Swans Doing A Very Odd Thing And A Random Quiz Competition

Wow, two milestones in Dramatis Persona history have been achieved today. Firstly, and more obviously, I now have separate pages (Get In Touch!!! and About This Funny Little Web Page), which is important to the sophistication of my blog. And secondly, this April has the most posts of any DP month! Including this one, it has 10 compared to the previous record of 8 in February 2012! Isn't that cool?!

I bet you're thinking, "well no, DP, not really", but that's not what I pressed "New Post"for. I just thought I should mention it. But no, I came to entertain (hey, that rhymes. A bit. Not really). And I came to entertain with this funny picture of two swans from the river who apparently mistook grass for water. Seriously, this should be on BuzzFeed.

Amazingly, their poses are exactly the same as they would be on the water. Wings ready to raise, head up straight, body as perfectly in line as a right angle. But couldn't they tell that this ground is just slightly dissimilar to their homeland? Or maybe they're on holiday, and taking a while to adjust to the new setting and how you're meant to walk there. Perhaps times are hard back in the river, and they're resting in the field for a moment of solace. But in their posture, there are signs that they can't forget all of home. Sorry, my swan fantasy is going crazy now, this my mental conversation with you guys.

READERS: Zap back to reality, DP, they are probably just making nests.
ME: Boringggg!!!!!

Anyway, leave the madness behind. I like swans. They have interesting personalities. And I mean that seriously, one moment they're gliding serenely along without a care in the world, and you make one false move and they jump out of the water, caw at you and possibly break your leg. Of course, that's only when they need to protect their cygnets, and I don't mean to make you from this day on petrified of all swans. But yeah, they're calm and a second later they're mad. They're volatile. A bit like all of us, really. Nothing humans don't share.

MY FIRST COMPETITION!!!

So, to commemorate this picture and the other swan picture I took yesterday, I thought I'd set up my first blog competition. No prizes for guessing that it's a quiz about swans. Seems as this is virgin territory for both of us, I thought I'd start with my questions:

1. The word "swan" is derived from what ancient language, a) Latin, b) Ancient Greek or 
2. c) Old English?
3. True or False? Swans are always omnivorous.
4. Which of the following is a real swan, a) Arctic Swan b) Tundra Swan or c) Alaskan Swan?
5. An old legend tells the story of a stepmother turning her stepchildren into swans, but what nation is it from?
6. Mute swans can reach what weight? a) 23 pounds, b) 33 pounds or c) 43 pounds?
7. The Swan ____; complete the title of this 2010 novel by Elizabeth Kostova?
8. What North American city gave Queen Elizabeth II the original six pairs of Royal Swans?
9. Which of the following swan breeds are migratory, a) Tundra Swan b) Mute Swan or c) Black-necked Swan?
10. Name the 2010 movie, successful at the 2011 Oscars, with a swan in its name.
11. How long on average do mute swans live, a) 1-10 years b) 10-20 years or c) 20-30 years?

I hoped you enjoyed my questions and as many of you enter as possible! Now for the boring bit the rules…

Rules

1) Anyone may enter.

2) Send all entries (with all questions answered) to thedramatispersona@gmail.com. ENTRIES SENT ELSEWHERE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

3) The contest closes on the 22nd May. NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

4) I will notify winners through my blog and theirs, if they have one.

5) Those with the most correct answers win, and I'm sorry, but there won't be 2nd or 3rd prizes, because I can't do that many guest features at once. Ties will be resolved with random selection. MY DECISION IS FINAL.

6) The prize is your choice of:
a) an interview on this blog
b)a guest post on this blog
c)a post request for this blog
d) an interview with me for your blog

Happy entering!
-DP :)

If I Were In The Gutai…

"In New Yoooooork, concrete jungle where dreams are maaaaaade of, there's nothing you caaaan't doooo!" Yeah, bit of Alicia Keys there. You've probably guessed where I am right now, unless you either think I'm being enormously cryptic or you're pretty stupid. But I'm going off topic right now. I have good news and bad news. The good news is we got upgraded to a suite because the receptionist liked us! And we have a view of the Empire State Building from the room! But you know what the Empire State Building looks like, I'm not going to post a picture. And the suite isn't really relevant to you guys out there, so on to the bad news. The bad news is that my mum forgot to print out all her notes about things to do here (we've been before when my dad goes on business, so we've already been to all the tourist sites), so she's forgotten all the interesting places I was going to blog about :(.

But we did go somewhere interesting today, we went to the iconic Guggenheim Museum. Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture is really awesome there, and I got the most zoomed out picture I could without stepping into the road :). And inside the only thing you were allowed to take a picture of were these tubes with coloured plastic inside. Apparently once you were allowed to go on to the upper floors and tip the tubes and watch the plastic inside run about, but Health & Safety deemed it unacceptable because you had to lean over the rails (damn you risk assessor!).

But the real highlight of the museum was the Gutai exhibition. The Gutai were a Japanese art group in the 50s and 60s, who tried to make art less about abstract expression than the actual process of the art and interaction with the audience. And their avant-garde lack of expression is why I find it unnecessary to show pictures of their work here (you weren't allowed photos anyway); they made the kind of work that you can simply describe and still provoke interest. Such artworks include the man who ran through twenty one screens of paper and got concussion at the end, the woman who made a dress from light bulbs (Ha, Lady GaGa, youre not the first one) and the bell that the audience could ring that sounded like a fire alarm (again, Health & Safety made us only ring it once every hour. GRRRR.). To put it like the exhibition brief, the Gutai "mentally reframed the commonplace", which you'll see is in my new blog description.

So I was inspired by the Gutai, and decided to make an avant-garde work of my own. Just my luck that when we were walking back to the hotel through Central Park (one of my favourite parks in the world, it's good to be back after two years), someone had written on the street a list of exercise drills, and been stupid enough to leave the chalk around. I had a brain wave that perhaps this could be an interactive piece, that people could come along, pick up the (washable) chalk and write a new, funny or serious, exercise drill on the list. I started it off with a silly drill and a spot of blog promo (see picture)! Oh, and people in New York, if you go to Central Park, keep an eye out!
-DP :)

My Christmas Decorations - which is your favourite?

Hello trustworthy blog followers, considering the success of the quizzing poll, my next sidebar poll is to decide which of this year's decorations in my house are the nicest (i.e. which should be used again next year). There are five to choose from, so here is the selection (rather traditionally, this poll ends on Twelfth Night, the 6th January, when all decorations must be taken down!):

1) Christmas Tree
My Christmas tree is quite alternative this year, a genuine (dead) tree with its summer leaves taken away from it in winter. I spraypainted it red to get in the festive spirit:

I also decorated it with some stars I made years ago:

And also with some very cute birds!!!

2) Advent Calendar

This year's advent calendar was hand made, which makes a difference to the usual chocolate ones. Each day is an envelope hanging from the tree with an embossed (see earlier post) Roman numeral, and each gift is a decades-old, collectible Christmas stamp from a different country every day! I can never wait to see what will be next!

 Here are just some of the stamps we've had so far (sorry for the poor image quality):

3) Christmas Display Cabinet

This is a display cabinet of Christmas trinkets, new this year, and is in some ways a collection of unusual Christmas goodies from many time periods and countries. It includes several Santa Claus figurines, both fun and scary, various Japanese ornaments and even a rather amusing horse (4th shelf down, far left)!

4) Glass Birds

Also new for this year, I have a set of elegant glass birds, painted in tasteful purples and greens (not together though!). There are lots of different sorts of birds in the set, but the prettiest and rarest is this purple pheasant - great as a table centrepiece and very cute!!!

5) Christmas Card Display

Last but not least, in my bedroom I've put up a line of Christmas cards along my bed head, as much a display of my popularity (joke) as a great decoration idea! Some of them have great designs, too.

So, I've shown you all my decorations, so what are you waiting for?! Vote!!!
- DP :)

P.S. I have great news for history buffs - your trivia subject of choice won our recent poll with 33% of the votes. But bad news for sport, music or film fans - your category came last with no one voting for it!

A Little Quiz For All Of You...

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while, as I have just started a new school so made a conscious decision to stay off my blog for a couple of months while I settled in. Anyway, to come back with a bang and as you might soon be planning a winter trip, I made up this personality quiz for you:

What Type Of Holiday Should YOU Take?

The ultimate planning tool!

Q1) Which of these gadgets do you have or would like to have?

A: An All-weather camera

B: An iPad with a sparkly tiger striped case

C: DJ designed headphones

D: A corporate BlackBerry with no games

Q2) Which of these Red Letter days (company-made days out) would you take?

A: Abseiling down the Shard

B: Celebrity cookery class

C: Private art gallery viewing

D: Pamper session

Q3) What sort of music do you like most?

A: Something with a strong beat that I can run along to

B: Rihanna

C: Some random Eritrean music no one's ever heard of - I still like it though :)

D: Frank Sinatra - that guy never gets old!

Q4) You've got a night in to yourself - what do you do?

A: Watch (and perform to!) an exercise video

B: Write a new song

C: Watch an arthouse film

D: Curl up with a great book

Q5) Which of these sports is your favourite?

A: Zumba

B: Gymnastics

C: Croquet

D: Ping Pong

Q6) You decide to go out for a meal. Which of these are you most likely to do?

A: Get a table outside, whatever the weather

B: Invite 30 friends and sit at the head of the table

C: Go to a resaurant specializing in an unfamiliar cuisine and try something you've never heard of

D: Go to a restaurant you go to all the time and order the same thing as always

Q7) Where do you go to buy a new top?

A: Outdoor/climbing shop

B: The high street

C: A quirky design outlet

D: Charity shop

Q8) What's your favourite soft drink?

A: Green smoothie

B: Fanta

C: Espresso with biscotti

D: Hot chocolate with marshmallows

Q9) What sort of hat are you most likely to wear?

A: Bandana

B: Fascinator

C: Panama hat

D: I don't wear hats

Q10) Which animal do you most identify with?

A: A mountain goat. Living in the mountains would be great!

B: A leopard. They're fierce, just like me!

C: An eagle. Seeing the world from up there would be amazing!

D: A tabby cat. Oh, the joy of being loved by a caring family...

Results!!!!

Mostly As: You're an adrenaline junkie, and love the wild. Your ideal holiday would be rugged and off the beaten track, independent and away from tourists. Your days would be full to the brim with adventurous activities like mountain-climbing, abseiling, skydiving, surfing and so much more! Just don't forget to pack the hiking boots...

Mostly Bs: You love to be the centre of attention, and are both fashionable and creative. This means your ideal holiday destination would be extravagant, luxurious and exotic, somewhere that will stand out among the crowd. Staying in a luxurious riad in Morocco and browsing the souks would suit you, or perhaps learning to ride horses in spectacular Patagonia or seeing orang-utans in the wild in lush Borneo! Or if you really wanted to push the boat out, try the beautiful coral atolls of the South Pacific!

(BTW, this is what I got when I took this quiz)

Mostly Cs: World culture is your thing, whether it's art, music, films or food. You also enjoy contrast, so the ideal holiday for you would definitely not be a package. You would eat and sleep in the coolest places in town, but in the daytime you would visit interesting reminders of your destination's history while, of course, experiencing lively international culture. However, your trip would have to be just a short city break, because you have (or should have) an enormous schedule of exhibitions, gigs, festivals and restaurant trips planned!

Mostly Ds: You seem to have a strong idea of what you would like to do this winter, but most of it is best done at home. You may have a hectic life, so perhaps this winter you should relax and take a staycation this year. After all, there are many things I'm sure you haven't yet done in your hometown, and remember that you really don't have to travel a long way to have a great time!

By the way, if you are undergoing holiday or Christmas stress, here is #2 in my Shower Era series to cheer you up, a Dimetrodon with a dish cloth for a fin...

- DP :)