It's been a while since I've roamed around the blogosphere visiting the sites of the brilliant people I tend to think of as internet "friends."
Today I popped in on my friend Optimistic Existentialist at his blog, Musings of an Unapologetic Dreamer, where he had recently posted about one of his favorite movie scenes of all time. Say, film is on of my favorite things of all time regardless of which movie it is!
I checked it out, and while I have never seen American Beauty, I had to admit that the scene in question at least sounded like one of the most powerful statements about film that I could imagine . . . told through the medium of film. Doesn't that make it that much more powerful?
Here's what Optimistic Existentialist says about the onscreen moment.
I recently had a
conversation with a
friend in which our favorite all-time movie scenes were brought up.
When my friend asked me about my all-time favorite movie scene, the
answer came easily - the floating plastic bag scene in American Beauty.
American Beauty is by far my all-time
favorite movie; and this scene is a perfect example of why. To set the
scene up, Ricky (a troubled but fascinatingly deep individual) wants to show
Jane (The girl he is falling in love with) the most beautiful thing he’s ever
filmed.
One random autumn day, he saw a plastic bag floating in the wind and began filming. He describes it as follows:
Sketch artist Denis Medry, otherwise known as DenisM79 of deviantART fame, has tickled my creative funny bone today. He is a talented illustrator who puts his skills to good use by redesigning popular characters. His deviantART gallery is full of steampunk, western, 70s, rockabilly and other redesigns of everyone from Batman to Boba Fett.
Speaking of Boba Fett, the endearing series of drawings that has landed Mr. Medry on Nine to Phive today is a reinterpretation of the original Star Wars trilogy as an 80s high school blockbuster. It's as if A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi had a group wedding with Ferris Beuler's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club and then all moved into the same apartment complex and raised their beautiful kids together!
Luke and Leia
Han and Chewie
Threepio and Artoo
Vader, Boba Fett, and a Storm Trooper
The Evil Emperor, Yoda, Lando, and more after the jump!
As a film fan and dabbling filmmaker, I can't get enough of gag reels. That peek into the world of wonder behind the cameras of today's greatest cinematic hits feeds my fantasies about what it must have been like to walk among those screen gods and goddesses and be considered as a peer, a coworker, a brother in arms, somebody who dared to laugh when they messed up a perfectly good kissing scene. I fully and whole-heartedly justify the extra expenditure involved in editing and releasing footage never intended for use in the film just to provide dreamers such as myself with this glimpse--even in the cases of animated films like Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and A Bug's Life which involved scripting completely fictional bloopers which then needed to be recorded by voice talent and animated in post production undoubtedly adding thousands of dollars to the project's budget.
Yeah, I'm gaga for gag reels.
Imagine my delight when the summer blockbuster of the century, none other than Marvel's The Avengers, released it's very own gaga reel yesterday! You'll have to excuse the absence of Travel Tuesday (again), but this is a GAG REEL we're talking about.
My apologies in advance if this embedded video becomes invalid due to copyright infringement some time in the near future.
My Top 10 Thoughts Upon Stopping to Reflect on This Gag Reel:
10. Jeremy Renner has an evil laugh.
9. Mark Ruffalo is just as funny without really trying as Bruce Banner is without really trying.
8. As if Coulson's death wasn't darkly humorous enough, we now know that it
took half a dozen god-awfully goofy takes to get it right.
7. "Stop fighting!!!" Baha. I love crew members.
6. Not nearly enoughStar Trek references.
5. Chris Evans is a colossal dork.
4. Why was there not a Coulson and Captain America love story as a sub plot?
3. Nothing reinforces the idea that everything looks better in slow motion
like Chris Hemsworth playing patty-cake with that hammer while Chris
Evans keeps right on beasting through the fight choreography.
2. *GASP* AGENT HILL IS FREAKIN' ROBIN SCHERBATSKY!
1. Tom Hiddleston should totally play young Severus Snape in a Harry Potter prequel.
What were your thoughts? I don't necessarily need to hear ten of them, but I would love for you to leave a few in the comments. Was it entertaining, or could you not be bothered? Thoughts on gag reels in general? Worth the wait, or a waste of time? Give me anything!
Also, who's stoked that The Avengers comes out on DVD September 25th? Hurray for bonus material!
I was planning on posting a review of The Dark Knight Rises after going to watch it with Josh last night. A lot of factors made me begin to feel less than excited about this upcoming project.
Everyone with a keyboard is going to be reviewing the film in the days to come. Won't people be tired of the hype?
Do I have anything unique to say?
In light of the tragic Aurora, CO shooting, how meaningful would a review of the movie really be?
I had almost decided that I just needed to get over myself and power through a detailed review when a friend from my literary and theater circles posted a link to the article Catharsis in a Cape on his Twitter. It was then that I knew that almost anything I had to say about The Dark Knight Rises would be redundant, for this NPR-written title had captured my feelings towards the movie with a single word--
Catharsis.
As a former English major, this word is pretty significant to me. In fact, in my mind it's one of the most powerful marks of good storytelling.
catharsis - n. A release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.
I have so much respect for filmmakers, screenwriters, playwrights, and authors who can craft a story fraught with conflict and tension that climaxes at a point so powerful I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears--and then all of that stress comes crashing down on me in a moment of perfect resolution. Such resolution should make an audience feel cleansed, "refreshed."
I love leaving a theater feeling emptied of myself and full of nothing but story.
I had never before thought of the powerful role that such emotional release could play in society as a whole. Especially in light of the Aurora massacre, I thought this article was a flawlessly eloquent expression of why comic book heroes so powerfully affect the masses and what an impact they have on the emotional development of a culture.
So rather than attempting to restate these profound thoughts, I'm going to just direct you to the well-crafted article on the NPR website.
The incredibly creative and clever title I had picked out for the movie I'm shooting next summer apparently already belongs to a teeny-bopper B-movie starring the sister of one of the Backstreet Boys.
Picmonkey. I don't miss Picnik quite so much :-) and it's free!
Being at work from 8am to 11pm. Blech.
The dessert I was promised at the Rochester Audio Visual Association dinner was a lie.
It seems you have to be a business woman in order to be a successful filmmaker. Well, one down, one to go.
Awesome:
Annual RAVA dinner with old and new friends. You all made me feel like the life of the party and a true member of the filmmaking community. Thank you!
Nick Dibella, director of King's Faith. He is officially one of my filmmaking heroes.
Thirty incoming students applied for Muse Creative Arts ministries at the activities fair on Tuesday! Check out the website for more info.
My coworker Brandon is a student nurse. He walked in on an unresponsive patient and notified the response team who saved the guy's life. Dude.
I just printed the first physical copy of my modeling portfolio. Looks gooooood!
Stryker and I get to team up for a photo shoot!
The sunrise today that was pure pink and blue cotton candy :-)
Equally Awkward and Awesome:
This powerful mock fashion photo shoot about consumerism. Got my attention! How oddly beautiful, but how very sad . . .
I discovered most of my favorite music from this decade on my own as a preteen, but when I met Josh whose entire childhood had been defined by his nostalgic music-buff parents, the two of us couldn't help making cheesy eighties anthems the soundtrack of our courtship. The songs we would blare on Pennsylvania back roads with our windows down were energetic, full of emotion, and just plain sexy. It didn't take long for us to associate some of our best memories as a couple with rocking out and singing along to Journey, Chicago, and other gods of the era.
I have to admit that being the good little Christian girl that I was, the emotional and often hormonal high that eighties rock gave me was a little unsettling at times. I was beyond excited at the way that being married dissolved that tension between Josh and I and enabled us to just have fun and really enjoy each other.
Hey, if we wanted to make out on a hillside to Bryan Adams at midnight, we could!
Sorry if that's TMI, haha.
My point is, the 1980's were one, giant, decade-long party. The music, movies, fashion, and pop culture icons all pointed to the rockstar lifestyle founded on three things: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Or sex, hateful music, and sex if you prefer to quote Rock of Ages' Catherine Zeta-Jones.
What, then, did I expect to find in going to see the eighties lovefest that is movie musical Rock of Ages? Well, I expected a dazzling trifecta of film, music, and theater, three of my all-time favorite things. I expected a good time like those that filled my high school days with Josh.
I expected the music I loved without the lifestyle that I knew went along with it.
PROS:
The music. This goes without saying. The vocals are good (although a bit uninspiring because of inevitable comparison to the originals), but what really take this film to the top are the ingenious mashups mentioned in the above featurette. Songs that I never would have thought to combine are layered together in a musical cocktail that always succeeds in creating powerful moments and telling a story.
Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough as starry-eyed pair of dreamers Drew and Sherrie are pure sugar. They are adorable and touching whether in the bar, at the beach, or rollerblading on the boardwalk. We can't help but share their enthusiasm be it about rock and roll or about each other. Well cast and well played. These kids rock!
As the critics have already declared, Tom Cruise is king in this film. He absolutely killed this role. Not only is the character vastly different from anyone he's ever portrayed before, but it requires an out-of-this-world amount of confidence and gutsy, ear-splitting rock-and-roll vocals. Cruise rises to the challenge, owning the character and really living in Stacee Jaxx for every second of the film--from the stage to the steamy hotel room.
CONS:
Too many subplots. Director Andrew Shankman took some creative liberties with the story line, and he's honestly made it difficult to emotionally commit to one character's (or even group of characters') progression. Is the main conflict Drew and Sherrie's struggle to gain the spotlight without losing love? Is it the Bourbon Room's battle against the squelching conservatism of the mayor and his wife? Is it Stacee Jaxx's internal fight with the lonesome and empty cowboy found inside his sexed-up rockstar exterior? I don't know, and I don't think they do either.
A climax to the film was also hard to pinpoint due to the fact that there were so many explosive musical numbers that seemed to "sum up" what had happened thus far in the plot.
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The Bourbon Room is a temple to partying becoming "a sea of sweat, ear-shattering music, and puke" every night. Drunken sexual encounters and unpleasant bodily functions are laughed off, stripping and pole-dancing are idealized, and a mocking homosexual romance is injected into the plot.
And then there's Stacee Jaxx. Stacee is always surrounded by a virtual harem of groupies who wander around with him in a perpetually drunken and drugged haze. His fiery interaction with Malin Akerman's mild-mannered journalist character involves a strip down which the audience witnesses fully, kissing of rather intimate body parts, and a whole lot of licking. Now that is TMI.
CONCLUSION:
Rock of Ages is both a glorifying tribute and teasing parody of 1980's American culture. That being said, a whole lot of filth accompanies what I had hoped would be good-natured fun centered around an incredible style of music.
I wish the movie had just been about Drew and Sherrie's inspiring romance kindled by good times together and a pursuit of crazy dreams. But alas, Stacee Jaxx's tortured character who has been shaped into a sex idol by the rock and roll industry shatters this innocence. Stacee even acknowledges to a magazine interviewer that being in the public eye keeps him from searching for true love, "the one thing that could save [him.]" Unfortunately, the "true love" he finds with this same magazine interviewer is illustrated by full-tongue french kissing and groping on a pool table to "I Wanna Know What Love Is."
Pretty sure that is not what love is.
I understand that the point is to show what the breakneck-paced rockstar life can lead to in contrast with the hometown wholesomeness of Drew and Sherrie. It is a film about being true to yourself, holding onto your dreams, and deciding what you really want. Unfortunately, Rock of Ages shows us a little to much of what we really don't want. I think these points could have been made with less near-explicit sexuality and attention to drugs and alcohol. Definitely not a family movie. Probably could have used an R rating instead of the tenuous PG-13. All in all, a disappointment.
Mike Tomkins, his voice, and a pair of headphones--
These are the only items you will notice in a typical Mike Tomkins music video. No background dancers, no background singers, not even any instuments. Mike is all of the above.
I know that artists like Sam Tsui and Nick Pitera are already quite famous for posting videos and recordings of musical arrangements featuring only one singer's voice duplicated into multiple layers of harmonies. While I can hardly get enough of either of these guys, Mike Tompkins blows me away far more than either of them.
Mike is, first and foremost, a beatboxer; however, he is so much more than just this. His "beats" are not only made up of the typical drums, cymbals, and bass lines that are good for a few laughs at a party. They are also rich with piano harmonies, guitar riffs, electronic bleeps and bloops, and multiple lines of background vocals. Personally, I find his singing much less impressive than his "vocal innovation" and impersonation of musical instruments and effects, but it is without a doubt the charming performance in its entirety and unity that creates the mesmerizing effect.
Perez Hilton has described Mike as "pretty on the eyes and the ears."
True as this may be, it's still easy to get tired of watching video after video of a pop song cover sung by digital replicas of the same guy bopping around and singing to each other. That's why the video for Chris Brown's "Forever" is by far my favorite performance of Mike's. The video is still simple, but the cinematography is warm and creative as well, full of energy and intrigue. I hope you found it enjoyable.
Also worth checking out are Mike's covers of Coldplay's "Paradise" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Can't quite compete with the originals, but still amazing displays of talent and creativity.
Hats--or rather, headphones--off to you, Mike Tompkins!
The advert below premiered in London at the end of February, and Josh and I got to watch it along with several other kick-butt previews and public service announcements when we went to see A Dangerous Method in a hipster Soho theater complete with bar and lounge. It was an awesome experience! Too bad we were too tired to really enjoy it.
The movie was very interesting. I shy away from saying "good" because it was a smidge disturbing, but very artistic, compelling and well-done. On the other hand, I'd really like to talk about this ad for The Guardian because it reminds me of everything that I love about journalism.
Behind every story is a hundred other stories shaping opinions and actions throughout the world.
The journalism industry isn't as much about producing a finalized piece as it is sparking a conversation. If a day comes when people don't have anything to say about the stories and perspectives you are bringing to the world, that is probably the day you should stop being a journalist.
I'm so excited for my future as an author and so grateful for my job with Thalo magazine!
In other news, journalism is also the worst failing industry in the world. Thank you, Mr. Economic Crisis. I'll show you!
I know that The Hunger Games
series is old news now that the film has been out for a month, but guess
what? It just hit screens in Spain this weekend! It's still a hot topic
here! Also, no, I haven't seen it yet because it is quite important to me that I get to watch the film in my native language. Therefore I wait.
Now, I first got into digital fan art based on literary film adaptations when I (somewhat obsessively) placed Professor Severus Snape into a digital time machine and featured the result in this post. It's so rewarding to take an image of the actor who will be recognized by audiences everywhere as this particular character and then alter it to depict a situation that maybe was in the book but hasn't appeared in the films.
I was amazed when I read that critical characters such as District 12 mayor's daughter Madge Undersee and Katniss' naively lovable prep team had been completely written out of the final film script. When I heard the news, I assumed (hoped!) that these character's would make an appearance in future films since they become rather important to the plot of the series. After all, the casting of stylist Cinna's team of Flavius, Venia, and Octavia has already taken place.
After finding a picture of actress Brooke Bundy who will hopefully be realizing the character of Octavia in the film versions of Catching Fire and Mockingjay, I had all I needed.
Image adapted from Bart Nagel Photography
Say hello to prep team member Octavia.
She is described in The Hunger Games novel as pretty and plump with pea-green skin and bright pink hair. The fuzzy pink butterfly brows were a personal choice ;-). I like to think that this is what she looks like without any makeup on or her hair done. As odd as she may look to us, she is very plain for a Capitol citizen in this particular picture.
In the future, I hope to make some representations of Flavius and Venia as well--not as much because I'm a huge fan as because they seem to be a fun challenge for a fan artist.
What characters from book-to-screen adaptations do you wish had made the final cut? There's Tom Bombadil in The Fellowship of the Ring, Winky the female house elf in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . . . I could go on, but why don't you tell me in the comments?
Ah, April showers and their empty promises of May flowers. I'm not sure how this month goes down wherever you live, but I know that in Rochester, NY, it is often miserably cold and altogether dreary. I'm talking just downright wet. It seems that whenever it's not raining, it's foggy and misty. What's a fashionista to do? Wear bulky boots everyday, or ruin good shoes in bothersome puddles? Heavy sigh.
When I originally wrote this post, I added at this point that I had managed toescape to Avilafor this season's drippy drudgery and therefore I couldn't sympathize with you too awful much. I was not anticipating that the skies would open up and let loose rain, snow, sleet, and hail, making me only dream of the tranquility of April showers in place of this April apocalypse!
I never thought I'd say this, but I actually missed Rochester weather this past weekend.
I mean, is there anything better than a drizzly day to compel you to mix up a Chai latte, make some white-chocolate-drizzled popcorn, and curl up on the couch with your honey for a cuddly movie date? Or maybe just take a nice nap!
Last week all I felt inspired to do was write my will and Skype my family in case I didn't live to see them again . . .
If you don't have this time to spare, I encourage you to let the following playlist be a soundtrack to whatever drudgery you find yourself doing today. Some of these songs will try to cheer you up out of your soggy gloom, and others will merely commiserate with you, but all of them evoke at least one of the many emotions that go along with the dreaded rainy day.
"Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Credence Clearwater Revival
"Crying" by Roy Orbison and K.D. Lang
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by Burt Bacharach
At last! The long-awaited continuation of the inspiring controversy . . .
There are some real gems in this final installment. These artist's depictions are truly brilliant and thought-provoking. While some of these works of art contain objectionable content, what I am assessing is their treatment of the character of Jesus Christ and nothing more.
If you find yourself upset or offended by anything your read here, I recommend reading the introduction to this two-part post before exploring these artistic representations of Jesus Christ.
In Film
The Miracle Maker
While this film utilizes what are at times comically old-fashioned clay-mation techniques, the voice acting is absolutely superb.Big names such as William Hurt, Alfred Molina, and Ian Holm (Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings!) have lent their voices to major characters in the story; and perhaps most astonishingly, Ralph Fiennes, having portrayed of some of the most evil characters in film history (Voldemort, anyone?), has undertaken the heady task of playing the voice of Jesus Christ, the Miracle Maker.
Unfortunately, embedding any of the clips of The Miracle Maker is forbidden by YouTube, so you'll have to leave the blog to watch the video here. While you should definitely make time to watch the whole film at some point, I would recommend skipping to around 3:20 of this particular clip to get a taste of what I love best about this depiction of Jesus. He is a holy savior, but he is also a hard-working carpenter and above all, a friend. I love the cheesy jokes that he and his friends Martha, Mary, Lazarus and others laugh at during this casual dinner party scene.
Mary, Mother of Jesus
Yes, that is Christian Bale in a tunic.
I admittedly have mixed feelings about this film, because I'm pretty sure it's straight-up sacrilegious to find Jesus attractive. Anyway, what I do appreciate about this particular representation is the attention to Jesus' periods of growing up. This particular Jesus focuses so much on just becoming a good man before He even thinks about becoming the Messiah.There are moments when it's easy to forget that this man is the Son of God and not just an average guy from Galilee who has to go through difficulties as He grows up but who also experiences times of joy. He laughs and dances; He cries and even mopes a little. He is your typical twenty-something.
The crucifixion scene in this film is especially heartbreaking, as Jesus is presented as nothing more than a young man who just wishes that his mother could make the pain go away :-(. I dare you not to cry if you get your hands on this film.
Joshua
Joshua (Tony Goldwyn) is supposed to be the modern-day incarnation of Jesus Christ. While his humble and non-biblical second coming brings up all sorts of theological issues in and of themselves, other than this, the secular film is surprisingly biblical in its message.
In all honesty, Joshua is almost the exact image of what I imagine a modern-day Jesus to be. He is a chill, down-to-earth, and slightly socially awkward sweetheart who loves people to pieces. He shows up in a religiously ultra-conservative but spiritually almost-dead community and completely turns the tables. Of course, like the Jesus of the gospels, he doesn't preach revolution or damnation. Instead he condemns the manipulation of both the religiously legalistic conservatives and the charismatic liberals through his lifestyle of love and sacrifice. Faith, he declares, is not about what happens in a pew or at a tent revival. It is about being there for people when they need it most.
Same deal as above. Head over to YouTube to watch these clips. I would recommend stopping about six minutes in if you don't want to give away the whole wonderful story.
Jesus is more of a philosophical figure than an actual character in this classic Bob Dylan number, but I still think this is a solid depiction of the Man from Galilee. The main character in this song is one of the finest example pop culture has to offer of what it means to have Jesus Christ living in you and through you. The first stanza is one of my favorites:
Go ahead and talk about him because he makes you doubt
Because he has denied himself the things that you can't live without
Laugh at him behind his back just like the others do
Remind him of what he used to be when he comes walkin' through
He's the property of Jesus . . .
Three more interpretations of Christ (including my all-time favorite) after the jump!
Anybody up for a fashion post inspired by this? ;-)
You've all seen features called "Who Wore It Better?" in magazines such as InStyle. The basic idea involves pitting petty celebrities against each other by urging readers to vote on who looked better in the ridiculously overpriced designer garment that multiple stars and starlets were somehow able to afford.
Well, in an attempt to make this tradition less of a cat-fight and more of a genuine assessment of talent, I now introduce "Who Did It Better?" Once a month, Nine to Phive will host a poll that will let you choose between three artists (musicians, actors, fashionistas, you name it) who have tackled the same creative project.
Whose personal flair works best for you? Well, let me know!
This month, we're focusing on the medium of music with the song "Somebody That I Used to Know" originally by new wave artist Gotye. The original song as well as two inspirational (and quite famous) covers will be included in this poll.
Gotye feat. Kimbra
No contest, this art-tastic music video definitely ranks among some of the best of the decade, but this is a contest of musical skill. The unique audio touches with eerie echoes and a quirky marimba make this song a joy to listen to. Kimbra's brief but boisterous appearance is also an excellent addition to the number. Her big and soulful voice is such a striking contrast to the smooth and sorrowful falsetto of Gotye (pronounced GAHT-yuh). Of course, this version of the song both starts out and ends very slowly, lacking a lot of emotion that it attempts to make up for with Kimbra's appearence. Does it succeed?
Pentatonix
The pure vocal energy of this a cappella group is chilling to say the least. All of the intriguing musical effects of the original song are recreated in this cover using just the power of the human voice. The harmonies are spot on, and watching how physically involved these performers get is truly inspiring. What do you think? Is this performance lacking something because it has none of the unique instrumental touches of the original? Or does it prove that a cappella is even more powerful than accompanied vocals?
Walk Off the Earth
They've appeared on Ellen and they even pop up frequently on the procrastination black hole of a blog I Waste So Much Time. Indie band Walk Off the Earth is no stranger to fame, but how does their acoustic cover compare to other two versions of the song you've already heard? Their verses have a more pensive and moody feel to them, while the chorus has a serious rockstar vibe. Do these styles work well together? Personally, I could listen to this blonde girl sing on her own for forever and a day. Oh, and did I mention that ALL FIVE OF THEM PLAY THE SAME GUITAR!?
So who will it be? Who has won over your heart and your ears? Look for the poll in the left-hand sidebar, and cast your vote! Voting will be open until the beginning of May when a new "Who Did It Better?" graces Nine to Phive.
This probably would have been more appropriate while we were still in England, but let's face it. I'll be posting pictures from London and Dublin for weeks.
No, I was not fortunate enough to snap a picture of Hugh Laurie on a rare trip home to Hampstead, London, England, but I did walk through this same park! Haha.
What brought on this quirky post was the discovery of all of the stars and starlets from the British Isles who make themselves at home in Hampstead, the deliciously ritzy London neighborhood where Josh and I were couch surfing. We're talking Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Thompson, Tim Roth, and Annie Lennox, to name a few. I even stopped by "Gwyneth's favorite cafe." Didn't spot her either.
Well, this video is a unique gem from a recent season of House in which the very talented (and very British--you can hear his accent coming out at times) Hugh Laurie performs a song and dance number in Cuddy's dream sequence. Hope you enjoy. The style, cinematography, and the song itself are super inspiring. Ooh, I made a tongue-twister :-)
If you ignore the half-opened eye, this is kind of a cute picture of me "dancing"
I love to dance.
I'm not really sure how to qualify my relationship with dance besides this simple phrase. I wouldn't dare say that I am good at dancing. Someone in my family might die laughing, as I have a reputation for being quite the klutz. After all, I've never even taken a single dance class.
On the other hand, I have choreographed dance teams of fifty K-4 and later 5-8 grade students at the summer camp where I used to work (My team won first place in the end-of-camp competition one year). I've danced in talent shows. I've taught the electric slide to a wedding party :-), and I've ended up in countless photos and videos from weddings, graduations parties, and school dances where I have been gettin' ma groove on.
Thrifted jacket, gifted scarf, Charlotte Russe T-shirt, American Eagle jeans, Payless slouch boots
Whether or not I'm good at it, dancing is a part of who I am. I often can't help but break into spontaneous choreography in malls, supermarkets, and the occasional public square in Spain during carnival . . . I think anyone who loves music, is grateful for the healthy body God has given them, and loves to just do feels the same way about dance.
Sometimes you just have to let the joy and excitement out. For example, in the photos included in this post, I am wearing a very sunshiney outfit in some of my favorite colors (with a new scarf from my grandma) that made me incredibly happy. So what did I do? I danced, of course.
In the words of Colin Firth after accepting his 2011 Oscar for Best Actor:
"I have to warn you I am
experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals that are
threatening to form themselves into dance moves."
To show you that I'm not alone in this love and in this tendency to cast off social propriety in favor of a pop, lock, and drop, I have whipped up a little something extra for this particular what I wore.
Using up over an hour of mine and two good friends' time to recolor my roots for the first time without professional help and washing out the dye to find . . . no difference.
My roots! They won't go away!!!
Still haven't gotten ice cream. I need to make this more of a priority.
Motion sickness to the max on the bus ride to Segovia. Maybe it's because I haven't ridden in a car for a month and a half.
Getting pegged with snowballs by punks on the Segovia aqueduct.
Spanish kids are boogers.
Being about half-way through our adventure in Spain. Part of me feels like we just got here, and part of me feels like we've lived here forever.
Awesome:
Valentine's Day! It was so nice to have the girls over for a little bit and then get to relax with my honey. White chocolate cherry popcorn, strawberry cream cake, and Malibu Libres ;-)
Already being done filing our taxes! Ah, sweet relief!
Also, tax returns. Thank ya Jesus!
Tortilla sandwich. It's potatoes. And eggs. On a sandwich.
Shakira. One thing you have to give this woman is that she is DIVERSE. She can transform from Lady Gaga to Lil' Wayne to Kelly Clarkson to Faith Hill in the course of one album. And she sings in both English and Spanish!
Working on a short film project with the class. It shall be epic.
This adorable guy apparently having the time of his life is Michel Telo, a young Brazilian singer who has become a sensation with the help of some fans who just happen to be world-famous soccer stars.
Telo's cover of the Portuguese hit song, "Ai Se Eu Te Pego," was apparently a favorite of Brazilian soccer player Neymar, who appeared on YouTube dancing to it in what seemed to be a joking manner. The song later caught on in Spain, where soccer idols Marcelo Vieira and Cristiano Ronaldo danced a few bars of Neymar's choreography to celebrate a goal. After their victory dance was televised, thousands of Espanoles flooded the internet to find out what this oh-so-catchy song was all about.
Now, you can't go for a night out without hearing this song played in at least one establishment, and if it begins to play in a nightclub--well, you'd better hope that you know the dance, because everyone in the entire building will start doing it.
This is the source of all the hype:
I'm trying to think of a song that has popularity equivalent to this one in the US, but the best I can come up with is "La Macarena" or the "Numa Numa" song. You know, those songs where no one knows what they're saying, but everybody knows the dance?
Well, here's what "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" is saying:
Saturday night party
Everyone began to dance
The hottest girl of the place passed me by
So I got up the guts to say to her
This is obviously a very sexually-charged song like all of the clubbing favorites in the US. In fact, the lyrics wouldn't be at all out of place over top of a catchy back beat and booming bass.
I'm not sure how I feel about these lyrics, but I love the traditional Brazilian melody and the much more artistic style of singing (hey, he's actually singing, not just grunting an animalistic rap of some kind). This strikes me as a very classy and fun clubbing song that is still exciting because of its themes of partying and snagging a dance partner out on the floor, but it doesn't really lend itself to bumping and grinding.
Revolutionary 20th-century painter Pablo Picasso once said, "Good artists borrow. Great artists steal." Any art nerd knows that, right?
Actually, it was controversial 19th-century playwright Oscar Wilde who first coined the phrase, "Good writers borrow. Great writers steal." Right? English nerds and theater geeks, you with me?
Actually, there is no evidence that points the quote in question to either of these creative giants. In fact, the quote in either of the currently popular forms does not formally exist anywhere in the English canon. It was, in fact, literary master T. S. Eliot who wrote in the 1920 biographical essay "Philip Massinger" the following quip:
"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different." ~T. S. Eliot~
*Sigh* Is there any wonder this guy was a poet? Put that on your t-shirt.
Were Eliot to have included all artists in this maxim, it would be even more superior to either poorly attributed and oversimplified modern distortion of the quote than it already is!
"Good artists borrow"? Since when?
"Here, Miss Rowling, let me just borrow your characters, storyline, and fantastical universe for a minute and use them to write a passionate yet unlikely love story which I feel should have been included in the series partly but not entirely because I have a crush on one of the characters involved in this imagined romance."
This is not art. This is what we call "fan fiction."
T. S. Eliot calls us to a higher standard as artists. Don't just borrow the ideas of others--
Ransack them! Rape and pillage every creative element and distort them until they are barely recognizable! Make them wish they were never born in the mind of another artist!
Ah ah ah, you know Mr. Eliot wouldn't approve. "Bad poets deface what they take." I'm convinced there is a particularly warm place in purgatory for people who do what has already been done before exactly how it was done before except worse.
This is what we call "remixes."
Everybody loves a good example, right?
Too bad there was nothing good about the piece of auditory abomination you just witnessed. Okay, that was a little harsh. I will grant that it was a tiny bit catchy and certainly easier to dance to than the original, but I don't think anyone will argue with me when I say that it was not exactly a masterful work of art that will stand the test of time.
It doesn't take a musical theorist to deduce that laying a bouncy backbeat on top of an already artistically brilliant piece of musical theater is not the sort of thing that will land you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the MoMA.
Did that work for you? Was that any less offensive?
Singer David Cook, for whom I voted diligently during American Idol season 7, has a knack for re-imagining even songs that were incredibly definitive for their original creators (Mariah Carey, in this case.) Regardless of how you feel about the original bubblegum pop version of this song, you can't accuse David of trying to recreate that original piece of art. He stole the song and made it into something completely different--something completely "him."
What do we get when we cross-breed the two videos above? I'm glad you asked.
Well, how did you like that?
Oh, who am I kidding? THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! I'M MELTING! DID YOU SEE THAT?! I MELTED RIGHT THERE! Musical theater (favorite) crossbred with sultry indie/alternative rock (other favorite)? I'm in heaven!
In an attempt to be objective, I was merely trying to point out that truly great artists can be even better than different.
They can be themselves.
Maybe you're thinking, "Well, if you're going to be yourself, why not just come up with original ideas?!" Do you really believe that such a thing exists? Do you really believe that every "new" and creative idea to come into your mind is yours and solely yours?That it wasn't inspired, informed, improved, or otherwise influenced by some great thinker to go before you?
Rather than bemoaning the fact that you can't create something that's never been created before or attempting to make cheap duplicates of what has been created before, why not add something knew to the melting pot that is art? You have a fresh perspective. You have unique passions and priorities. You have resources that others don't.
Why not prove that you are capable of possessing value that no one else has? Why not be a thief? Better yet, why not be a thief who returns what was stolen better than it was before?
"There are no original ideas, only original people." ~Jessica Thurston~
I have no idea who first said this, but I feel like not knowing if it was Picasso, Wilde, Eliot, Rowling, Cook, Lady Gaga, or Miss Piggy just makes the point all stronger.
I have woken up singing this song every single morning that I have been in Spain. I guess it's the only concrete Spanish from my youth that my tired brain has to cling to :-)
Lyrics:
El Baile del Pepino
Miren al pepino.
Vean como se mueve
Como un leon tras un raton
Miren al pepino,
Sus suaves movimientos
Tal como mantequilla en un chango pelon.
Miren al pepino
Los vegetales envidian a su amigo
Como el quieren bialar
Pepino bailarin, pepino bailarin, pepino bailarin,
Baila, baila, ya!
Miren al tomate
No es triste?
El no puede bailar.
Pobre tomate . . .
El deberia poder bailar
Como el pepino--
Libre y suavemente.
Pero el no puede danzar.
Escuchen el pepino
Oigan su voz fuerte
Como un leon listo a devorar.
Escuchen al pepino.
Que dulce as su canto
La voz de su garganta perece un triar.
Escuchen al pepino
Los vegetales envidian a su amigo
Como el quieren cantar.
Pepino cantador, pepino cantador, pepino cantador,
Canta, canta, ya!
Escuchen al tomate
No es triste?
El no puede cantar.
Pobre tomate . . .
El deberia poder cantar
Fuerte y ducle como el pepino
Pero no puede . . .
Ni siquiera da un silbido.
When Josh moved out of the Thurston's home rather permanently at the start of our marriage, his bedroom was converted into a guest bedroom. He had already grown up sleeping in a queen-sized bed, so a newer, dressier bedspread and some decorative pillows were all it took to revamp the man-cave of his youth into a spare room. Nowadays, this room has become our typical landing pad on our visits spent zipping through the Valley.
This Christmas, it is serving as more of a home since our apartment in Rochester is completely wiped out, and we will have no other permanent accommodations until Avila.
Just like my sister Nicole's bedroom, Josh's room is (even after moving out) an excellent physical representation of his personality, likes, dislikes, and character.
Elements of Josh's Bedroom Decor:
World Travel/Languages
Action Films
The Lord of the Rings
Mementos from Childhood
I'm not a monstrously sentimental person, so Josh's willingness to preserve and display little tokens of memories from his childhood is quite endearing to me. The shelf pictured at the top of the post holds souvenirs, childhood projects and milestones, photographs, awards, and gifts from loved ones. I love this little shrine to my man and how well it sums him up in a few sentimental trinkets.
He even has his baby bracelet from the hospital displayed!
Josh got this when he started working out ;-)
Maps and the Lord of the Rings are two definite recurring themes. Maps of the Lord of the Rings world of Middle Earth? Even better! I think these emphasize Josh's expansive imagination and the fact that he wouldn't have enough room for it even if he traveled the whole world--which we hope to do someday, by the way :-)
I feel so comfortable and at home in this room. It feels like being wrapped up in a big Josh hug all night long. It reminds me of when we were kids and he first let me peek inside. I felt so special . . . and still do.
How would you like to sleep with this guy crouching over the bed?
My simply stunning sister Nicole is incredibly interested in the culture of the Far East. Korea
is at the top of her list of exciting, exotic cultures, and she tells
me that she dreams of becoming fluent in Korean and shipping off to live
there some day. Sounds like Josh and I, except we're much more
interested in Western culture . . . Then again, I haven't really looked
into the Orient enough to know whether or not I would like it!
Cola, on the other hand (haha, I love calling her "Cola"), has immersed herself in this world
so different from the one I'm comfortable with, and she recently saw
fit to let me take a dip with her into the vast ocean that is East Asian
culture. K-Pop is a big element of this world she loves so much,
and I have to admit that I am now quite a fan as well. Consider this
music video to "Keep Your Head Down" by South Korean band TVXQ your crash-course into the genre.
I'm kind of speechless after watching that . . .
Their voices, the cinematography, the fashion . . . that guy is wearing only one sleeve of a suit coat!
Like, on purpose! And those crazy patterned suits that match each other
perfectly . . . in love! I am also a huge fan of how they matched Korean martial art movements to the bass line of the song and then paired it with hiphop dance moves. It's almost symbolic for the synergy between East and West when the two collide in art and pop culture.
Well, I have found I brand new source for inspiration--a whole other hemisphere of the world that (surprise suprise) makes art, too! Haha, it's so silly, but it's amazing what these little "duh" moments of epiphany will do for you.
P.S. If You think "U-Know" Yunho and Max Changmin of TVXQ are shaking it up in the fashion department. Take a look at this guy:
G-Dragon aka Lady Guy-Guy, teehee. MUST do a fashion post about him!
