Sunday, August 2, 2009

Potatoes, Deaf People, Taking to Walls, Dialects-A-Plenty, Love, and Shopping...

What a crazy summer this has been.
Its August already!
I've lost track of time.
I joined the Speech and Debate team at school, and we have a summer "camp".
When you think "Speech and Debate" you think giving speeches and arguing.
Barely.
Speech and Debate is quite profound now.
There is a giant umbrella of the divisions of Speech and Debate.
Its intense!
I joined the Speech half.
I am in the interpretation division.
I am involved in the thematic and dramatic interpretations.
Its been hardcore work and I am so tired!
But it'll be worth it when I win!
Speech camp is Monday-Friday 9-5:30!
PLUS, to cover my foreign language credits at school, I am taking a Sign Language night class.
It is on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 6-9:30 in Irvine.
Yeah, I'm tired.
So, back to Speech.
Thematic Interp (TI) is basically just this-A theme is selected and is supported by several scripts or poems.
My TI is on Potatoes.
Oh yeah.
I'm just THAT awesome!
In my TI, I have characters.
The character variation is crazy and if done well, gives me a terrible headache.
The first character is sexy and the script is sensual...and about potatoes.
The next character is an Irish woman, who I have officially named Hannah Simon, who is recounting the story of the Irish potato famine to her four grandchildren.
I NAILED the Irish accent, mind you!
But doing her pieces is hard because I have to LOOK like an old lady, so I'm bent over and crouched awkwardly.
Not too fun.
The next character is this peppy museum lady. I named her Bobbie Brian, because I can. Apparently she is from North Dakota. I had no idea that I could do a ND voice! As much as I absolutely ADORE this character, she makes my face hurt. She's smiles for the entire piece.
The next piece then contains four characters: Tom Thomson, Jon Johnson, Shelley Carr, and Jose.
Tom and Jon are newscasters for Channel Four News.
Shelley Carr is a seven-year-old girl who was mugged by Jose, who stole her potato and butter and sour cream.
Next, is Steven Shepherd Smith. I named him so. He is a seventeen-year-old who is recounting his story of when he was fifteen and he wanted to buy a gun and eventually carved one out of a potato....
Then we have a British potato rights activist.
Its quite an array of characters.
THEN, I have another piece.
Its a dramatic interp (DI)
DIs are different from TIs.
A DI is a single script.
Mine is titled "Heart of a Dog" by Terry Galloway.
Its about a deaf woman.
That was real fun to learn.
(HEAVY SARCASM)
You'd think, growing up surrounded by deaf people, that I would be able to do a deaf voice easily.
NOPE!
Took me two weeks to get it down.
Now, I've got it and I frequently, accidentally slip into it...
:D
We had a mini "mock" tournament for just us kids in the camp.
I made it to semi-finals with the potatoes TI, but my DI didn't make it.
Oh well, I'm still new.
~Grab a TicTac on your way out!
Stay FRESH...!