Christmas

     I'm going to be a bit slow with the updating of this blog during the Christmas holidays, but that doesn't mean I'm not working. I'm working on my characters (uniting the texts, learning the lines and Uta Hagen's 6 steps) for about 30-60mins each day so that I keep it fresh.

     I was working on Lucy Thompson's (Russel's grandmother) speech yesterday. I researched her on the Internet (the most notable thing I found was an article about the trial), divided the text into units and did the 6 steps. I really liked the monologue from the first time I read it, but it wasn't until I'd researched it a bit and worked on it that I fully understood the meaning of it. It's incredibly beautiful and emotional! And so sad! She's in such a difficult place.
     Apparently, at the trial, she finished her speech by turning from the Shepard's to her grandson, Russel, and said:
     "I want you to know that your grandmother loves you with all her heart."

     But now I am in Stockholm, enjoying my holiday. A funny thing I've noticed is that the cold in Sweden is much different from the one in Scotland. The air in Scotland is so much more damp, so when it gets cold it really creeps into the clothes which makes it feel so much more worse, whilst the cold in Sweden is much "dryer" which makes it much nicer and fresher. I love it!

you with the sad eyes...

One thing's for sure...

                             ...I'm going to cry while performing the Laramie Project.

Sweden's Filthy Manner of Life

     Ok, so, I found this whole website about how God hates Sweden (according to WBC it seems like God hates everyone and everything apart from maybe the WBC itself). I just thought I would copy some of the information found on the website and paste it here:


 Sweden's Filthy Manner of Life

FAGS
In 1944, homosexuality was legalized in Sweden. Not only was that vile sin legalized in this God-forsaken country, Sweden embraces it so that it is considered to be one of the most gay-friendly countries in Europe and maybe even the world. If you didnt think this country was filthy enough, dont worry, they will never make you think that again. They hold a yearly fag pride parade known as the Stockholm Pride Parade. On July 25thAugust 3rd, 2008, they will host (not for the first time, but for the second time) the EuroPride parade.

Proverbs 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

These fags are NEVER satisfied unless every single person bows down to them and kisses fag-butt.

In 2002 Sweden made it legal for fags to adopt children. How much more unnatural can you get than being a fag? When you cant follow a simple commandment (Leviticus 18:22 - Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination) you will never be able to raise a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Fags are never happy unless theyre pushing their filth down everyones throat. Here is just another example of how fags will stop at nothing to make everyone accept their disobedience to their God. Two publishing companies, Vilda and Olika, are publishing childrens books with the theme that having same-sex parents is a natural way of life. WTF? There is NOTHING natural about being a fag! Listen up Sweden, those children are an inheritance from God and this is what you teach them? Not a good idea!

BESTIALITY
Bestiality in Sweden was decriminalized in 1944 along with homosexuality. Need we say more about the fact that fags are beasts? I digress.it is not a crime to have sex with animals according to Swedish law as long as it is consensual. Say what?!? That's right, apparently Swedish animals can talk, they can say either yes or no to their masters doing NASTY things to them. What the?!? Anyway, you can be prosecuted if the animal is harmed in the act. Unfortunately, veterinarians see many injuries done to animals but they can't quite tell if it's caused by bestiality. Seriously people, you wonder why you're cursed of God.it doesn't take a brain surgeon!

DIVORCE/REMARRIAGE
This may shock some of you (NOT) but according to the data collected in 2002, Sweden had the highest divorce rate in the world, coming in at a whopping 54.9%. Isnt that just fantastic (uh, no)!
Mark 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

ABORTION
It doesnt matter the circumstance, in Sweden you can have an abortion at any time for any reason. So basically what this evil country is saying is, Its alright for you to be a whore all day every day and at the end of those days, you just kill anything that would make your life a little uncomfortable. WHAT?!? Come on people, you can NOT be that brain-dead. WAKE UP! You go down that trail and youre going to end up like all the arrogant Swedes.in hell!

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,.

OTHER WHOREDOMS
With the arrest of Ake Green, Swedes have allowed the filthy sodomite agenda to be completely fulfilled.  Just because Green's conviction has been overturned, don't think that makes things right!  The fact that the vast majority of the Swedish population either sat by silently while this rape of justice took place, or actually applauded it, solidifies the idea that Sweden is a land of the damned.
Just because Green preaches the doctrine of devils that "God loves everyone" doesn't make it right for Sweden to arrest him for also preaching that fags are an abomination (Lev. 18:22).
With this act, as well as the vitriolic response given to this preaching, Sweden has drawn to it the wrath and mocking of God!
"I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you" (Proverbs 1:26-27)
"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision" (Psalm 2:4).

King Goofy of Sweden threatens to sue WBC for saying he and his worthless family and his fag kingdom are irreversibly bound for Hell for jailing a Bible preacher. Just like he hired lawyers to force removal of a booby photo of his daughter from a Swedish website. Swedish kids are taught it's OK to be gay and incestuous.

Sexual trafficking (report from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/105386.htm)
Sweden is a destination, and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women and children trafficked from Estonia, Russia, Poland, Albania, Slovakia, Nigeria, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Venezuela, and Thailand for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Some of these women and children are trafficked on to Norway, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In 2007, police noted an increase in women and children under the age of 15 trafficked from Romania and Bulgaria for the purposes of forced begging and petty theft. Authorities also observed a renewed influx of unaccompanied Chinese children, 23 of whom disappeared from Swedish asylum centers in June 2007; authorities believe these children were eventually trafficked to the United Kingdom for forced labor. Boys and young men from the United Kingdom were trafficked to Sweden for the purpose of forced labor; these victims were forced to work on construction sites, lay asphalt, do yard work, and perform other odd jobs.




If you want to read more, go to:
http://www.godhatestheworld.com/sweden/index.html

Fred Phelps on Sweden

     This is a little video from Nyhetsmorgon in which Fred Phelps (pastor at the Westboro Baptist Church) expresses his opinions on Sweden and especially how we dealt with Åke Green.

     I think most people agree when I say that this is absolutely ridiculous. It wouldn't be so bad if this was only the voice of one hateful man, but the fact is that he influences others and make them think the same way. Not only does he hate, but he spreads his hatred.

...

    Why do people have to die before we can open our eyes?

Blocking of act 1

     Yesterday we started blocking the "moments" (The Laramie Project consists of moments rather than scenes) in the play and we got as far as to the end of act 1! Go us!

     We started off with a physical and vocal warm up (we're going to get quite fit, or at least improve our stamina significantly, if we'll continue jumping like that!) and followed it with a movement exercise. In the movement exercise we were walking around in the room and our teacher, JC, would shout out different things (things that were somehow connected to the script) and we were to physicalise them as a statue. During the exercise, when we were freezed in our different statues, he would pat some of us on the shoulder and we got to relax and just walk around the room and watch the other's statues. It was really powerful! Even though the words were the same none of the statues were. It was like stepping into some kind of magical world, like a magical forest of statues. It didn't matter that you didn't understand what the thought was behind each statue, because they all contributed to the feeling of the whole picture.

     I don't want to ruin the surprise for the people who's going to see the show by telling how it's going to start, but I can say that it's going to be pretty powerful. It'll really set the mood of the piece right in the beginning.

     And then the blocking started! Blocking is quite a lot of work, but it went very quickly. I'm glad I'm a very patient person, because there's a lot of just sitting around and waiting. It was really interesting to see how JC wanted to do the changes between the moments and I think that when everything runs smoothly it's going to look really stylish and nice.

     That's all for now. I'm now going to eat something and practise my American accent!

Matthew Shepard

6th of October 1998 (in short):
University student Matthew Shepard, 21, was given a lift by Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson. They drove the car to a remote area and started to rob, pistol-whip and torture him, tied him to a buck fence and left him to die. 18 hours later he was found. 18 hours of being tied to a fence in the freezing cold after being savagely beaten. His face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by his tears. He died six days later in hospital.

Baptist Minister:   Now, as for the victim, I know that that lifestyle is legal, but I will tell you one thing: I hope that Matthew Shepard as he was tied to that fence, that he had time to reflect on a moment when someone had spoken the word of the Lord to him - and that before he slipped into a coma he had a chance to reflect on his lifestyle.


I feel sick...

True Colours

                                                          I see your true colours, that's why I love you
                                                                         so don't be afraid to let them show     

Tuesday - Read-through of the play

     Today we got our characters and had a read-through of the play. For some reason hearing others read the play helped a lot to picture it all and to distinguish the characters.

     I already knew that I was going to struggle with the American accent, but it wasn't until today when I actually had to try it out that I fully understood how much work I will have to do. It's a little bit weird, because in Swedish I have quite a good ear for accents, so you would think that it wouldn't be too difficult to copy accents in English. But it is. A couple of months ago I bought an "Access Accents - General American"-CD-lessons-thingy which I've never used. It's about time to unwrap it and see if it helps.

     We took a little break from the reading at one point and watched this:

     I would recommend everybody to watch it. I was struggling to hold back the tears, and I know that I wasn't the only one.

     Something that I have noticed is that the more you research the subject, the more pictures and videos you see, the more articles you read the more real it becomes. It might sound stupid, I mean, of course you will understand it better the more you research it, that's obvious, but it's more than that... It's...the feeling when you really realize that this is real. When you realize that the words written in the script were said by real people. That what happend really happend. It's not until you've reached this point that you can go from just saying: "Oh, it's really terrible what happened in Laramie!" to really feel that pain deep down in your heart.
     And this is really engaging. The more you know, the more you want to know. And I believe that is the general feeling in the class.

     I am really excited about this project!

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is allowed in the following countries:
Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Argentina.

Why not in the rest of the world as well?

The Laramie Project

     "On October 6th of 1998 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died 6 days later. His torture and murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted many of the fault lines in our culture."

 from http://www.laramieproject.org

     And that is what this blog is going to be about. Over the coming three months this is going to be my little space to share pictures, information, quotes, thoughts, videos etc. with you. One of the reasons why I decided to start a blog is because it gives you, my readers, a chance to comment and send in your own ideas, experiences and thoughts (either as a comment on the blog or in an e-mail, backman.stella@googlemail.com). And please don't hesitate to contact me, I'm really interested to hear what you have to say.


Stella