The story of Mamma Mia takes place in a Greek Island and is as simple as this. A single mother, Donna, is preparing her daughter’s wedding, Sophie. Even though Donna has done her best to make the wedding beautiful and memorable, Sophie still feels that her wedding will not be complete without the presence of her father. She then takes her mother’s old diary and finds that there are three men who have the biggest possibilities to be her father. They are Sam – a New York based architect, Bill – a Swedish adventurer, and Harry – a banker. Secretly, she invites these three men to come to her wedding.

Several misunderstandings happen when the three men arrive, creating some commotions before the wedding. However, through these incidents Donna is finding her old-forgotten love back and resulting in a very sweet romance. Donna and her future husband also find reinforcement in their love and wed with the bigger feeling of love.

The two leading roles are played by Meryl Streep as Donna and Amanda Seyfried as Sophie. The three possible fathers are played by Pierce Brosnan as Sam, Stellan Skarsgard as Bill, and British actor Colin Firth as Harry. The quality of the singings in this movie is not too bad even though the songs by Pierce Brosnan are intolerable. This average quality can be covered by the energetic and expressive dancings from the whole cast. The setting which was taken in an exotic Greek island also becomes the eye candy for the viewers.

However, most people agree that the musical play is still much better than the movie. The director seems to fail to transfer the greatness of the musical play to the big screen. The movie is okay for those who haven’t seen the play, but I think it will disappoint those who are big fans of the musical play.

Samuel Beckett was a genius, and he wrote one of the most incredible play ever. Godot is probably one of the most famous character in the stage performance world. I was struggling with that character back in the school, but as the time went by, I realized this particular Godot had something to do with all of us. The emptiness of him is still relevant even until now which makes the play is a legendary play that will never stop to be performed anywhere in the world.

I had the chance to see the play on stage for one more time last April. As always, the theater was fully packed with people and the tickets were sold out days before the performance day. It was surprising though to know that not all of the people who went to see the play actually knew what they were going to see. The person who sat next to me even wanted to borrow my program to try to look for the plot of the drama. Sadly, of course, there was no plot to be found.

Waiting for Godot is not about story with a clear plot. It is about life, the life that all of us is living. It portrays our passion of something that will come without none of us know what it is. Waiting, is the main topic you find throughout the play, and probably after the play.

The play tells about two friends, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), meeting one evening under a tree. They are waiting for Godot, someone who they never met but promised them that he would come to save them. While they are waiting, they are rambling some unclear conversations and fights some ridiculous fights.

After some time, come two other strangers, Pozzo and Lucky. Pozzo is somehow looked like a lord of manor or something, and Lucky is his slave chained by a string. Pozzo is described to be a mean person, torturing Lucky whenever he can. Lucky is a very strange person who always obey everything his master tell him to do so, including carrying luggage he will never put down until he is told to.

Slapstick is a very dominant aspect in this play. All four characters take turns and collaborate to create slapstick scenes which will make some of the audience laugh. Finally, after some little quarrels, Pozzo and Lucky continue their journey and leave our two main characters. A boy comes right after that, bringing a message from Godot that he cannot come today, but he will definitely come tomorrow.

Finally, there will be many debates about who Godot should represents. Many are convinced that he is supposed to be the representation of God. However, Beckett himself denied that and said that he wouldn’t call him Godot in the first place if it was meant to be God. Godot represents everything we hope to come which we think can make our life a little bit better whether it is a marriage, a promotion, or a child. In the end, the play does represent all of us who are in waiting in mostly all the time of our lives.

One of the easiest effects to make is scar. For this we need scar wax and liquid latex. You can acquire this from any Halloween or special costume shops and from online shops. If for some reasons you cannot find these two materials, you can replace it with gelatin.

If you are using wax and latex, roll some amount of the wax with your thumb and forefinger depending on the size of the scar you want to make. After you finish with the wax, put some liquid latex on the area you want to put the scar. Be careful in applying this latex on your skin. Choose the place where there is only small amount of hair so the removing process will be easier and less risky. Remember that the correct procedure of removing liquid latex is by using soap, water, and then peeling it. Anything goes off the procedure can result in a real scar.

Patiently wait the latex to become a little tacky. When it is ready, then press the scar to the latex lightly. Now, this is the part which needs your patience the most. You need to hold the wax until the latex has dried and changed to the flesh-like color. Add some liquid latex to the edges of the wax scar and push the scar edges down using toothpick to give it smoother appearance. Thin edges will easily blend to the skin so it will give more realistic edges.

Finishing the effect is the fun part. For a simple raised effect, just stipple some more liquid latex to blend the edges. You can also use foundation to help hiding the scar edges. For some additional effects, you can utilize some basic household materials. Use a toothpick to draw stitches on the scar. Etch a line across the scar and fill it with fake blood to achieve deep cuts effect. To give a dirt illusion on the scar, just simply add a little cocoa powder on the wound.

For the shadowing effects, use standard make up kits. To get more quality of shadowing, you can go to the special shops for Halloween. However, standard make up usually will do. Applying shades in the scar will give it dimensional effect and help it to stand out.

The steps above are the basic steps to make a scar with latex and wax. There are still many modifications you can do to achieve better results of scar effects. Keep experimenting and innovating to find new ways to create more realistic scars.

Growing up with the songs from all of the famous works in the opera world, my kids never find strange what most kids will find to be embarrassing. They can happily take their friends home while I am practicing “Think of Me” from the famous Phantom of the Opera. It is quite often that their friends would ask “What in the world is that?” and my kids would answer in their indifference that it was their mom trying to burst her lungs again.

They also come and see all my performance in excitement. When most children avoid such shows which they find weird and embarrassing, my children applause in the end of the show with big smiles. That includes the times when I am wearing a really weird costume and make up.

I was in a production of a dramatic opera composed by Richard Wagner. It was one of his opera which based on the Norse mythology. In this production, I had to put myself into a conical helmet made from what used to be an aluminum pie tin. A pair toilet paper tubes which bent artfully and covered in a massive amount of paper mache represented the Viking horns placed gloriously on my head. My ears got the parts as the holder of long braids of variegated orange which were woven to a plait. Madonna’s breast cones were the last part of the costume that I wore that night.

How were my children’s reactions? They were so pleased about it.

Up to this day, they can enjoy the opera genuinely from their heart. They do not consider it as a boring performance with some crazy disoriented people who screams at each other, mostly in foreign languages. They can appreciate the music, songs, and the stories emerge in it. Watching their mother practicing all their life make them understand the hard work and commitment it takes to produce a high quality opera performance.

The leading role, a 25 year old veteran called Stephen Bellamy, was played by Chris Pine. He did the job of bringing the Bellamy’s character into life very well. He had made so many good emotions. His anger was frightening, his clumsiness made good laughs, and his vulnerability thrust everyone’s heart in the theater. He was definitely the center of the play.

The other leading role, Paul Zara, was played by Chris Noth as Pine’s rival. He played his role quite well even though still could not compete with what Pine did. His appearance was not really convincing as a presidential candidate. Based on how they played these two characters, I would definitely vote for Bellamy in the election.

The execution of the play was minimalist with huge emptiness on the stage set. While the empty spaces on the stage allowed me to concentrate more on the actors and their movements, I found that the world in the story was failed to be built. It was difficult to imagine the world the characters lived in with only little props on the stage.

This was followed with the lack of the sound in the play. It was mostly quiet with only dialogues from the actors to hear. No music, no sound of clanking dishes. I was hoping that they could come up with some audio to balance the emptiness of the stage.
The beginning of the play also started with lack of energy if I may say, as the result of the empty background.

However, the good thing was that the actors could gather more and more energy once they could adjust themselves with the void around them. Reaching to the middle of the play, the play already came to life with the actors feeling comfortable already on the stage.
It did not always bring the negatives though. In the scene where Bellamy had a one way conversation in the phone with his opposition utilized the emptiness very well. It helped to raise the private sense of the monolog and Pine did it very well without rushing the whole thing.

Overall, I recommend people to see this play. The theme of this play is very relevant to present economy and politic. The characters are contradictive yet intriguing at the same time. The political game presented can brings you to contemplate on today’s political condition. This play is successfully captured the today’s politics into a beautiful stage performance.

At eight o’clock, we gathered in her small, wood-furnished, kitchen adjacent dining room. I have to say that the dinner was beyond satisfying. My friend’s Black Bean Lasagna premiere turned out great. The tomato soup could not taste better. And the Saint Emilion wine, there was no word to describe it. The glorious food and drink repertoire was supported by my friend’s great taste in furnishing and decorating her kitchen and dining room. Now, due to my new passion in house interior design, I have to write at least a bit about it.

The dining room was placed on the same ground with the kitchen, making the kitchen to dining room activity become efficient. They had this small bar with a hanging wine glass rack set up between those two places to give firmer border. It was on this bar we had a little chat after dinner, accompanied by the French wine. This very glass stemware rack was the one that caught my attention at most that night that I could help myself to ask where they got it. They said they just bought the glass rack from an online store two weeks ago. The store offered all kinds of glass rack from hanging glass racks to table glass racks in a very fast selection, and they were on sale. So it was a very good bargain. The last piece of information somehow appealed to me the most. But, it was maybe because of the wine.

I was sitting next to the window with my cup of hot chocolate in my hand, watching the rain outside falling from the rooftop when suddenly I remember something. Rain chains. I read about it two days ago in a gardening book I bought. There were many beautiful sketches of garden rain chains in the book that I thought I would buy one. The thought disappeared as quick as it came, realizing that it was total nonsense for me to have such ornament in my house. However, watching the rain drops falling today, I was wondering how perfect a rain chain would fit if I put one outside my window. I would love to hear the sound of rain splashing the aluminum or copper rain chains, watch the water runs down the chain links from the gutter to the ground. That would be the most beautiful scenery to see.

My mind started to wander and think of all the possible rain chain designs I could think of. The common design is the chain link design which is the simplest. Then I remembered cups rain chain which comes in various designs. My favorite personal favorite is fish rain chain which coincidentally refers to my zodiac sign, Pisces. Maybe that’s the one I will buy when I decide to buy one.

One more information I get by visiting her apartment which I had no idea before about her is that she in really into stainless steel. You can find many of stainless steel households and decoration in there, especially those which made by Blomus. Let’s start from the first thing we noticed every time we are entering someone’s living room, the fireplace. She has this small electric Blomus stainless steel fireplace, very fitted to the room which mostly also made from stainless steel such as ashtray, TV rack and book rack. Fortunately, she still prefers sofa to stainless steel chairs so we can sit and chat comfortably.

That was also the case with the dishes too. Stainless steel plates, mugs, and cups. The cupcakes were served on a stainless steel carved platter and we were drinking iced tea from stainless steel cups. I did not see any spoon or fork yet, but I am absolutely positive that they are made from stainless steel too. The next stainless steel “domination” also can be seen from her bathroom. The mirror, trashcan, medicine cabinet were of stainless steel. In general it was all white and grey, a very hygienic color for a bathroom.

We had a little nice chat in her neat and clean living room about our play project next April. We talked about we still felt the same excitement to the moment we decided to start this project and how long we should still have to go. Even though all dialogs had been memorized and that day we were able to perform the dialogs without script in our hands, the costumes and stage properties were way far from finish. When someone mentioned about plants and fake rocks, that was the time when we started to talk about the pool.

We could see the swimming pool from living room windows, and I had to admit that the pool made me wanted to slip into my swimsuit and jumped in. It was just too bad that my friend did not tell anything about it before so I wasn’t prepared for any swimming activity. The pool was so beautiful and fresh, not only because it had blue sparkling water, it was also designed and decorated beautifully with natural items such as small waterfall, rock works and colorful pebble stones. The landscape around the pool was no less charming. Various trees, bushes, and flowers were forming mountainous look and atmosphere right in the middle of New York City.

Listening to all her friends’ compliments and awes, my friend promised that she would invite us all, this time to the pool also, after our drama performance next April. Needless to say, we all can’t wait to make the visit.

So, this morning the window plant boxes arrived. The window boxes are white and made from wood. They are carved resembling white picket fences with sharp points on the upper edge of the boxes. Compared to other boxes offered in the online store, they belong to the smallest in dimension. My kitchen windows are not big in size, plus I thought that it was my first time planting so I would just start it small.

Looking to the window flower boxes installed on my kitchen windows right now (even though still without any plant in them) makes me want to buy another pair for my bedroom windows. My bedroom happens to have two windows facing to the east. These windows are always my favorite, especially when the morning sun shines through them every day to wake me up. My plan is to place two small window planters and plant them with beautiful sunflowers. Isn’t it a marvelous idea? I will not be just greeted by the morning sun, but also the yellow fresh color of the sunflowers. When the day is cloudy, my morning will stay bright since there will be two bunches of sunflowers on my bedroom windows.