this is… The Neighborhood
the Story within the Story
A QUOTE, A DECLARATION AND AN ANSWER
A Self-Empowering Quote
A 1970’s Declaration
And The Answer To A Question
You May Or May Not Have Asked.
THE END OF THE STORY an encore unbroken presentation
The full production of ‘The End of the Story’ was broadcast as a Live event from 6 – 7:30 pm PST on Dec 30 via thepublicblogger Facebook Page. By midnight, the one night only affair was cleared from the stage and The Neighborhood was CLOSED, made official Nov 30 in Bringing Down the House.
This encore presentation is a summary of The Neighborhood’s 2016 Season-ending Show and a retelling of the final minutes of ‘The End of the Story’. – thepublicblogger
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“In such beautiful simplicity, Jim Nickley’s The Story captures the heart & soul of The Neighborhood; its artists inclusive of its fans and followers of 100,000 or more.” – thepublicblogger
Jim Nickley’s THE STORY
an animated short by Guy White
music ‘Can’t git out’ by H-Y Loco
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The End of the Story an encore presentation
of a LIVE vii act narrated production
Headlined by 7 artists, whose contribution in 2016 of talent, social consciousness and a most profound since of loyalty, is how they arrived on center stage. Through vivid animation, a spoken word cadence and the emotions of sincerity, each tells the story of us as experienced within The Neighborhood.
click image to transport back to Dec 30
The Neighborhood’s 2016 Season-ending Show has much to remember it by, but young writers everywhere, must have been dazzled as Kendall F. Person put on a writer’s clinic. In a behind the scenes written word performance, he wrote the entire narrative as the show evolved on stage. From the song review of I Need A Freak that kicked off The Show, including composing the Open Letter in Act I. Continuing throughout the LIVE presentation, connecting each performance into a collaborative engagement. continuing all the way through until he typed The End. It is little wonder why those who understood The Neighborhood’s relevance and its unparalleled, yet overlooked achievements, are in a state of shock by its closure.
“Even the people who never heard of it, are going to miss it now that its gone. The Neighborhood was all of us. It has changed lives, and a life was lost here. It was a home to the mentally ill. It taught respect and responsibility to young men. And it did not find or discover, but built common ground, through an unbending all-inclusive community.The complexity of its thrilling reality shows, produced and executed witin a medium, that no one had imagined before. But more than anything, it inspired and influenced, simply by providing a profound sense of beauty in every thought and in every show.” – Kendall F. Person
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the 2016 Season ending Show
It is that influence, that led to the unlikely shared spotlight on center stage as Wa’Derrious Sellors of Monroe Louisiana and Lisa Troedson of Modesto California, found themselves in the final throes of a story, four years in the making, containing lives of artists from all around the nation and from nearly 30 countries around the globe.
But no one would know, not even the writer, that the finale had not yet been written. Below are the narratives, of the final 2 minutes.
ACT VI Bridges Lisa Troedson
& ACT VII DaKid
Every person, within each role of every show and every game we play, is deserving of whatever victories come their way. Lisa Troedson has demonstrated the ability to stand firm but also to sit down and have a conversation, in a place where we do not shout. She has been – without even noticing – an inspiration as young Republicans are watching a natural bridge connecting to them, as The Neighborhood belongs to everyone.
From the bottom to the top, Wa’Derrious DaKid Sellors of Monroe Louisiana moves passed the hype of lyrics and toward living their meaning. It has been a long and sometimes challenging road, and more than a few of those challenges, he had only himself to blame in. Sellors may not always listen when given advice, profound or not. But when he reaches out for help, not an everyday occurrence with his generation, he does something quite profound. He not only takes the advice, but as demonstrated in The Search for COMMON GROUND, he makes a winner out of dead last. And after 3 years here, earns his wings.
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Her time here has been short in comparison, but Lisa’s resume demonstrates that she did not walk in, but jumped. From the defunct The MIND + GAME Show to The Challenges of A Woman. From a radio voice on The Sexiest Number, to being named to The 2016 Underground’s Most Beautiful People’s List, to week after week winning the public vote in The Search for COMMON GROUND, to still being here, at the absolute end. Yet she dwells within the humbleness created by a world that still confuses her. She cannot imagine, that through her own hard work, respect and loyalty that she would be the last woman standing in a neighborhood that has come to love her and respect the other side of her bridge.
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The sitting Chair of The Neighborhood Nafyis Walters – only one of three to hold the most powerful and important position – was recognized for making some tough decisions, but was retired of the title: decision 6 – 3.
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Only minutes before the ending, an unexpected call was received by a voting committee member. Person smiled as he listened, and then deleted the initial last two sentences.
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this is…. The End of the Story
The Neighborhood, created by Kendall F. Person
produced by thepublicblogger
in a collaboration with of over 200 artists, activists and every day people, longing to make a contribution to our mission
Jan 1 2013 – Dec 30 2016
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A tribute to the underground stars
GEORGE MICHAEL: Everything He Wants
“In a lot of places, of course,
the 80s never really came to an end.” – Nick Harkaway
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Wham! featuring George Michael
with Everything She Wants
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GEORGE MICHAEL
Everything He Wants
written & edited by Kendall F. Person
The early 80s was different. Not that it was lost or failed to produce superstars, as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna rose to astronomical heights back then. And the difference was neither bad nor good, although it did expose disco as a fraud, and gave plain and androgynous the sexy mantle both at the same time. In movies Molly Ringwald was the golden girl and coming of age films like Pretty and Pink and the Breakfast Club where all the rage, while groups like Culture Club with lead singer Boy George, did not at all seem out of place. But in retrospect, perhaps there was a void that would later be filled by Rap/ Hip Hop and New Country Music.
There was also a difference in the way White recording artists had more of a cross over appeal, like rap in reverse. Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust would rocket to No. 2 on the soul charts and would be bumpin in the parking lots. Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Hall & Oates all had a large black fan base, although only Teena Marie would solidify her standing within the black music genre (as it was called back then).
But one day, a group called WHAM! would take center stage and even though there were two of them (poor Andrew) all eyes where on George Michael, and without warning, Wham! was suddenly everywhere (but not really Andrew). George Michael was young, talented and the every man sex symbol that Hollywood had been longing. Initially, it was young women screaming his name, at a time when young men were still indifferent. But in 1985 even that would change, with the release of Everything She Wants. the pretty boy had made an anthem, that men would love to sing.
“And now you’re telling me, that you’re having my baby? If my best isn’t good enough, then how can it be good enough for two?”
After selling 25 million albums, George Michael would shake Wham! and took the Midas touch with him as he would go on to sell over a 100 million albums. A perceived world famous ladies man, until 1998 and his very public outing, in a men’s restroom in a public park, at the height of his popularity, no less. But there was no big crash landing, like for some celebrities, it wiped out their star-turn. Perhaps, it had much to do with his good guy persona, and even with the fame and fortune, he never came across as jerk or an untouchable, and nor did it hurt, that the gay community would welcome him with open arms.
But it was years earlier, in 1989, George would demonstrate – at the American Music Awards – his across the board appeal. Faith was a runway favorite to win top pop honors, as after all, he was a pop star, and it was one of the top grossing albums of the past 2 years. He would lose the coveted Favorite Male Artist, but came back and stunned the music world by not only winning Favorite Pop/Rock Vocalist, but won Favorite Soul/R&B Album and then toppled Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson in being named Favorite Male Soul/R&B Vocalist, becoming the first White Artist to capture those titles..
Like few entertainers could, George Michael seemed to be everything to everyone during his career. But he always seemed just a little sad. And I imagine, I am not the only one to wonder, if he got everything he wanted before the end.
RIP
4 Days to Go The 2016 Season-ending Show ‘The End of the Story’
Support via gofundme or paypal, (buttons bottom of scrreen on smartphone or right border on pc)
TIME
How did it get so late so soon?
Its night before its afternoon.
December is here before June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
– Dr. Suess
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from London
Klasik Sounds w/Night Fall
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TIME
written & edited by Kendall F. Person
Laos — a landlocked country of 6.5 million people in southeast Asia, still ripples from the effect of being a real live pawn in a series of wars that surrounded them, that had nothing to do with them, and that exploded between them. History has many names for the Laotian Civil War, The Secret War is one, but it was not a secret to the people living in the region, leaving their country in near complete devastation. And four decades after the fall of Vientiane, Laos remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with a third of its population living under the international poverty line of just $1.25 per day.
The Indochina War would surround it, borders sealed by its neighbors – Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and China – fighting all around it. And with the Cold War reaching a feverish pitch, between the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic; even France and the United Kingdom had rolled their marbles in – the people of Laos would never stand a chance. And with all that was happening around them, and in spite of them, loyalties inside would be divided, and in 1962, Laos would cry all-in, erupting into a disastrous civil war.
The fighting continued for nearly 15 years, thousands would be killed, and years later, hundreds of thousands would have to be relocated, as time proved no cure for the hatred that embedded in the land, as genocide became the new draw. In 1964, the wars would consume the country, and those that could, fled. Leaving their birthplace behind, in the hopes of achieving any semblance of a life. In the exodus, the family of six year old Xiong Nhia Yang would dodge bullets, the father doing all he could to carry his family to safety. But inside the battle zone, he was defenseless and his daughter would be struck by a bullet, leaving her wounded and unable to keep up.
With the needs of the many, outweighing the needs of the few, Xiong’s father would make a haunting decision, to abandon his daughter, Xiong’s sister, Sua for he could do nothing for her, having the rest of his family to think of. So six-year-old Xiong Nhia Yang and his parents ran for their lives, leaving his big sister behind. His father promised to go back for her, and by all accounts, he tried, but time was not on his side and the drums of war, would outlast him.
In December of 2013, an American Airlines flight would touch down at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Xiong Nhia Yang, a 56-year-old man by then, would stand in the central terminal, surrounded by family and a camera crew, as passengers bustled around them, oblivious to the fact, at that moment, time had stood still. He would recognize her instantly, at 70 years old, Sua looked exactly like their Mother, who had also passed. When brother and sister finally embraced, time overwhelmed them. Fifty years of emotion spilled forth, in the span of just a few seconds.
An extraordinary story, mercifully, the majority will never have to imagine. But how many family lapses are in place, even though they live just a few streets away? How many blood relationships have we abandoned, for an offense that is older than our generation? How long will we allow anger to stand between us, even with full knowledge, that time is not our friend? Inventions have allowed us to fly.
Advancements in plastic surgery, take years off our appearance. and a healthy lifestyle can be key to a long life. But no matter what we do or how hard we try, we will never defeat time or even slow it down. I imagine, there are some relationships beyond repair. Hence, destructive wars are not confined to countries. But while the breathtaking reunion of Xiang and Sua remain fresh in our minds, here lies a chance to take the offensive, besting father time. Pick up the phone, give it no further thought, call your estranged loved one, and simply say hi.
– Kendall F. Person, thepublicblogger
USA Today, Brother, sister united 50 years after war in Laos separates them
Wikipedia Laos, Laotian Civil War, Indochina Wars
Donate with paypal
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this is… The Neighborhood
HATERS GET LONELY TOO
Contrary to rumors,
haters get lonely too.
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Haters Get Lonely Too
written & edited by Kendall F. Person
In 1997, An Angry World was unleashed upon an unsuspecting underground fan base. Without the drama of Capturing Spring nor the psychotic escapism of The Remembrance, and with its all or none ending, readers were left stunned and confused. For the vengeance that was wrought was not caused by a cyclone or tsunami. Nor did it end in a World War III. What caused the fictional town of Sacramento to spin out of control, was the exasperating emotion of hate, born of haters.
Stas Svechnikov
The term haters is not the action tense of the word hate. They are mutually exclusive in use and even where they arise from within. Hate derives from the heart and can be stone cold once we are bound by its grip. Haters is psychological, not personal, and since it comes from the brain, it can be easily controlled, flicked on and off like a light switch. There is generally no bases, no gravitas, nothing to make it real, therefore it lacks the power to seize control.
Hate is fueled by emotions of the heart, hence the statement there is a fine line between love and hate is not a cliche, just ask anyone who has been a victim of spousal abuse. The longer the abuse is allowed to go on, the more intense the beatings become. All because hate lives on the same linear plane as the power of love felt on our wedding day. Upon reaching the pinnacle of inner emotional power, it can become the ruler of our lives, and only death, not necessarily our own, can stop it.
The term haters grew into its own through the rise and self-defined understanding of the darker side of social media. But its use derives from a very real place; Allowing every day social courtesies to be dismissed in a society online, fuels the fire and rather there is intent becomes irrelevant. And in the long run, the non-responses or the dismissive ‘thumps up’ replies, can take the emotion out of being ‘friends’ so we reduce them to haters, as a way to protect our own pride, wounded by unfair expectations that our messages take precedence over the others’ in their inbox.
Smoking by Llywelyn Nys
Most times, the ‘friend’ on the other end, had no intent of ignoring us, in fact they may have meant to respond, but the constant barrage of messages, tags, and request can rack up so quickly, that we begin to treat – unintentionally – even the most special relationships as if they were trolls sending spam.
The fictional characters of Dave Roberts and Ricky, were mutual haters, but after the external clash, they would lose the internal struggle and the haters begin to hate. It would erupt and consume so fast, that with the exception of one little boy, no one could comprehend, that they were living in an angry world of their own making.
A simple exchange of social graces or taking a moment to put a non response into perspective, can prevent the rise of hate. But even if they are real, reach out and say hi, because I imagine, that haters get lonely too.
- this is…. The Neighborhood
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