MVP, that's me!

Mighty Valuable Person?
Well, I like to think so.
I especially believe that I regarded as such because I have volunteered to be part of the Million Veteran Program.
That's right: I volunteered to be a member of this genomic study.
In the interest of advancing knowledge, in the interest of advancing science, in the interest of advancing medicine, and for the greater good of the world, I have given the most valuable resource I have.
My money?
No, that isn't needed here.
My time?
A little bit, when filling out the background paperwork.
My blood?
That's a bit closer to the truth, as I gave that yesterday.

I gave my most valuable resource, the very essence of myself.
I gave my deoxyribonucleic acids, that genetic information which describes everything about my body and how it works.
Collectively, the DNA information from me and more than five hundred thousand other veterans of the United States military will be used to solve medical maladies which affect both civilian and military components of the world's population.

I hope they will soon reach their goal of one million veterans.
What an incredible databank that will provide!

the opera and miss alice

No, this was not a kickstarter event.
Rather, "Alice Ryley" is an English opera about the Irish lass who became the ghost of Wright Square, right here in Savannah.
The sad story of Alice Ryley (aka Riley) occurred in the early days of Savannah's beginnings, back in the 1930's. A poor lass, she came to America as an indentured servant and worked for a cruel master, William Wise. She was in love with Richard White, an Irishman who had traveled on the ship with her and who was also an indentured servant to the evil old man. One day, the pair have had enough of the torture - and Richard kills their master.
Richard pays with his neck in a noose.
Alice would have met the same fate had she not been pregnant.
Instead, the jailors allow her to bear the child...and then she is hanged.
The story goes that she wanders Wright Square, where she met her fate, looking for her son.
Sadly, the child died shortly after she did.
The tale is oft told by the many tour guides that lead Savannah's visitors through the squares on dark evenings.
The primary reason the tale is so popular is no doubt because Alice was the first woman hanged in Savannah.
The one-act piece based on her short time in America was commissioned in honor of Sherrill Milnes' 80th birthday, as well as the 50th Anniversary of his career. That was in 2015, the same year that the Savannah Music Festival partnered with the Savannah VOICE Program to bring the two Puccini operas that I so loved!
The opera about Miss Ryley, written by Michael Ching, had its premiere performance at the Savannah VOICE Festival last year. Sadly, I was unable to go. (As I recall, it was held on a Wednesday evening.)
Fast forward to this year's SVF.
This year, the opera was featured on August 16th, a Tuesday, at 5:30 pm, in late afternoon.
A Tuesday!
That meant I could go!
So I bought my ticket to see this special piece performed for the second time ever.
That was two weeks ago.
Instead of attending, however, I was still on the shuttle, returning from the VA Hospital in Charleston.
There was no possible way for me to see the 55-minute opera.
So, rather than ask for my money to be returned, I am treating it as a gift to the festival, in honor of my birthday:58.
(By the way, it is the year of birthday:58 for the author of the opera, too!)
Here's hoping that my forty dollar donation will allow more VOICES to be raised in the glory of song!

hellyfish and kiteboarding, too!

It's been almost a year since the mailman brought it to me.
That's a mighty long time to tread water.

Today, I finally reached
the shallows, giving me time
to view my dvd copy
of the Golden Shovel-winning
"Hellyfish"!
Actually, I had viewed it
months ago, on my laptop.
That screen wasn't
large enough for
that much action.
I needed to have the
silver screen experience,
or some close approximation
of that.

This afternoon, I'm sitting at my first niece's house, waiting on the ice-maker repairman for her...and having access to her big screen television.
Beautiful!
I began with the final item on the menu: "Kiteboarding".
What a lovely three-minute segment! Mike Brady creates his own berms and literally shreds the wavefronts as he soars betwixt ocean and sky!
Thanks, guys!
Then I launched into the extras.
What a lot there were!
"Behind The Scenes" gave me some shots of the actors test-driving their running, leaping, splashing, and twitching skills, accompanied by the green screens. Fun!

"Visual Effects" was
incredible to watch,
but I have to admit
that I didn't understand
much of it.
Great music, though!

"Outtakes" and "Photo Gallery"
were next on my perusal list.
Those provided a new appreciation of the work involved in getting that perfect coordination between the action and the background. Also, I hadn't realized the triplets were played by one girl!


Then I dove right into the movie itself, once more. So much hot-blooded summer fun! Sure the jellyfish were horrific, as they normally are, but the scene was pure Tybee Beach, inhabited by folks I know or have seen before. There was JinHi Soucy Rand, as a "Wise Fisherwoman", made up as a weatherbeaten, cigar-chomping, crone on the pier! And that was Anthony Paderewski, as a slickster trying to score some action under a beach blanket! And I know I've seen some of those kids and that sea captain and that news chick before!
Good story, too! And the title sequence - beautiful! Having the lost nuclear bomb morph into a streaming jellyfish was so well done!

Animated story board end credits were a nice change-up, too!
Wow!
So, being so pleased with all I had seen,
I then clicked on something I never watch:
"Director's Commentary".
Usually, I loathe such things.
Talking over the movie? Pointing out plot items? Demystifying the aura?
No, thank you.

But, not this time.
As well-steeped as I was in the movie,
I actually enjoyed their sidemarks.
And I very much enjoyed
learning what shots were
pure serendipity at work,
not in the original script at all.

I tell you, the wait was well worth it.
Every last minute of it.
Congratulations, y'all!
I am so proud
to have been a
kickstarter supporter
of this project!
I truly am.