In true ANZAC spirit,
We remember our fall,
We march through the streets,
And get up at dawn.
Through echoes of silence,
A trumpeter plays,
The tears and the sadness,
Wash away from the praise.
We stand side by side,
The Kiwis and I,
Our head in our heart,
Our heart in the sky.
On this April day,
One phrase is said,
Over and over,
“Lest We Forget”.
To the USA,
On this joyless day,
With our heads in our hearts,
Our hearts go your way.
We lend you our phrase,
Our American Brethren,
To remember your fallen,
On September Eleven.
We all sat in shock,
On this other side,
With lumps in our throats,
For hours we cried.
Lest I Forget,
For how could I ever,
When our God swept down,
To take them to Heaven.Lest We Forget,
The innocent and brave,
Some no escape,
So others they stayed.No matter their plight,
Our hearts were with them,
So I say one more time,
Lest We Forget.- Me. 11/9/2012
The Artisticlympics!
There used to be artistic elements, and year round all art forms have a prize element-
Dancing Compeitions, Painting/Sculpting Shows, Composing Music, Film-making/Theatre/TV Awards Shows, Singing Contests, even poetry has prizes.
So why has there never been an Arts Olympics? The closest I can find is the
Jeux de la Francophonie, which is a mixed arts and sports games for French Speakers.
It could very easily work and could make for some pretty awesome television. And if you are going to doubt how Fashion or Mime will make excellent TV; Project Runway is popular plus The Artist just won how many Oscars? Let’s explore the possibilities.CATEGORIES;
CIRCUS
- Juggling -
- Clown/Mime/Comedy
- Trapeze
- Tight Rope
- Unicycle/Cycling/Motorcycling
- Aerial - Speciality Acts
- Floor - Speciality Acts
THEATRE
- Performance - Individual and Teams in Singing/Dancing and Acting
- Comedy - Stand-Up Performance
- Writing - Musical and Play (eg. 3 songs and 2 scenes) using a key element
- Direction - Combined with Writing, Q Directors must dir. Q wri. work (at random)
- Design - Costume/Set/Lighting - Sets and Costumes can be donated to local companies after the games. Competitors make models/drawings to Qualify.
- Choreography - Perhaps tied with Direction/Writing?
MUSIC
- Instrumental - Classical - Composition (Indv), Conduction (Indv) and Performance (Team).
- Instrumental - World - Classical - Composition (Indv), Conduction (Indv) and Performance (Team).
- Pop/Synthetic Music - Composition (Mixed) , Performance (Group and Indv) and Production.
- Rock/Live Music - Composition (M) , Performance - Song, Performance - Individual Instruments.
- Hip-Hop - Composition - Music, Composition - Lyric, Performance, Production.
- Video Production - Perhaps tied with Pop. Production, Direction, Design, Choreography.
- Performance - Individual and Group, Classic and Contemporary.
FASHION
- Summer - Design, Photography, and Modelling. Each category could include various elements unique to each season.
- Autumn - Design, Photography, and Modelling.
- Winter - Design, Photography, and Modelling.
- Spring - Design, Photography, and Modelling.
FILM/TELEVISION
- Short - Drama - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
- Short - Comedy - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
- Short - Action - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
- Television (Short Form) - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), Single Episode, Overall Series. (3 x 5-10min ep to Q in week one, 3 x 10min ep to medal in week two)
- Full Length - Drama - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
- Full Length - Comedy - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
- Full Length - Action - Writing, Direction, Producing, Costume, Performance (M&F), and Best Film.
DANCE
There are a million and one dance categories, so a programme of around 10 genres would be chosen. Medals would be based on;
- Performance - Individual and Group (M&F).
- Choreography
- Design - Costume, Set and Lighting.
VISUAL ART
- Painting - Life forms, Surreal, Abstract, etcetera.
- Sculpting - See above for etcetera.
- Photography
LITERATURE
- Poetry
- Short Story
- Novella
- Novel - A funny thought of competitors typing away at keyboards which their words go up on a screen (for the audience and judges), and it’s a race, who can write the most words in the allocated time. But their story has to make sense/not contain plot holes or mistakes, so if they make errors they have to go back and erase much like people crashing/falling over at the Olympics.
Each in Contemporary and Classical, and their many different styles.
You can tell the areas I’m unfamiliar with because I didn’t know how to fill them. But this is pretty much a brainstorming session so I’m allowed to, for now. I have also left out many categories, not intentional, just a brainstorm for now.
Many of the events could be mixed, as Art isn’t necessarily a matter of strength. The performance categories could be segregated Male and Female, but something like Photography is an open field.
The same rules would apply with these games as the Olympics with it being an amateur competition, so where Russell Crowe couldn’t compete in any fields he specializes in (Film/TV, Music), he could compete in the Fashion Design categories if he so wished.
One thought though, if I was the organizer of these hypothetical Artisticlympics, I wouldn’t hold them on any year that has an Olympics/World Cup/Comm Games type event, I would pick a year like 2013 and then run every 4 years to make sure the World calendar isn’t crowded with major events and so over-excited people like me have something to look forward to on those odd-numbered years.
But with a lot of careful planning, a great deal of imagination and hard work, these Games might work? If anyone is willing to work with me to campaign for them, let’s do this!
Damn fucking right we are. What better place to win the Olympics than in London?
We gonna make those limey bastards squirm. It won’t just be justice, it’ll be POETIC JUSTICE.
In 1908 we competed with NZ as Australasia and came 11th with only 1 gold.
In 1948 we came 14th with 2 gold.
So we got a score to settle!
For anyone who remembers the theme song for the ‘92 Olympics…
(Source: youtube.com)
