Words of Wisdom

Youth is wasted on the young.

Thursday 17 April 2008

The Party Post

Party Ingredients: 12 teenagers, some white boards, 3 bags of costumes, wigs and props, a video camera and operator, one psychotic reindeer and a fabulous TRIFLE (made by my DAD!!!)

Enter the cast of characters. From left to right: Elizabeth Swann, Lucy Lui, Pocahontas, Marilyn Monroe, Catwoman and Elle Woods.

An amused Himself flanked by No2 Son on the right (don't tell him his picture's here!!!!!) as Phil the lawyer from some obscure movie and Small Boy as the 'trusty reindeer' from...any movie with a reindeer in it....we assured him there probably was one....
Also in this shot are Indiana Jones and Jackie Moon from some new movie...is it Semi-Pro?

Now we see the gang settling to begin the Production Meeting (where are the girls?????). That's me in the bottom left hand corner with the white boards. Danny Ocean just visible top right.

Always the teacher we start to brainstorm a plot.

If only I could 'hold' my Maths class like this!!

Now after this Dad left for awhile and missed; the scene where Pocahontas discovers the magic time travelling necklace; the scene in Elle Woods Sorority dorm room where Pocahontas appears out of a cupboard and surprises them all; the scene at a cocktail party where Marilyn Monroe meets Elle Woods; the bank robbery where Danny Ocean double crosses Cat Woman and she takes Pocahontas hostage with the necklace; the scene on Elizabeth Swann's pirate island where the necklace is dropped and lost for 300 years; the scene where Indiana Jones rediscovers it and is transported to the American South where good ole boys Bo and Luke Duke are searching for treasure to 'sayve theyuh fahm'; the shoot-up between the Dukes and Indy and, finally, Danny Ocean (before he was killed...time travel remember) bribing the basketballer to 'throw' the game. It was quite a convoluted 'plot'!!!!!

But he did get back for the big finale where he snapped this shot of the baby Angel looking 'deadly'!

And here is 'Action' in the final scene where Pocahontas is shot by Luke Duke for her necklace...

and the psychotic and grief stricken reindeer mows down the entire cast. As you do.

Please NB special effects lady on the garden dropping money in front of the camera and over the reindeer. It looked quite good even if it did mean 5 takes to get the wind direction sussed.

Of course after such a sterling effort we had to award 'Oscars'...

followed by swimming! I thought they would chicken out when they felt the water temperature but NO!!!! This meant a poolside cake cutting before parents began to arrive to transport the weary cast away to their trailers :-)

All in all an extremely successful day except that we forgot to eat THE TRIFLE in all the poolside business!!!! SORRY DAD!!. We kept half and sent Mum and Dad over to their friend's place to rest and recuperate and eat trifle. (accompanied by G&Ts if the truth be known)

Himself has put together a rough cut of the movie...entitled "Time is Money" (why? who cares?) with a funky interface (play movie, select scenes etc), a music soundtrack, sound effects, special flashing time travel effects and a BLOOPER reel!!!! I would love to post at least SOME of it but I am slightly worried about the ethics of putting other people's kids up on the net (even here is slightly dodgy)!! So you may just have to imagine it.

Dad asked after the event,
"How much could you charge people to run one of these every weekend??"

It would have to be a substantial amount to do this sort of thing for kids I didn't love. It has taken me two days to recover. I take my hat off to professional party organisers.

Oh. And here's the annual cake. Pretend you can't see the name and don't tell my Mum it's up here :-D

Anonymity sucks.

20 comments:

Blueberry said...

OMG! i would LOVE to see that movie!!!! it sounds AWESOME (and terribly funny)! what a fun party. :)

and that trifle looks fabulous..... mmmmmmm.

Stacy said...

Oh my goodness that looks like so much fun! What a great mom for planning and organizing this event. I bet that is a birthday party they will all remember. I love that last shot of her looking deadly - what a model! :)

Maggie said...

That looks like an awesome party! Seriously - what a GREAT idea! You are the coolest mom ever!

Christina said...

Whoa, now that's one awesome party!!! Sounds fun and funny and a memory to last a lifetime. Oh how I want to see the video...but I understand your reservations. Sounds like quite the storyline you guys came up with. Oh, and how the heck did you "forget" that trifle - it looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOSH! That is just the best party in the history of parties! Did you come up with the theme yourself? And that cake is incredible. Good job Mom!

Arizaphale said...

I think I came up with the making a movie idea based on the BA's desire for everyone to dress as movie stars.
I ran an elective on a school camp rather like this and in fact I think I did an elective like this when I was at school. Maybe that's where the idea came from originally. Anyway, seeing as how Himself does this kind of thing anyway (he's already done a music video with the kids a couple of years ago) it all seemed to fall into place. I wasn't sure how the kids would respond as I didn't know all of them but I knew there were at least 3-4 keen and capable thespians so I hoped (correctly) that the others would be carried along in their wake. The success of this kind of party if you're considering it, is the right mix of kids. It also helps to have an editor who can use imovie or something (I can't remember what Himself uses I think it is Director's Chair or something)so you end up with a semi professional looking product. At least 3 adults is also a good idea to keep everyone on track :-)

Amy Jo said...

BA is lucky to have such a fantastic mum!

Brittany said...

Ahhhh that looks like so much fun!!!
Can you ship the trifle to Ohio? Blueberry and I would love to help you with that! :)

Anonymous said...

Ohmygosh, I am THRUST back to my 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C. and the festive bliss that ensued. It was such a good time -- not this cool, of course -- but we had the same faces. In all of my pictures, our expressions were the same as these kiddos. This is youth captured. Nice work!

Andi said...

There just aren't words strong enough to say how honestly fabulous this all is!!!! What an EVENT! The photos are GREAT, as is the cake, and all of it! You rock!
And the OSCAR for Best Mum, and Best Party Planner goes to...You!

Arizaphale said...

Aww Gee. This is so unexpected!!!I want to thank my Mum and Dad and.......

Anonymous said...

That looks like a great party! I'm not typically a fan of fancy dress - but fancy dress for a purpose- that I'm down with. Nice shots!

Anonymous said...

awhh man i'm jealous, and shooting a movie is great because a. that will be cool at school and b. in 15 years she's going to love to be able to look back at herself, and remember the fun she had! That's a great birthday to welcome her to her teenage years! the world's her oyster!

Karen said...

What a party! It looks like they had so much fun. And when you said you forgot to eat the trifle I nearly cried. As soon as I saw that photo of it my mouth started watering... We just don't get enough trifle in these parts.

I will pretend I did not see the name, but not until I tell you what a wonderful name I think it is. So pretty.

Anonymous said...

By the way, we found a temporary house in Happy Valley - decent neighborhood?

Unknown said...

I was stunned when I saw your party after we had had a similar one! ISN'T IT FUN??? I answered your question on my blog site. You are so creative! I love YOUR cake! I may have to steal your idea of acting out a "movie" next time.
How great.

Anonymous said...

You are THE party mom. That had to be a total blast for everyone. Thanks for including lots of photos...and that trifle and cake. Yumo!

Anonymous said...

Did I not comment here?

I tend to go overboard on planning parties I love it. How fun! Looks like it was THE party to be at.

kim said...

Wow!!! Sounds like a great success... the kind of party I'd like to attend. Love love love the cake!!!!

Anonymous said...

Looks like another great production in the CAN, my friend -
where do we go for tickets?