Storms in the South

It's been a while so I figured it was time for an update. I'm headed aboard the Pineapple Express in a couple of days to attend the James Franco Wedding-Palooza. It will be spectacular, and I hope to have crazy stories to share with you all. Until that time, I have a different story for you. It by no means has anything to do with what is occurring in my life at the time. It literally just popped into my head, and I felt it was amusing enough to share with the masses.

We're going back to the spring of 1998. I was a swastika-omitting, sequin-showing, tap-dancing German soldier in a ballet version of The Sound of Music. Yes, it is as awful as it sounds. Anyway, it was closing weekend, and a few of us volunteered to help take the set apart. I did not personally volunteer, but Mom and Dad had, and I was not one of Rebecca Black's too-young-to-operate-a-moving-vehicle-but-I-am-anyway friends so I had the pleasure of helping. Yay.

Dad and I were outside. I don't remember exactly why we were outside so I'll just say we were loading up the truck or whatever vehicle we had. It was drizzling a little bit, and the sky was rapidly turning more and more ominous. All of a sudden, Dad got a page. For those of you who do not know what a page is (though I'm sure most reading this blog do), before cell phones we had these handy dandy devices called beepers. Here's how they work. Someone wants to get in touch with you, so he (or she!) will send you a page. Your beeper goes off with some sort of message. What does that mean? It means "Get to a pay phone right now!" What's a pay phone? Never mind.

Back in 1998, pay phones were still easily accessible, and there happened to be one on the school patio. So Dad called my grandfather while I stood idly by wondering what was so important. I quickly found out.

Out in the distance, I saw for the first and only time in my life, a funnel cloud. My first thought was "Awesome!" but then I started to freak out. Mind you, even when I freak out I still sound like Eeyore if he were to say, "Dad, we need to get inside right now!" Fortunately, Dad saw the funnel cloud too, and we rushed inside.

Inside, the backstage crew was packing up the last of the boxes, the ballet mistress was crossing off her checklist, and my sister and her ballerina friends who also had the privilege to stay while their parents cleaned up were playing tag in the audience. That was the scene when Dad and I burst through the auditorium doors. Everyone was quickly informed of the looming tornado. The little girls started screaming while the adults tried to calm them, but we all wanted to know one thing: Where do we go?!

You know in the movies when everyone knows they're about to die, but one person pops up out of nowhere with some infinite wisdom? That's what happened here. All of a sudden, there was a janitor in the wings, and all he said was, "There's a basement." Of course there is. Just like there's a basement in the Alamo. Why didn't we think of that?

So the janitor led us the children sprinted down the hallway while the janitor shouted directions. We were all screaming, but I could still hear the wind howling outside. I felt like the walls were going to collapse on top us, and all I could think was, "Great. I'm going to die in a high school before I'm even in high school." After the 5K to East Jesus Nowhere, we found the staircase to the basement. Since a tornado was about to send us to Oz, we dashed down, not even thinking there may be a serial killer with knives for hands waiting to... Wait. We were under 12 years old. We had no idea who Freddy Krueger was. Moving on.

When you think of a basement to a school, you think more like a boiler room. This was the exact opposite. It was an extension of the school, with more classrooms and lockers, but it was safe because it was underground! The adults and Random Janitor Man soon joined us. There was a door down one hallway, which we steered clear of, but I clearly remember the wind still howling and the rain swirling in circles. It was probably the most terrifying moment of my life. Then, just like that, the storm vanished. The sun came out. The sky turned blue. The birds were singing awayyy. It was like nothing had ever happened. Welcome to storms in the South.

do you remember?

Okay, so it's not quite the 21st of September (hence the title; i'm so clever), but it is the best month of the year! Why is that, you ask? Well, September 2nd just happens to be my birthday. Of course, if you are reading this blog, chances are you already know me and already knew that little tidbit of information. If not, now you know, and we can move on with our lives.


While I've never made too big a deal of my birthday, it's still made for pretty awesome times throughout the years. I was blessed with parents who were creative enough to plan some unique parties back in the day. You see, I was obsessed with letters as a child. My 3rd birthday was all about letters. There were 27 balloons, each with a letter of the alphabet (and one the spelled "and" naturally). My cake had the alphabet on it. I was an ecstatic 3-year old. Well, as ecstatic as Joseph Moore can get. Also, my 5th birthday was a "Wheel of Fortune" themed party (starting to see a pattern here?). Yep, my childhood was awesome.

The awesomeness doesn't stop there though, as the past four years I have been fortunate enough to celebrate my special day at Walt Disney World, whether it be while at work or afterward in the Orlando area.


I've already shared some festivities with a few friends this year. Good times were shared at Chili's as we all nom-ed on its pseudo-Mexican greatness. Some of my very best friends were unable to attend so who knows? Perhaps the celebration has just begun! Not to imitate my sister, who enjoys celebrating for the entire month of July, but I'd hate to exclude people whom I LOOOVE from my birthday festivities! That would be cruel... Okay, so it is an excuse for more party time. You would do it too!


In other news, I plan to attend my third stilt workshop this year in about a week or so. I put off going to workshops for so long because I was afraid of being 2 feet higher off the ground than I already am, but I put my fears aside and actually enjoyed myself. So I'm looking forward to the next workshop!

Also, thanks to a fun night of kareoke, "Poison Arrow" by ABC is one of the songs I currently listen to on repeat. I've heard it before, but thanks to my good friend Nick, I will never get its terribly cheesy chorus out of my head, and I LOOOVE it! (And that's not sarcasm!)

As for movies, I checked out a couple of horror movies lately. First, I saw the Fright Night remake, which is fun, silly, and stupid, exactly what a remake of a kitschy 80s horror movie should be. Also, do me a favor and DO NOT see Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. It officially has the honor of holding my personal "Worst Movie of the Year" award. Stupid, not scary (except for that one scene seen it the previews), and full of stupid characters making stupid moves... basically, just awful.

Anyway, I gotta go to work. I'll try to update more frequently. Until then, shoot that poison arrow! I'm out.

A New Web-Slinger???

I know I'm a little late to jump on this train, but I thought I'd give my two cents about The Amazing Spider-Man, coming to theaters next summer.


For one thing, anybody who knows me in the least bit knows that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) is without question my favorite movie of all time. No, it's not the best movie ever made. It's my personal favorite, and you better believe I will be watching it on my birthday in a couple of weeks (get excited, people of Bradley Falls).

So how do I feel about the reboot? At first, I was absolutely furious. It seemed absolutely unnecessary for Marvel to start over from scratch when they had just a great saga going. (Though the general consensus is that Spider-Man 3 is a terrible film.) I thought Marvel was being incredibly lazy making another superhero movie for the moolah. Upon further investigation however, this is what I discovered: Sam Raimi and the Sony executives were having a dispute over the 4th film in Raimi's saga. Seeing no resolution in the near future, Raimi dropped out of the project, with his stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst tagging along. Then Sony had quite a dilemma: who to replace them?

Enter music video and feature film director Marc Webb, whose (500) Days of Summer is without a doubt one of the greatest romantic comedies of the new century, if not ever. Next up, Maguire's replacement for Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The role eventually went to British actor Andrew Garfield. I was not excited at first because 1) he's British and 2) he's in his late 20s playing a high schooler. After the first few pictures and some thought, I realized Garfield looks decent as the nerdy Parker, and people in their 20s have been playing high schoolers forever (Hello, Grease!). So no harm done. Finally, who would play the damsel in distress? I guess since the filmmakers are going back to the beginning, they chose to bring back Parker's first romantic interest from the original comics. That's right, folks. Before red-headed bombshell Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker had a thing for a cute little blonde thing called Gwen Stacy. (Disclaimer: I know this info from research. I've never read a "Spider-Man" comic book in my life.) Stacy actually made an appearance in Spider-Man 3 by Ron Howard's daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, but no matter because this is a reboot! In this film, Stacy will be portrayed by current "It" girl Emma Stone, which is pretty exciting because I looove her.


So there you have it. I still have my qualms. There is no wayyy this updated version is going to be anywhere near as good as the original. I haven't found out who is composing the music, but no one will be able to compare to Danny Elfman's score in the original. I still get chills every time I hear the opening of either of Raimi's flicks. I will admit, though, that this new film does have a good lineup thus far, including the one and only Sally Field is Parker's Aunt May. Also, the teaser trailer recently released looks impressive. That POV shot of Spidey scaling the buildings of NYC is pretty sweet. So I guess we'll just have to wait until next summer to see what happens.

In other news, I have joined the Twitterverse. Follow me @GimmeMoore24 for even more banal insight into my, er... exciting life! Later.

Goofing Around is My Life...

...and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Who wants to go back in time??? You know you want to! We're going allll the way back to when Joseph Moore was but a wee lad. Ever since I could remember, the family always watched Emily's ballet recitals. Her first one was when she was 3 years old. I was 5. Yes, that was a long time ago. Moving on. Going to her recitals was usually a family reunion. It was easy since both my Mom's and my Dad's parents lived in Georgia; my mother's in the very same town of Newnan, and my father's lived up in Decatur at the time. ANYWAY, we would all congregate at Whatever High School auditorium to watch Emily attempt to skip around in a little tutu. It was so precious!

Elementary school. At least two or three days a week, Mom picked up Emily and me, and we'd head to Bettina's Newnan School of Dance. While Emily learned how to plie and tendu, I learned how to divide fractions and keep Ms. Pac-Man away from those pesky ghosts. Around the age of 11, I decided I'd give this whole dance thing a try. I started out taking tap, and because "Riverdance" was huge at the time, I took Irish dance classes as well. That didn't last very long, but I fell in love with tap. I could fuh-lap and shuffle all day long, annnd I was the only boy in a room full of girls so I was a stud! I'm just kidding. My class was the Teen and Adult Beginner Class. It was myself, and eh... three ballet moms, including my own.

My only role at Bettina's would be in 1998 as a tap-dancing soldier in a production of "The Sound of Music". Emily knew that in order to improve her craft, it was time for a change. We switched from a local ballet studio to one about 40 minutes away in Fayetteville, Georgia. This move was perhaps one of the best things to happen in my adolescence. The Studio, home of Georgia Youth Ballet, would become my home for the next 7 years. I didn't start dancing there right away. I helped backstage for the 1999 production of "The Nutcracker". Standing idly by in the wings, I realized how much fun it would be to perform onstage again. That December, I started taking ballet classes. I was 13 years old. A little to old to start? Not really. There would be 5 or 6 more years for me to hone my craft before graduating high school. Did I do that? In my first role at The Studio, I portrayed Father Carrot in a Russian folk tale about a war between fruits and vegetables. You tell me.

2001 was when everything changed. Emily and I (along with many awesome young ladies) became known as the Junior Company of The Studio. We were a pretty much the coolest group EVER. You just don't even know. That year was the first of many years in which we attended SERBA, or Southeastern Regional Ballet Association. Ballet studios from around (guess where) the southeast gathered for an intense weekend of master classes from instructors of any style of dance. Being Juniors, we were the runts of the group, but we still made sure we had a great time! For instance, in our first ever SERBA class, our hip hop teacher definitely lost her top, and she was not wearing undergarments. So we knew we were in for a whole new experience. (By the way, check out that picture above. We were sooo young!)

As the years went on, we progressed more and more. (Well, I can't speak for myself, though I guess I did improve upon when I started ballet.) By 2003, we were officially part of the Senior Company of the Studio. We kicked major butt at SERBA that year with "La Deseada", a tango number choreographed for us by the amazing Mrs. Kristy Nilsson (Hey, Kristy! Oh, and Scott too!).

Let me dish a little about our summer workshops. Summer workshops were the best!!! Guest teachers (including Magda Aunon, Thom Clower, and Elie Lazan, etc...) from around the world came down for the month of June to teach ballet, jazz, African, modern, etc... to our little ballet studio. Thom even had a crunch routine set to "Enough is Enough" that I still do every now and then to this very day. (When I say every now and then, I mean extremely sporadically.) At the end of every workshop, we held a performance for our parents at Whatever High School, showcasing what we'd learned that past month. Ranging from classical (such as Le Corsaire and Swan Lake) to modern ("Youwarkee"!!!) to just downright silly (Beach Boys, Olympics, and 60s music mash-ups), each Summerfest was just as awesome as the next!

sweet 60s moves

About mid-August, "Nutcracker" season began. Auditions and cast list drama were always oh so much fun. Every evening after barre work (for those unaware, think after warming up your muscles), we would piece together and rehearse for the upcoming performances. I recall always thinking how unprepared we were to open the curtain for opening weekend. Yet, somehow, we managed to pull it off every single time. That's how awesome we were.

As much stress and craziness as "The Nut" usually entailed, nothing really beat springtime. On top of school and all of THAT nonsense, the Senior Company (and Junior Company) had two things to worry about: SERBA pieces and our spring recital. Every year we had a handful of pieces choreographed for an adjudicator to watch and decide which piece, if any, were to be performed at SERBA that year. Rehearsals were always scheduled for weeknights, Saturdays, AND Sunday afternoons. Basically every single day except for Friday. Not a lot of sleepytime, folks. We also had to prepare for our spring recital. We usually performed that, eh... a week or two after SERBA exhaustion. Spring was always extremely hectic, but I have fond memories, and I wouldn't trade all of that chaos for anything.

The one thing I will always remember quite fondly about my time at The Studio is the lifelong friendships I made.

just a few GYB "Homedawgs"

These young ladies were part of the reason I enjoyed spending the majority of my adolescence at The Studio. Chowing down during post-performance meals (usually held at either Chick-Fil-A or Steak'n'Shake) and watching slash quoting countless movies (The Emperor's New Groove, Moulin Rouge!, and Donnie Darko, to name a few) were just a handful of the good times we shared outside the realm of ingrown and/or bruised toenails. There are far too many girls to name so in fear of an oversight, I just want to thank you ALL for the memories. You know who you are!

I would be ashamed if I failed to give a shout-out to our amazing Artistic Director. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a great round of applause to the one and only... Magdalena Maury! Without her incredible experience, talent, and guidance, I have a feeling that none of the vast number of students who EVER took from her would be where they are today. Not only was Male (pronounced how it looks) a great mentor, she was a great friend. She also had a very abstract sense of humor, which is absolutely necessary when dealing with as many young dancers as she did. For instance, for the wolves number in our performance of "Beauty and the Beast", Maggie decided it would be humorous for a bunch of white dancers with a ballet background to break out into Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Good times, folks. So thank you, Malangagunga! We love you!

As much as I enjoyed dancing, I never really took it seriously. Do I regret that? Yes and no. There are times when I think that I should have focused more about bettering myself as a performer. I'm not saying I didn't try. I did try. I just never felt that I was going to make a career out of dance so why bother with all the stretching and spotting and whatnot if I wasn't going to do anything with it later in life? Ballet was just a hobby. It was a great hobby! It was where all my friends were! But again, it was just a hobby.

Little did I know, I would end up using my experience at The Studio shortly after graduating high school. For the past 4 1/2 years, I have been having a ball performing here at Walt Disney World. If there's one thing I know I can do well, it's acting like a total ham onstage. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am extremely shy and introverted. However if you toss me in front of a group of people, whether it be on a stage or in a theme park, I shed that layer to become a completely different person. I think that's the one thing I've always enjoyed about performing. It's pretending to be someone you're not, and for that brief moment, it doesn't matter what other people think about you. Not that it does matter what people think about you. I just have low self-confidence. It's something I'll always fight with. At least I feel secure enough to throw on furry sweatpants and some sunglasses so I can tap around as one of the "Three Blind Mice."

What was my point again? I don't know. What I'm trying to say is, I had an absolute blast during what is supposed to be the worst years of your life. Countless hours learning from excellent instructors, performing onstage in front of hundreds of people, and goofing around (see what I did there?) with the best friends a guy could ask for has followed me into my adult years, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So a big thank you goes out to my GYB Homedawgs, the Studio wouldn't have been the same without you; Malani (yet another nickname for Maggie), I wouldn't be where I am today without your help; my mother, whose constant love, support, and lots of stops at the gas station led to some of the happiest times of my life; and last but not least to my younger sister, Emily. There really aren't words to express my gratitude. If it wasn't for you and your love for dance, my life would be completely different. So thank you, Sistah Gurl, for making my life so fulfilling. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wake up in about 5 hours. Gotta go make some magic by signing autographs and dancing around a giant fake tree. I love my life.

I leave you with one final image...


...and some sage advice: "If you hold a duck over your head while on the treadmill, it would be good." I still have no idea what that means. Gooood night, everybody!

Welcome Back to My Blog

Well hello! It certainly has been a while. I blame the lack of internet for my absence. Living next to the clubhouse has allowed me many opportunities to use the interwebz. I guess mostly I just haven't had anything worth updating. Then again, I am a writer, and writers are supposed to be able to make the most mundane of stories somewhat entertaining. So I promise to do my best. Life these past five months has pretty much been the same old, same old. If you are confused as to what my "same old, same old" happens to be, please feel free to peruse my previous entry "My So-Called Life," as I do not wish to sound repetitive.

I've been spending a lot of time in my new apartment. Well, I guess by now Andie and I have lived here for five months.

the not-so-new apartment

For the first few months, I mostly watched movies and played card games while listening to music. Sound fun? Just wait. It gets better. To make life slightly more exciting, Andie and I finally hooked up a couple of game systems, the Nintendo Wii and... wait for it... the SNES!!! For those of you too young to know that anagram, it stands for Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It's pretty much the best thing ever. I never owned an SNES as a child. The oldest system I had (and still have) is the Nintendo 64. Speaking of which, I would love to get that here in Florida (Kthnx, Ann!). I've definitely made up for lost time with the SNES though. Whether I've been saving Princess Toadstool in "Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3," losing subscriptions in "Paperboy 2," or helping a couple of chimps rescue their ape friend in "Donkey Kong 2: Diddy Kong's Quest," I have been having a blast!

the game I refuse to play

It's also fun to watch Andie play while I veg out on the sofa. She has this game called "ActRasier." It's a mixture between "The Sims" and old school arcade games. You're playing as some angel, and you have to build six different communities. That's the "Sims" part of the game. At the beginning and end of each level, the game turns into arcade mode, and you have to fight the forces of darkness who are preventing life in these towns. It's very entertaining to watch Andie fight the evil bosses. (All about that Gryffindor, maaan. I'm a Hufflepuff.) When she's fed up she asks if I want to play, to which I quickly respond, "NO!"

Don't worry. I haven't wasted my life away gaming. I've actually read a few books since my last post. No, I haven't read The Simarillion yet (I'll ship that back sometime, Michal :)). I read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time ever. I know. How did I make it through adolescence without reading that one? There's actually a few classics I have never read, and most of them are collecting dust on the bookshelf right next to me so maybe (just maybe) I'll scratch a few classics off my yet-to-read list. Anyway, I enjoyed Rye very much. I identified with Holden Caulfield somewhat. We're both different from everybody else, and we both have some desire to protect that certain childhood innocence. Fun read!

My second read was The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno. It follows the life of a... guess what... former boy detective who has one unsolved case: why his sister killed herself. It may sound morbid, but the tale is actually quite whimsical. The entire time I was reading it I kept thinking to myself, "This would be a great Wes Anderson flick!" Are you listening, Hollywood? Get to it!

Because I enjoyed Meno's style of writing, I bought another one of his novels, Hairstyles of the Damned. This particular story is a tad more realistic, and it reminded me here and there about how crappy adolescence can be. Needless to say, I have yet to finish it, but I plan to one of these days! Instead, I decided to peruse Tina Fey's autobiography Bossypants. It's absolutely fantastic! I cannot stress enough how wonderful and utterly hilarious this book is. Tina Fey, you are quite simply the most awesome person ever. Thank you for sharing your witty, if somewhat exaggerated, account on your life with the rest of the world. It was very much appreciated by this guy (points to Linus the chihuahua).

So yeah, that's the books I've read. I know that's only three books, which may not seem like a lot, but honestly, it's more than I've read the past couple of years so I'm slowly but surely getting back into reading. Yay progess!

I've also ventured to the movie theater a couple of times (what? never!). Out of all the superhero movies coming out this year, I have only watched...

oops, wrong one...
...Thor!

Step away from Natalie Portman, man. Haven't you seen Black Swan?! She's cray cray! Thor is surprisngly a lot of fun, and I was shocked to discover Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh is the director. Good job, sir!
Next up is Bridesmaids, which is just as funny as EVERYBODY said it was supposed to be. It's the perfect vehicle for Kristen Wiig's incredibly awkward humor. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. I myself am extremely awkward.
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is a sublime return to form for the director. It reminded me of The Purple Rose of Cairo. Instead of Mia Farrow longing to live in the fantasy of the silver screen, Owen Wilson longs for the Golden Age of Paris in the 1920s. The message at the end is absolutely superb. Great film!
Last but not least, Super 8. Ahh, what to say about Super 8 that hasn't already been said... It's a blatant love letter to Spielberg's films of the 70s and 80s (i.e. E.T. and The Goonies), with a mash-up of The Monster Squad and Cloverfield thrown in just for fun. It was mucho appreciated by this film buff who sometimes longs to be a part of a not too distant past.

I think that pretty much brings everybody up to date with my latest and greatest. I told you it's not a lot, but hey, that seems to be my life! Hopefully, my next entry is not five months from now, which would be in... December. Eek! Until next time, please entertain yourself here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJcFd4

Remember, you can't hug every cat!