war horse

In the newest episode of The Theater Enthusiast Podcast, we  talk with Broadway Actor Chad Jennings.  Chad made his Broadway debut as Dr. Dillamond in Wicked where he also toured with the show as well as with South Pacific and War Horse.  

This is it! We bring it down to our Final four and find out who wins it all! Will there be an upset? Did you pick make it all the way? Tune in to find out!

Tyler and Kody get closer to finding the champion of Action Movie Madness. With the discussions heating up, who's going to make it to the final rounds?

HERE WE GO! We're getting down to the best of the best. The top 16 action movie characters facing off. How will the likes of Vincent Hanna and James Bond fair in this round? Who do you have picked for going all the way? 

Tyler and Kody make their way through the second round of the bracket. The matches start to heat up and the discussions get deeper. Who will move on and claim a spot in the sweet sixteen?

The second installment of our Action Movie Madness bracket! In this one we take a look at our Armed Forces region. Some of our most anticipated match-ups are in this region including, Maximus Decimus Meridias vs. Bob Lee Swagger, and War Horse vs. Benjamin Martin. Tune in to figure out who will be moving on. 

Belgium is a beautiful place in the Low Countries of Western Europe.  Rich with art, culture and a globalized economic worldview, it has had more than it’s fair share of trauma throughout its history.  It has been known as both the Crossroads and the Battlefield of Europe, and the strategic importance of this country has caused it to be used as either a tactical objective or a runway throughout its history (Just ask the Romans, the French, the Germans, the British, the Americans, the Germans, and the Americans.  Napoleon, too.).

Today, Belgium is still a crossroads, and is a leader in Europe’s globalized economic and political engine (and has great food, wonderful history, phenomenal art, waffles, and, of course, beer).  It is also said that Belgium has a more populated ratio of people to land, for it’s size.  

This might explain why the Brabant – the origination of our very popular Belgian Draft horse here in the U.S. – was what it was.  For small-scale sustainable farmers who want a very gentle draft horse that can pull more than almost any other, pound per pound (did we mention it was the heaviest of all draft breeds?), this I said to be the one to pick.  It's gorgeous and massively stocky and hits just the right note at a renaissance fair.  Unfortunately, their calmness and strength have also put them at the top of the list for things like carrying Richard the Lionheart’s knights into battle, or towing cannons and artillery to the front lines in Russia for Napoleon.

During the World Wars, the shutdown of shipping corridors caused major limitations in importation of new livestock bloodlines, which had a huge impact on Brabants here in the U.S.  Selection for trait in genetic isolation gave a fast rise to the dominance of the new breed that is now known as the Belgian Draft horse, a favorite at horse shows and with Amish farmers everywhere.  But it all started with the Brabant.  In Bruge (okay, maybe in Brabant, but it sounds good).

Exhilarating is not a word that might usually be used to describe a draft horse experience, but at Steve and Eunice Ward’s beautiful Colorado ranch, we spent an amazing afternoon that was just that.  My heart still hasn’t recovered, in more than one way.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/eunice.ward.73
https://www.theamericanbrabantassociation.net/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/brabant-horse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWRscujkPxU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_horse
http://www.belgianduccle.org/belgian-duccles.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardennais
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_horse
https://www.storey.com/books/storeys-illustrated-guide-to-96-horse-breeds-of-north-america/
http://imh.org/exhibits/online/breeds-of-the-world/europe/belgian-draft-horse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belgium
http://stablemade.com/horsecare/horsebreeds/belgian.htm

The work of playwright Louis Nowra has been on stages right across Australia and the world, but his latest drama — The Goodbye Party — is bound for your headphones, an almost 400-year-old copy of Shakespeare's First Folio of plays housed in an American public library is now believed to have belonged to the English poet John Milton, we encounter the famous life-size horse puppets backstage ahead of the return of War Horse to Australian stages in 2020,, and The Australian Musical by Peter Pinne and Peter Wyllie Johnston lovingly documents a century of Australian musical theatre.

Roxie, Lou and Ken discuss many of the curious people they have met on the ghost tours and the unusual adventures those conversations have led to.  From Haunted asylums to spirited places to stay, some tour guests have amazing things to share.  Also, discover the fascinating history of the rare Marwari war horse, which had a big, spiritual impact on Roxie and Ken.