thehanslickgirls

August 21, 2017

Flood Of Moonglow: Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or games, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. This week, the Girls get into a celestial mood over the North American Total Eclipse, leading to a discussion of one of the art world’s most famous lunar landscapes. Let’s listen in on their conversation…

Dania was standing on a chair, trying to measure across the wall to find the midpoint where the nail would go. Absolutely OCD about centering and focus, she was determined that the painting be hung correctly. After all, it would be a focal point and conversation starter in the room – they had specifically ordered the print out of a desire to make the walls of the apartment less bland and beige.

Stretching the tape measure across the wall, Dania locked the length and marked the 40″ point on the wall in pencil.

“Don’t draw on the wall, Dania,” Eleanor said. She, and the canvas, were slouched on the couch, watching Dania balance.

August 14, 2017

The Chosen One: J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or games, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the girls revisited the original Harry Potter book, which began J.K. Rowling’s “wizarding world” two decades ago. Let’s listen in on their conversation…

“They don’t know we’re not allowed to use magic at home. I’m going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer…”

And she closed the book, laying it on her chest. Eleanor stared at the ceiling. It was one of those books that left you awaiting the sequel – even after you’d read the sequel. Of course, the Wizarding World was much more than just a book series at this point – twenty years of midnight releases, summer blockbuster films, magical theme parks, and West End plays had firmly cemented J.K. Rowling’s creations as a cornerstone of early 21st century popular culture. Even those who hadn’t read the saga of Harry Potter could recognize the names Hermione, Voldemort, and Hogwarts. After the release of the 6th book in 2005, the publicly known spoiler “_____ Kills ________” was almost as famous and no-longer-a-spoiler as “Darth Vader is ____’s Father” or “Rosebud Was His ____.”

August 7, 2017

Saving Face Cards: Rikki Tahta’s “Coup”

Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or restaurants, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the girls were introduced to a card game by La Mame Games about the fun of deception and political gain. Let’s listen in on their conversation…

“Come on, Dania, you said ‘just a minute’ three minutes ago!”

“It’s an expression! It’s figurative!”

Eleanor cut the plastic wrap off the game box anyway, and proceeded to shuffle the small stack of cards. As Contessas and Ambassadors flashed by in the deck, Eleanor caught Gwen stacking the small cardboard tokens into even piles.

“You’re going to want to leave those unstacked for the game,” Eleanor explained. “You want to be able to see how many tokens everyone else has.”

Author / thehanslickgirls