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I’ve created a new category, under which my Cara Cara post and this now fall, it’s just about random stuff I end up looking up after reading or hearing something and thinking to myself “hmm?”

Anyway, I was reading this article about a man who dies while the ambulance is staging. Even though the article explains it, I looked it up.

After a bit of poking around I found this article.

Preventing Close Calls: Staging
The principle of staging is to keep EMS providers safe until police secure a violent or potentially violent scene.

When staging:

1. Park out of view of the scene.
2. Leave yourself a buffer—, generally at least a block or two, —especially with calls involving street violence when a perpetrator may be mobile (by automobile or on foot) in the area. Your rig could be attractive to anyone looking to hide or make a fast escape.
3. Only respond to the scene when police have reported it secure. If the dispatcher tells you “Police are on scene,” confirm that they have things under control.
4. There are times when you will have to retreat from a scene that suddenly becomes dangerous. In these cases, use the same principles. Notify police about the situation and move a safe distance away. Be sure you are out of sight and out of range for anyone leaving the scene.

I suppose I will follow sadd3j’s format for writing this review. As I recall, the last time I went to Canon/Pantages theatre was to see Wicked, and while the production wasn’t great that night, the theatre was quite comfy and it was still all-round good times. Unlike Wicked, the seats this time were much better, granted we bought them the first day tickets went on sale, so seat selection and dates were not a problem–Sarah and I sat dead centre, front row balcony (AA), so it was a near-perfect view. And as a side bonus, because my glasses prescription is quite up to date, I was able to see things relatively sharp.

The production itself was fairly similar to the original recordings. There wasn’t much deviation on the instrumental side of things (ie: I think it was the second time when we saw it, I’ll Cover You (reprise), the keyboardist put in a few more chords in the chromatic minor opening, this keyboardist didn’t put any extra embellishments. I did pay more attention to the guitarist and bassist this time and noticed they actually changed their guitars midway through songs, which made me wonder what about the songs required changing the whole instrument and not just changing sound patches. Songs like Without You, was particularly excellent because the bass sounded extra smooth and mellow yet the notes were distinct and clear. It made me want to come home and try it out (I’m sure I’ll be disappointed at my own attempts and give up shortly). On the vocalists side of things, the only things I noticed on several occasions was when Roger screamed in (What You Own and Another Day), he would come in at a higher note which almost felt like he was offkey, but then he’d bring it down to the correct register. Not sure if this was a mistake or intentional because I can’t say it was a positive. Overall, no hiccups, no technical issues (re: Mimi’s wireless mic breaking up during the second time we saw it).

For the cast review, I thought of writing all my thoughts down before reviewing what sadd3j had said to see if our findings would be similar or not, but I just lazied out and ended up glancing over the review quickly. I can say my findings are more or less similar.

Mark – Seriously amazing, it was like listening to the original broadway recording (OBR), really couldn’t have asked for more from him. During Seasons of Love, the way he claps and such is very much like from Live from Broadway at the end when they bring out the original cast. I thought that was a nice touch, to see his little mannerisms that make him Mark. its actually him!
Roger – Was he also the original? Either he isn’t and thus explains why it didn’t sound like OBR or it was technical. I think that because of the octive he sings in, being in the same range as the instruments, I found it was hard to hear his voice when the instruments came in hard (Another Day “who do you think you are.. barging in on me and my guitar-those parts were hard to hear as his voice was overpowered by instruments). I kept telling myself that I just need to adjust to him, but I think even by What You Own, it still didn’t feel fully settled.
Collins – He was the same as Live on Broadway, which at first (when I saw Live on Broadway), I thought was not as good as OBR, but I think his voice does grow on you and it was overall very good, he was able to do justice to I’ll Cover You (reprise)
Angel – excellent, no qualms about him
Joanne – Initial impressions was that she wouldn’t live up to OBR, but I think overall not bad, I’d put her on par with Collins and Angel
Mimi – Aside from Mark, Mimi would be my second vote to best voice. The timber of her voice is different from OBR because its not as raspy (maybe that’s what Sam meant by sweeter) but it was still very distinct. She was clear and never overpowered by instruments
Maureen – Again agreed about the piercing-ness, in fact if I didn’t read his review, I’d say the problem with her channel was having too much high end and not enough body to support. This was particularly evident in Take Me or Leave Me, Maureen’s parts weren’t very tolerable because it sounded more like high pitched screams.
Benny – suffice to say that he is no Taye Diggs
Other cast members – the male soloist for Seasons of Love was weak. Voice lacked that presence and command that the song demanded. By comparison, the female soloist was much better than him.

I think one of my goals was to take Sarah to see RENT live at least once to change her negative perception of it and I think this production has now made her to a RENT lover convert.

May as well write down the experience. It’s easy enough to say that it’s the best version I’ve seen.. which in hindsight, isn’t that hard. The first sitting we were too unprepared to really judge it, the second sitting had mr. happyfeet conductor.

The Canon/Pantages theatre has always been one of my favorite theatres, maybe because it feels historic and it’s been around a while. The foyer remains quite grand, although I remember it being even more so when Phantom was there, probably due to the richness of the show itself and being myself being younger and wider-eyed. It does require good seats though, as the cheaper seats are waayyy back there and the stage gets lost under the balcony.

The sound mix was quite excellent, the volume shocks you a bit at the beginning but it calms down as I think Rent is the loudest song. The band was tight and the conductor was great on the timing (my only gripe would be La Vie Bohemme got a little slow in the middle and that seemed to kill a bit of its tumbling-over-itself momentum that it usually has) but it picked up and ended fairly strong. The set (while basic anyway) was pretty impressive and I thought it would be dumbed down more, but it’s the same, except maybe the Christmas tree is a little less 3D than it was at the Nederlander.

Onto (most) of the cast!

Mark – was amazing, it was like listening to the soundtrack.
Roger – not sure if it was his levels? His voice seemed to lack some body (compared to the soundtrack and movie version anyway).. I was a little disappointed, but you can’t help but cheer when they sing Rent and What You Own.
Collins – was fantastic! Same guy as from the “filmed Live on Broadway” version, he was better live.
Angel – also from the “Live on Broadway” version, was great.
Joanne – at first thought it was an understudy, but reading the insert into the programme I think is an actual replacement. Very good as well, great voice.
Mimi – Great voice, fits the role well. Sam said that her voice was “sweeter” sounding than the original Mimi, but overall I thought she was good.
Maureen – easily the weakest, I definitely think she could have been cast better. Her voice was kinda piercing/bordering on annoying and was missing some of that Idina-Menzel-Maureen-machoness? It’s also kinda silly, but she’s too short heh.
Benny – was forgettable, nothing spectacular but was good enough not to stand out as bad.

Anyway, will be interesting to see what jkha thinks after tonight. I’m really glad to have seen this cast and definitely think it was worth it.

So, this is filed under miscellaneous, but if there were an even more random category, it would fall under that.

It was a blustery evening after work, a little above freezing and since the days are still short, dark. The air was chill and unmistakably damp, all around rather unpleasant. I rushed across the parking lot, the ground black and glistening from melted snow. I strode briskly through the sliding doors and the anarchy that is T&T washed across me in a roar of chinese and checkout scanning blips. A crotchety old chinese man returned the frozen halibut that scanned in higher than he expected, a young couple filling in their lucky draw slips, giggling at some private exchange.

I flew through the aisles, one arm juggling a basket and phone, the other pulling items off the shelves in a flurry. Before long I came upon the produce section and scanned over the area. Eyes passed over piles of fruit and short chinese people alike, scanning for the most attractive looking fruity goodness. Winter. Winter is all about navel oranges, isn’t it? I quickly navigated the carts and rolling baskets to the oranges.

The oranges looked pretty good, fairly large and juicy, and ripe for the most part. I began to sift through the oranges at random, gauging colour and size, mentally measuring roundness while hefting them in hand to estimate juice-factor. After subconsciously calculating using a random formula of these most important properties, I began to bag orange after orange. As I continued, my eyes wandered their way over to the adjacent fruit. More oranges, at first glance seeming identical to the ones I was currently elbow deep in.

But wait! what was this!

These newly discovered oranges were $1.40 a pound! Almost double the price of the heap in front of me. My curiosity was instantly sparked at the fact that these near identical oranges were close to twice the price. The orange I was holding in my hand had dropped, forgotten, and the remaining Sunkist navel oranges in my bag now appeared pale, dry, and lifeless.

[.. to be continued ..]

Anyhow.. not wanting to expend all the energy finishing this, I bought some Cara Cara oranges and they turned out to be pink inside, almost like a grapefruit. They also have a very interesting taste which is, while distinctively orange, also distinctively not. It’s like one of those Tropicana orange juice mixes, but in a fruit.

This week we have good ol’ 8-bit music that is reminiscent of Nintendo days!

All of YMCK’s work is 8-bit music + vocals. They have their 8-bit plugin available for free in AU or VST format here.