MISCAST!

Do you know what a miscast is?

Miscast - to give a part in a play or film to an actor who is not suitable for it (Macmillan)

This is the formal definition of miscast. But Manhattan Class Company made something amazing!

MCC Theather is an Off-Broadway theater company that cooperates with young actors and singers.
They sing well-known songs, but the men sing women's parts and the women sing men's parts.
It's very funny, but also very difficult. Not only do they sing, but they also play and dance on the stage.
You simply must listen to some songs and their "covers" made by MCC Theather!

First song is from the musical "RENT".

And the second song is from "Hamilton", which I think is the best musical ever!

They sing out of tune but who cares!

My juggling friend

Last weekend I visited my hometown. Weather was great so I decided to meet my juggling friend Amadeusz (Amek).

He juggle for over five years. Through that time I was watching him getting better and better in juggling.
When we were talking I realized I don't know who inspired him and make him want to improve all this time.
So I asked him to give me the list of the best 5 jugglers in his opinion.

5. Łukasz Uczkiewicz - he juggles for about 6 years. His last 3 videos changed almost every juggler's point of view.
He's like the batman. Give him enough of prep time and he will do every trick.

4. Ofek Snir - sixteen years old juggler from Israel broke the world's 7 ball juggling record.. in the opinion of most jugglers
he's the best technical ball juggler. In his videos we can clearly see the liters of sweat he pours out at training.
The fact he's 16 makes his work even harder than Amek do now.

3. Haarvard Vatland Hvidsten -every time he releases a new video he comes up with a new concept. His head is full of ideas and his hands full of balls. He got one of the prettiest patterns on the world. Amadeusz can't describe how muchhe do love his juggling.. The only one problem Amek got with this guy is the fact that he has never met him.

2. Ameron Rosvall- Swedish juggler that can hold everything on his chin, nose or forehead. He got so good with balance that he can keep one stick on his feet and the second on his chin at the same time. When you add his club tricks to it you can be prepared for your mind to be blown. He perfected the tricks that most of the world can just imagine of.

1. Wes Peden- straight outta Stockholm juggler that started juggling revolution. His tricks, ideas, videos and performances are always one step ahead of the rest jugglers. He was the top juggler for over 7 years in Luke Burrage's top 40 jugglers of the world.  He's super good, super cool and always wants to get better, no matter how good he is. Wes motivates my friend the most.  That's why he placed him on the top of his list!

Lady Gaga

Do you know Lady Gaga? Of course you do, who doesn't! She is an American singer, songwriter and actress.
We all remember her songs like "Poker Face", "Just Dance" and "Bad Romance". She was an idol when we were
in lower secondary school. I never liked Lady Gaga because I didn't like her style of music and her disguises.
I knew that she had a good voice but she didn't fully use it. Finally Tony Bennett offered her cooperation.
He is an American singer of traditional pop standards and jazz. And then I saw a real Lady Gaga.
She is so beautiful and talented! She has an amazing voice and she creates music like Tony. LOOK!

Kazakhstan 3 - photos!

                                               Now I'll show you some photos from Astana and other places in Kazakhstan  :)

                  

                                         This is a panorama of Kazakhstan. You can see how many tall buildings there are.
                                        They are placed in a line, because the president wants to have good overview of his city.

 

                                               This is a small office building in Astana. Trust me, it's small.

                 Do you remember a cartoon called "THE JETSONS"? They lived in a house just like this one!

 

Kazakhstan has a lot of monuments. They are everywhere.

                                                                             Of course they are big and flawless.

 In the night these buildings are illuminated. It is an incredible view.

They have money for all those illuminations, but they don't have them for poor people.

One hour drive from Astana, this country starts to look completely different.

Kazakhstan 2

So last time I promised that I'll write more about Kazakhstan and life on the grassland.
I've decided to divide this topic into a few parts.
When I went to Kazakhstan I was very stressed, because I knew little of this country and I have never been there before.
For me Kazakhstan was always this country with poverty, kolkhozes, grasslands and repatriated people. But Kazakhstan is a very rich country, because it has a lot of natural resources like hard coal, oil, natural gas and metals. This country cultivates cereals and crops. Astana – the capital of Kazakhstan – is a very specific city, because there is everything there! There are churches, mosques, synagogues, orthodox churches, pyramids, monuments, modern arts and even a zoo with a white tiger, a nearly extinct species! Okay, maybe there isn't everything there – in Astana animals do not exist outside of the zoo.
I've been a few times in this city and I saw ONE dog! One dog at 10 pm on the outskirts of the city!
There aren't any mosquitos, flies or other insects there because the city is sprayed with insecticides.

If you want to eat dried fruits, go to Astana! If you want to eat the best candies ever, go to Astana! If you want... anything, really,
go to Astana! But if you want to see the real Kazakhstan, you need to go on the grassland, to the people who are living there.
One hour drive from Astana and I saw fewer beautiful buildings and more insects and animals. I saw poverty, more and more with each kilometre. I saw poorer houses and roads, I saw emptiness. I saw the real Kazakhstan and then I fell in love with this country.
When I went to the countryside I saw colourful houses, a lot of animals like chickens, ducks, gooses and cows. COWS everywhere!
In this country every morning cows are going on the grassland with a... cowherd? What a funny word! A man who is like a shepherd but he has cows! And at 6 pm he sees the cows out and the cows come back to their houses all by themselves!
They know which house is theirs and they go there. I know that seems impossible but it's real!

The Kazakh food is amazing, because everything is natural.
People are selling watermelons, melons and other citruses on the road, much like strawberries are sold in Poland.
And their taste is weird! People are kind and they bring a lot of food for volunteers from their native country.
One day they brought us 15 kilos of tomatoes and a few litres of milk and cream. It means a lot to these people that young people from Poland come to 'their' country to help and to spend time with their grandchildren.
The Polish spirit is still alive there, these people remember of their homeland.
They talk in Polish and sing Polish patriotic songs. They are still waiting to return home.

In the next posts I'll show you some photos!