Tags: Spanish, Pakıstan, Japan, Chinese, Brazil

INDIA

The groom is held responsible for the bride’s dress. Instead of a white wedding dress, the bride wears a special dress called a "sari". The bride, who comes to the ceremony in casual clothes, then puts on the outfit her husband presented to her. In addition, the indispensable part of the wedding is the (mehndi) patterns made on the hands and feet of the bride. Another wedding tradition is called 'Joota Chupai/Shoe Storage’. The groom has to take off his shoes before saying 'yes’. The groom’s family tries to prevent the bride’s family from taking the shoes and keeping them. This tradition turns into a fun rivalry between families.

KOREA

Duck and goose have an important place in their tradition. In the past, when the grooms went to the bride’s house on a white horse, they carried a goose with them. Today, the wooden goose is used symbolically. Another tradition is that a pair of wooden ducks is placed in the new couple’s home after the wedding. It is believed that if the ducks are placed opposite each other, the couple will get along well, and if they are put opposite, they will fight.
Art Writing Exercise #2
By: Yazhi Zheng
Tags: Watercolor, Wonton, Food, Chinese

This is a confounding image because the juicy spinach wonton soup is apparently ruined by a cigarette butt. The large open tea egg at the bottom center intrigues me, as does the white powder next to it. In fact, it took a long time for me to diagnose it as a tea egg. Why did someone ruin the soup with the cigarette without even finishing the soup first?

The reason why the picture can spark such vivid scenarios in me must be due to the realism in its style, constructed using watercolor. This is no small feat technically. The white highlight dots scattered on top of the wontons and spinach contribute to the glossy wetness. The ingenious discoloration on some of the yellowed spinach, a sign of decay and imperfection, makes this soup even more convincing. Chopped spring onions and a fractured leaf of cilantro floating in the foreground invites the tongue to touch them. The brown soup almost looks like there is miso in there, as if smoke is spreading nebulously. The runny egg yolk looks good, but the egg white engulfing is looks disgusting. The contrast of allure and disgust is what makes this picture great.