Tonight is my last night in Rome. I am a little sad to leave but I will be in Europe until early July so I can't really complain. Since my agriturismo I have done a lot of things. I went to some more churches, historical sites, bars, and restaurants... but I am just going to recap the highlights.
Early in the week, a friend from USC visited me. I took him to some of the big important sites that everyone has to visit, but we also enjoyed a good dinner and a fun night out.
Later in the week, while walking around randomly, I found the street with the hotel I stayed at 9 years ago! I was so excited. Also, oddly enough, one of the girls I was with had stayed there 5 years ago. So we stopped and reflected and took a cute photo.
Another day, I went with a few friends to have an aperitivo above the Spanish Steps. An aperitivo is like a pre-dinner drink with snacks intended to “open the palate" and give you a chance to socialize. It was nice and relaxing, especially with the view of the Spanish Steps! Ahhhh I love you Italy and your lovely food related traditions.
Too much happened this week, and I can not even begin to recap it. Given that this was my last week in Rome, I did everything and lost a lot of sleep. It was an incredible week. Family and friends, I will be home soon enough and then we can talk about all the fine details of my Roman holiday.
When in the US, I am a computer addict. My addiction manifests itself in three ways - through technology (the form and function), graphic design, and the internet. With this internet addiction I am usually up to date on most current events ranging from pop culture to politics. However, being in Europe I am usually a day or two behind. It kind of pains me but at least I still manage to get my news. Honestly, I have better priorities here. I have learned a lot of about restraint leaving my iPhone at home... but I still have my laptop, my child.
So here are my recent but probably not current internet discoveries. I love movies and I am excited for many upcoming films, but these promotional photos sold me. Get ready for Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland! These photos are striking, but what also got me is the similar composition. Many current films are showcasing the actors in simple but beautiful posters. I like the cleanliness of many of them, but then some do fail like the poster for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Well, it may also help that these two movies have some cred and the other... well, not so much. Did I just write cred?
Another great thing I found on the internet is this new Jib Jab Obama video. It follows along the theme of Jon Stewart's "Hope-and-Change-O-Meter," where he placed Obama between Gandalf and Wizard FDR. This video has Obama saving the day with super powers. He can do more than kill flies...
One more thing, family, if you feel inclined to buy me a welcome home gift. This would do the trick. I love the Onion store! (This is not necessary, because clearly I am living a gift).
Ciao! Soon I am off to Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, and Stockholm!
Some of my recent discoveries that are quite nerdy>
I love the comics on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. They are always pretty clever, but they are usually improved if you read the caption below. Apparently one of the benefits of math is solving irrational proofs that can boost your self esteem. Wait that's wrong... :)
Another hit at Twitter! Awesome. Thank you Middlebrow. Bring the beast down! However, the Middlebrow comics have a Twitter account... hmmm. I get why it is appealing, really I do, but so many other networking sites have more depth. If you are going to keep in touch with friends through a virtual environment at least allow for more points of connection or conversation, otherwise our society is doomed. Most people are already losing their social skills. I fear a future Wall-E world where we all communicate via computer and nothing else. Ok, resisting a rant... ahhhhhh it's difficult. One more thing - I want Twitter to start charging for accounts. Then everyone would quit the site. Well, I would hope.
So, I just discovered Ian Pool. He is a great photographer that captures moments that seem ordinary but with a closer look they either present an interesting narrative on society or something completely ridiculous and comical. I love all the photos, but I particularly love the series of superheroes (and villains) doing everyday activities. Like Doc Oct, from Spider-man, on the phone in his girly man room; the incredible Hulk walking a tiny little dog; or the one below with Vader. Genius! I guess superheroes don't have aliases.
Speaking of Vader, how did I miss this on Gizmodo?! The Vader Project gave 100 notable artists a scale Vader helmet to decorate. Their tag line is - "Pop culture meets evil dad." Where can I get one?!!!! This is like a mass produced DIY vinyl toy event.
I am a techno geek, and I am particularly infatuated with Macs. When I found this tutorial it made me so happy! Given my finals, I haven't looked into the specs of the process, but just the idea of making the Apple logo on a laptop into an LCD screen is awesome! And so purrrttyyyy.
Ok so before I show any more of my nerdy discoveries let me clear up some stereotypes. Nerds are not just geeks with glasses that play video games and have no sex life. Nerds are people who are intelligent and are usually focused on a particular hobby. Don't get me wrong, it can be the stereotypical video game hobby, but there are also technology nerds, design nerds, movies nerds, etc. In my case I am a little of all of those. That is one reason why I was even more amused by the Vader Project.
Given my design nerd side, I am entertained by average things that are improved by some sort of altering design element. Like the combs below that are shaped like knives. How cool is that?! A knife comb, hahahaha!
Here is another example of being a design nerd - the graphic design heroes t-shirt collection. If you don't know who Paul Rand or Milton Glaser is, then you are definitely not a design nerd, or even remotely clued into design history.
Considering all the crazy designed things out there, this has to be the craziest - designer axes. Almost everything I own is somewhat designed - I have a Lego shaped external hard drive, I have pillow shaped like a log... even my dish scrubber is designed (it looks like a porcupine!). But why would anyone ever need a designer axe? The only people that use axes are foresty-woodsy people, farmers, firefighters, murderers... who else? I don't know, but I am pretty sure people who need axes don't really care if the handle is pink or green. I would categorize this as a failed design job.
ODJ stands for Old Deaf Jimmy. Jimmy is not a friend, in fact I have never met him. I just hear stories about him... amazing stories.
So Jimmy works with my friend Andrew. Here is Andrew's description of the man,
"ODJ is a 75 year old Chinese immigrant who has been working as a translator with the same company for 35 years. He isn't particularly overweight, but he does have heart problems. I met him just after he had quadruple bypass surgery. He is the nicest guy in the world with good intentions, but he is literally IMPOSSIBLE to understand sometimes."
I am not sure why his heart problems are relevant because our focus is on Jimmy's inability to understand or be understood in conversation. Hopefully he only translates documents.
So when ODJ is lost in translation, Andrew recaps the funny conversation, or really lack of conversation due to confusion. The stories I hear are fantastic, and because of that I convinced Andrew to write a blog about our friend ODJ. Andrew created the blog, but he only has two posts so far. Both written in early March. And the first post isn't even an ODJ story, it is a description of the blog and apparently my state of being possessed by the blogosphere. Lame!
Because of Andrew's epic failure to maintain his blog, I am typing up the some of the ODJ stories he has shared through text messaging while at work.
Enjoy.
--
ODJ: you ever use the scoopie? ODJ: you know the call you can make with your computer Andrew: Oh Jimmy you mean skype? ODJ: Oh so the E is sirent
--
ODJ: where you on Tuesday? Andrew: some friends from out of town wanted to go to Disneyland. ODJ: you are the Disneyland.... UH, uh, uh, uh, uh, the ddisneyland uh... Guy!
Twice ODJ has asked who the lady is on Andrew's mug. The lady isn't a lady. He is Garth from Wayne's World
--
Jimmy thanked Andrew for helping him with an excel problem by showing him a video on his iPod. An inappropriate video for work.
--
ODJ: I like going to West Covina office because they have genital services Andrew: uuuummmm what? ODJ: you know genital services. They clean everything. Andrew: Ohhhh janitorial services. ODJ: Oh yeah...
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ODJ: I'm wondering you is a fan of simons and garfunkel
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ODJ: do you watch person escape? Andrew: what? ODJ: that TV show with the prison Andrew: you mean Prison Break
--
If you enjoyed reading these ODJ conversation recaps you may also like Engrish.com.
If you didn't enjoy the short ODJ anecdotes, too bad. They are hilarious, especially when recapped by Andrew. Unfortunately, he fails to see the fun of blogging.
A few sites have recently posted the same video showing a compilation of Disney animated sequences that identify the fact that Disney has character templates. The Dark Roasted Blend blog wrote this about it - "Some sequences were used as templates, and I don't see a problem with that... This is however a valuable glimpse into the animation kitchen of Disney's dream factory." I essentially agree. The Disney animators are only copying their own work, however, it does make you consider some Disney animated classics in a different light. My friend Andrew told me about this video while at Disneyland this Sunday. It shocked me at first, but knowing the difficulty of animation it is somewhat understandable. Also, this video is a reflection of today's society - pessimistic and skeptical. This video would not have been made in the prime of Disney animation. It was too beautiful and precious. I could totally be wrong, and this copying could be a known fact, I just ramble... Either way, interesting video.
Looks like Disney characters have the same dance instructors.
and undoubtedly one of the best concerts I have been to!
(my photo, I was only a few rows away from them!)
Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer recently reunited to go on tour playing an all acoustic show focused on the fictional musicians they created in This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. I bought the tickets a few months ago when I found out about the tour. I didn't know who I was going to go with, I just knew I had to go. This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind are brilliant mock-umentaries that beautifully combine comedy and great music. I enjoy both the rock and folk music they sing in these films, but above all I appreciate their dry-wit humor and its subtleties. For example in Spinal Tap the same bass notes are played by multiple musicians.
David St. Hubbins: Can you play a bass line like Nigel used to on "Big Bottom?" Can you double that? You might recall the line's in fifths.
These comedians played off this joke when performing for the Live Earth concert with 20 bass players. AKA: "every bass player in the known universe," including Foo Fighter's Nate Mendell and Metallica's Kirk Hammet. The humor in their films/performances not only includes musical satire but their characters also add a huge amount of comedy. For example, consider the shirt below. Here is the dialogue that accompanied this shirt in the film:
[Marty compliments Nigel on his tee shirt] Nigel Tufnel: You like this? Marty DiBergi: It's very nice. It looks like hollow wood. Nigel Tufnel: This is my exact inner structure, done in a tee shirt. Exactly medically accurate. See? Marty DiBergi: So in other words if we were to take all your flesh and blood... Nigel Tufnel: Take them off. This is what you'd see. Marty DiBergi: It wouldn't be green though. [Nigel points at Marty] Nigel Tufnel: It is green. You see how your blood looks blue. Marty DiBergi: Yeah, well that's just the vein. That's the color of the vein. The blood is actually red. Nigel Tufnel: Oh then, maybe it's not green. Anyway this is what I sleep in sometimes.
I bought this shirt at the concert. Awesome!
The concert contained this kind of humor but everything was "unwigged and unplugged," meaning the men were out of character and the show was acoustic. It may sound less entertaining because their ridiculous characters added to the humor of their films, but actually it was more amusing because it allowed for more comedy and an easy transition between songs. There was no opening act, so the men just came out and began the show.
They started essentially like this:
They performed a good amount of songs including a folksy version of The Rolling Stones' Start Me Up and a sexy jazz version of Big Bottom.
If the songs weren't funny enough, the men included a few little comedy routines, like awarding one lucky guest in the audience a special chance to experience Spinal Tap in 3D. Sounds cool, but it was basically the audience member standing in front of the stage in 3D glasses while the guys performed a song and waved their arms in front of his face. Absolutely brilliant!
At another point in the set they read from a NBC document stating what parts of Spinal Tap were inappropriate to air on TV. They started reading - 5 minutes in... 11 minutes in... The entire movie was deemed inappropriate, understandably in some points, but the document and the way they read it was hilarious.
I enjoyed every aspect of the concert and I laughed the entire time. My face even hurt after. It was a fantastic experience and I could easily write another book post, well, this is already pretty long but I will hold back and fondly remember my night with Spinal Tap! Joel and I deemed it epic!
Dating is never easy. In fact it is utterly frustrating. The solution: Sundance Channel's Seduction Assistance. Whether you are a hopeless romantic, a perverted sinner, an emotional disaster, or an aggressive cougar, there is an assistance guide for you. I am an emotionally stable person. I do not have any serious personality flaws besides being a little awkward and strange. However, I am incapable of flirting. My demeanor is unaltered by different individuals. Though an admirable flaw, it is a complete hinderance for dating. Given that fact, I have disected the Seduction Assistance guides and as a result I have gained incredible insight into dating. With my personality, I have determined that the tactical approach is best (below). With my disability, my actions have to be strategic and calculated, and this guide gives me hope. Modern dating needs "high-tech weaponry and expertise," and I am prepared to bring it.
It may be inappropriate to joke about Craig and his cruising for sex on Easter, but you have to admit that is an incredibly funny picture. The Huffington Post online has complied some political peeps and some other random peep dioramas for your springtime enjoyment.
This morning I drove home to enjoy a beautiful Easter service with my parents. I am not sure what I believe, I have my ups and down with faith, but I do know for sure that I will always support my church in Pasadena because of it's progressive work. It applies religion to real things in a good way, usually liberal and political, which I love. My church does not encourage conflict, which is often the real world application of religion (depressing I know!). My church pushes for gay marriage, peace in the Middle East, community, pro-choice, kindness and acceptance.
Ed Bacon, our rector, gave a wonderful sermon today. He mentioned Rowan LeCompte, the man who created most of the stained glass windows in the National Cathedral. Bacon spoke about the recent NPR story on LeCompte, and told the following quote:
When asked if he believe in God, Mr. LeCompte responds, "I believe in kindness and love, if that is God, then yes."
I agree with LeCompte. I also believe in kindness and love. Often I am turned away from religion because of negativity and hate, which is completely contradictory with the foundation of religion. I continue to support my church because is remains more open and kind than most religions I have experienced. That is unfair, it isn't the religion. It is the people who practice it. At today's service we even had some of our innerfaith friends attend. Oh, and Kenneth Turan was there too!
Here are two fantastic quotes I tend to identify with when considering religion.
"Lighthouse are more helpful then churches." - Benjamin Franklin "I believe in God, only I spell it Nature." - Frank Lloyd Wright
I believe that most of religion is a show. Secular humanists are generally right in their views, but religion has an additional power of organizing people into a community. So, if done right, religion has the power to do great transformational things. Unfortunately, it often doesn't. For example consider the cartoon below from someecard.com.
That is one of the problems I have with Lent. People give up soda or other superficial things and don't really change or reflect on anything! It is like a vegetarian who refuses to eat meat because of how they treat animals but doesn't actually advocate for reforms. I try to buy good products - organic, fair trade, environmentally friendly... to encourage better treatments of animals and the environment, but I still eat A LOT of meat. The market is built on supply and demand and if you don't demand something better it won't happen. Anyways, back to God. So, that is why I don't give anything up for Lent. I just try and reflect and am better about things. Do good things instead of starting the Christian equivalent of failed New Years resolutions.
Here is my favorite Easter related e-card from someecards.
Really hard-hitting. I love it. If you want to know some of the history about why peeps and pastels are associated with zombie Jesus (phrase courtesy of my friend Zack, absolutely genius!) check out this article. It is pretty interesting.
The best part of Easter today was seeing my dad's illuminated manuscript suspenders. Classic. Literally.
I typically watch movies while designing on my laptop, it provides a good range of background sound/entertainment but this multitasking is only possible if I have seen the movie before, otherwise I am easily distracted. Like today. While going through the free movies on TV I discovered Vampire In Brooklyn. That title was intriguing enough, it sounded like Underworld meets NY, but then I read the first name in the cast - Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy movies usually painfully include lots of characters played by Eddie Murphy. Which was true for this movie, but this movie is not Pluto Nash, it was actually watchable because it passed that fine of line of so-bad-it's-good entertainment.
I love vampires and the sexy dark culture associated with them. In fact, I pretty much am one - my canine teeth are ridiculous long, I am pale, I like working in the dark... I also love most vampire movies. My favorites including - Interview with a Vampire (incredible!), Underworld, The Addiction (Christopher Walken!), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Oh Mel Brooks. I almost put down Young Frankenstein, but then realized - not vampires), The Lost Boys, Dracula (1931), Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich!), and Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman.
Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors and I am convinced he can do no wrong even if the movie itself is terrible. In each movie, he completely transforms himself, almost making him unrecognizable. In The Contender he plays Shelly Runyon, a ruthless balding politician. In Harry Potter he plays Sirius Black, Potter's poised and pretty badass godfather. He plays a terrorist from Kazakhstan in Air Force One. Oldman is also in one of my favorite movies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a crazy existential play inspired by two minor characters in Hamlet. Oldman is absolutely brilliant.
Despite my love for vampires and my frequent appreciation for absurdly bad movies (like Vampire in Brooklyn) I still cannot get myself to appreciate Twilight. My sister made me watch it in theaters, but I have no respect for vampires who sparkle. So wrong. But I managed to sit through it because of Robert Pattinson's sexiness. Oh yeah. PS - he plays Dali in one of his upcoming films. Less sexy for Pattinson, but interesting subject!
Considering my discovery of Vampire in Brooklyn, I will leave you with as awesome Eddie Murphy song.
I almost posted his Boogie In Your Butt song, which includes such fine lyrics as -
I ain't puttin no boogie in nobody's butt That's nasty, man What you talkin about Puttin boogie in people's butt Are you out yo mind or something? Could go to jail for doin something like that
But I will leave that wonderful discovery up to you and your internet.
I have been absent from my blog for 4 days and I miss it!! WARNING : this post is pretty jumbled because there are a lot of things I want to touch on, but all of them are interesting, I promise!
This Saturday I went to USC's Springfest to see Brand New. I am not the biggest Brand New fan, but I like their music enough that I went to see them alone. But I wasn't alone for long, I made some new friends like an Irish Catholic Marine from Boston that was located in Japan. I stood in the back to catch Brand New's set before heading off to a party. The stage was simple but was filled with smoke so when lit, the band rocked out as intense silhouettes.
At any concert, I enjoy watching the crowd and seeing the excitement of the audience. I love how music can transform people and this change is even more obvious at concerts where the biggest fans are grouped showing their appreciation and energy. Just in case you don't know Brand New...
The next day I accidentally slept through my alarm, so I missed the Palm Sunday service at home, but I did make it to breakfast with my parents and my brother. It was great to see my brother! I don't see him that much because of his traveling, but he may be in Rome the same time as me this summer! Eeeehhhhh!!
Speaking of siblings. My sister killed her laptop and had to get another one. Why am I not surprised. However, I am still impressed that I managed to convert her to a Mac user. I never dreamed that transition was possible.
I just saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. I am so excited! This is one of my favorite children's books, scratch that, one of my favorite books period. (I have come to the conclusion that students don't really read that much, ironic I know, so this book fits nicely into my allotted extracurricular reading time). The movie is going to be incredible because the monsters are not computer generated... The photos look amazing, but I hope it doesn't disappoint. I often hate child actors and this movie depends on the kid's performance. But Spike Jonze is great, so I doubt I will be let down.
Another movie Jonze has worked on that I love is The Fall. I was suppose to watch it last night, but unfortunately other plans conflicted. We only got through 10 minutes, not cool! I am now desperate to see it again. If you have not seen it - rent it! Even if you don't like magical realism you can still appreciate the cinematography. It is a captivating movie. I need to remember to buy it. My recent movie purchases include - The Battle of Algiers, Slumdog Millionaire, and Burn After Reading. I love having a DVD library, it allows me to educate my friends or fill my free time. Actually, I don't have much free time. I use my DVDs for multitasking when I am designing. My typical evenings include me, my laptop, my bed, and a fantastic movie.
Yessssshhhh!!!! I found another brilliant video that mocks Twitter (see below). I loath Twitter. Even Twitter's reasoning why you should have a Twitter page, or why you should Tweet, is flawed.
The online explanation:
"Why [Tweet]? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.
* Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know. * Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful. * Partying? Your friends may want to join you."
I agree family members, friends, and or colleagues care about you and want basic updates. But eating soup? Moving the lawn? Sitting alone in a dark room crying? I don't care. If you are running late to a meeting, don't waste time Tweeting, call your colleagues. Eating soup because you are sick, call mom. Send her a friendly email. Have direct contact! Yes, I may be hypocritical blogging, but the substance of my posts trumps any Tweet. Also, I blog to clear my head, procrastinate, and/or because I feel like I have something valuable to say rather than Tweet that I am about to nap or go to the bathroom.
How are you suppose to respond to a Tweet, what value is there? Can you respond to a Tweet on Twitter, or are they just lonely cries in the dark to the Twittersphere? Anyways, ignore my rant. If you Twitter, good for you! I hope you can prove me wrong and Tweet something of substance. I just looked at one of my favorite writer's Twitter (Joel Stein) because he is pretty witty and I figured I would enjoy reading his posts, but I was wrong. I prefer his articles where he can expand on his ideas. A blurb is far from satisfying. I blog and have a facebook page, that is more than sufficient. Everyone in my life can contact me through one or the other. If not, I do have an iPhone addiction. Call me sometime. Enjoy the video:
My song of the week = Bon Iver, Flume
Bon Iver always puts me in a good mood. This song is like comfort music along with a few of my other favorites including: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Cake's The Distance, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, Sublime's What I Got, Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, Mama Cass Elliott's Dream A Little Dream Live, any Led Zeppelin, etc. (I have too much music).
My recent art:
This is one painting in a series of 5. This is the first one, and each additional panel is a more zoomed in view of the plant. The final panel is a complete abstraction. It should be completed by the end of the weekend. I hope.
I designed this poster for the School of Theater's production of Twelfth Night. The director set the play in Malibu during the 1960s. I am traditionalist when it comes to stage productions of Shakespeare, well, only if the intention is serious. If the purpose is comical, then go crazy on stage! Like:
Now off to Intoduction to International Secuirty. Great teacher, depressing class.
According to mapquest.com, USC is 17.52 miles from my parents' house. I live near campus, but even with that short distance I go home less than some of my friends who live on the east coast. My mom kindly mails me hand written letters, probably weekly, because of my absence and her love. For Halloween this year, I received 3 different spooky themed cards. My parents show me lots of love but I remain a terrible child and simply contact them by phone - sometimes. Ok, I am exaggerating a little bit, but it is a pretty embarrassing situation considering the short distance apart. I guess it is a good sign that I have established some sort of life here at USC - sorry parents.
So, my dad called me twice while I was in class today. Apparently, he forgot I was a student... low age joke again? Maybe. (Love you dad!) While talking, I casually dropped the hint that I had to hang up because of an induction ceremony I had to attend. In response to that, my dad told me that I was a bad child and didn't know how I could forget to inform him about such a thing. This blog post is for you family members, here is my current life update. Again, pretty sad that I am writing this and not calling, but some of you will see me Sunday and I will tell you more personal stuff then. (My parents guilt me into coming home!!! Palm Sunday, :) bah big deal.)
USC stuff:
I was just initiated into the Lambda Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honorary. / I am still working as a designer at USC's Spectrum Design studio. / I am still the Editor in Chief of USC's yearbook. We just restructured it so I am not the only student leader. I now have additional minions (section editors) I get to control - bwahahahaaaaahhh. / I am doing additional design work on campus - Greek Service Day, Disability Awareness - Wheelchair Basketball Event, USC EMS, AIGA, and Canterbury USC. / I am working on passing the UCLA/USC Rivalry Blood Drive torch to URSC. / I am still participating in the Roski School of Fine Arts Workshops funded by an NEA grant. / Class is fine as usual, just too much work.
Outside of 'SC:
I received an Honorable Mention in the Steal this Idea Design competition. / Mark just promoted me to COO of Momentum. / Last night I saw the band, Get in More Fights!, in concert because one of the members went to high school with my friend. Listen to their song Back and Forth (cute lyrics). They have better stuff, unfortunately it isn't posted on their MySpace page. They sound like Architecture in Helsinki meets The New Pornographers. / I tried the most fantastic tacos the other day in a completely shady area of LA! It was probably violating loads of health codes and I wasn't just a minority, I was the only white girl in the area, but it was all worth it. 6 awesome carne asada tacos. / My social life is really busy, I can't keep up...
Future stuff:
Tonight I am helping organize an apartment complex party here in Mardi Gras. / Tomorrow I am going to see Beautiful Little Fool, a School of Theater play, and after I am going to a 90's themed party. / Saturday is Springfest at USC - lots of good bands will be performing like Brand New. / I turn 21 soon!!! / I am going to Coachella the weekend after my 21st with a few friends including Eric who has the same birthday as me. / I bought tickets to see Spinal Tap in concert - so great! I wish Aliviana wasn't in Europe. Spinal Tap was our freshman movie. / I am going to Rome this summer to study Italian. / During winter break next year, I am going to Egypt with my family!!!! (My grandparents are amazing because they take my sister and me to incredible locations to teach us about different cultures and science. I am truly lucky. It may be cliché, but I can honestly say that I am the person I am today because of many of my travel experiences with them.)
I am definitely forgetting things, but that list is the stuff that first came to mind. When I recap my life, my school friends usually freak out. I am known for outrageous life stories and my friends usually try to predict my shenanigans... but often they can't, I am too, well, crazy.
Carpe Diem, man! Go big or go home!
My biggest pet peeve is people who take things for granted. Life has too many fantastic things to offer.
(This must be a terrible post to read for any non-family members or people who don't care about my personal life. I kind of apologize if I have wasted your time. This is a pretty random entry.)
I enjoy the saying. It is a beautiful day. I am trying to learn Italian. And Ciao Bella is the name of some wonderful gelato. Yum.
Unfortunately, even though it is beautiful day, it has been a tough week. Not only are midterms still lingering, but there was also a tragic hit and run accident involving two USC students early Sunday morning and the student body is filled with sadness and shock. The car hit two students; killing one and the other student remained on the car until the passenger and driver decided to remove the boy from the hood. I am utterly disgusted by their actions and I hope they get caught. My roommate got hit by a drunk driver last year, fortunately she was only bruised and we caught the guy. Hit and runs involving people are terrible situations, and it is heartbreaking that this one ended in death. Both students are in my thoughts and I wish their friends and families the best.
I wish more people would do good deeds in the world. Everyone is always so wrapped up in their lives that they forget little things that can be done to make things better. Compliment people, smile more, hug your friends... simple things like that can make you and other people happier.
I recently discovered freerice.com. It's an educational web game and for every answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program. The internet is my favorite method of procrastination, so if I can claim I learning or doing good things for the world, I can rationalize my wasted time. Last night, while avoiding one of my research papers I practiced some math, geography, art history, and most importantly Italian. By the end of the night I raised over 1,500 grains of rice. Go me!
This summer I will be studying abroad in Rome for 5 weeks, so hopefully I can master some more Italian by then. When reading Time magazine this morning, I saw on their Pop Chart that "Rome plans Ancient Rome theme park. Get ready for Crucifixion Cove." For those of you that don't know about this Pop Chart, keep in mind that it is full of sarcasm. This theme park is not going to be like The Hold Land Experience. For example, under shockingly predictable on the pop chart, "Kiefer Sutherland to enter either season, second week of 24." (I thought that was pretty clever.)
Apparently, this theme park idea is inspired by the film Gladiator. (Great movie!! I remember being angry when it didn't get two thumbs up.) The city of Rome needs tourists and this is their solution to the Euro Disney competition in Paris. But I feel like this is the wrong solution...
"The planned park will strive for historical accuracy while offering family-friendly attractions based both on life during the Roman Republic -- which ended with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the civil war -- and during the Roman Empire."
It seems right up my alley, but it's hard to compete with Mickey...
"Mommy Mommy, can I see Caesar get assassinated again?!"
While in Europe, Becky saw Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. I have seen the painting before, so I should not have been jealous, but oddly I was. It is a beautiful painting from Klimt's gold period where he utilized a lot of gold leaf that adds a great deal of texture to his paintings. (I heart texture!) His style is unique and elegant. The faces of Klimt's characters are delicate and detailed while the clothing they wear is decorated with bold patterns and shapes. The combination of his style and the content of The Kiss makes this painting one of my favorite artistic works. It is graphic and romantic - truly lovely.
When Becky mentioned this painting, I immediately thought of a painting I saw in Ireland called, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs. The styles are completely different, but the content is similar. They both capture passion in a sweet romantic way. (Well, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs seems like forbidden love...) There is a delicacy to the interaction between the couples in both works that is heart warming. I am outwardly a realist - usually pessimistic about the world and human nature despite my personal optimistic outlook on life. I expect the worst, but hope for the best. That hope is part of my closet romantic side that loves these paintings.
Procrastinating as usual, my romantic side triggered me to search the internet for famous kisses. I have a magnet of the famous Victory of Japan Day kiss, but what else could I find? Some how my searches turned into movie kiss searches. I eventually found this bizarre site that didn't select best kisses because of passion or love but best kisses because they were "firsts" in some sort of category, like first vampire kiss seen in the movie, A Fool There Was. I love vampires, but that is not why I was drawn to this kiss. I was drawn to it because of the movie stills the website selected:
This vampire lured a married man away with kisses and the catch phrase, "Kiss me, my fool!" I love silent films and that classy line. I need to see this movie now. This kiss website also features the first "Shameful Dentist's Chair Anesthetized Kiss," aka Dentist rape, in the 1924 film Greed. Wow.
Ok, I can't reference movie kisses without mentioning my favorite - The Notebook. It isn't my favorite movie, but the passion of their rain kiss is amazing.
Allie: "Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me, I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late." Noah: "I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year." Allie: "You wrote me?" Noah: "Yes. It wasn't over, it still isn't over." And Noah kisses Allie.
This video beautifully captures extreme sheep art. There are some equally extreme claims that it is fake, but I have been to Ireland, I know what sheep can do. Either way, this video is very entertaining. It is up there with the LEDs of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra videos. Ohhhh brilliant idea for extreme sheep art 2.0...
Freetranslation.com now offers hip-hop jargon as a translation option.
I saw the new promotional posters for Nora Robert's Lifetime series in NY. I made an effort to identify and call out every one I spotted. I was obviously entertained by the over the top romance novel like posters, but where is Fabio? The trailer below confirms my expectations...
"Panelists dismiss the notion that something could go wrong with the 75-foot-tall crabs that shoot acid from their mouths."
Spring break has officially started, woooooooooooooooooooo... oooohhhh... yeah.
Actually, not really - no trips to Florida or the neighboring narco state for me. For my break I will be going to NYC with the USC Roski Design Study Tour class. Yes, it is a little sad that my break will not consist of hours wasted on food, TV, and sleep, but I will be visiting 12 design firms. For the class, we also have plans to visit several museums, see a musical, eat dinner with some USC alumni and designers, and enjoy New York! So actually, wooooo-ing applies.
Since I will be gone all break, I do not have time to finish up some school work for my other classes. This morning I was on campus at 8 am in order to have breakfast with my parents and finish a painting before I leave. The painting is not too exciting, a simple still life of random objects, but despite the particularly boring content of the painting I am proud of it considering it is my first color still life in oil. All my high school paintings were abstract and acrylic. I also took a snapshot of my palette mid-clean-up because I love the texture and colors paint creates when blended together plus I already had my iPhone out to photograph the painting.
Check out the "masterpiece" and the paint smear below.
I am so excited for Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke to join the already incredbile Iron Man cast! But what a terrible headline!
I do not spend time reading Perez Hilton or other celebrity gossip sources, so this is the first time I have heard the nickname for Scarlett Johansson - ScarJo. I get the abreviation thing, but ScarJo is the worst nickname for Johansson who is refined, talented, and gorgeous. I could easily create some witty hick jokes with the name ScarJo. Terrible.
Also, did E! really use the phrase Iron Curtain? I am pretty sure the difficult negotiations that occur when establishing acting contracts for movies is not comparable to the Iron Curtain that divided Europe from 1945 to the end of the Cold War. What curtain was even raised? I am so confused.
I have not decided whether to watch the movie as a fan of the graphic novel or watch it as if it is a separate entity. There is no doubt that the film will be visually spectacular, and seeing it on IMAX will surely blow me away. But the real question is if the movie can capture the complexity and power of the novel. I also heard that there were some changes to the plot... No matter what, I am excited and it should be a fantastic experience.
Last night was the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Even though I was interested in the winners, I did not watch the Oscars because I was not in the mood to watch cheap filler sequences and awkward jokes. But I like being up to date on all current events, so I watched a few clips and read the reviews of the Oscars this morning.
Oh man! What a mess. Even though the writers strike is technically over, Hollywood is still suffering... Hugh Jackman, the host, even cracked up during a few planned sequences like the "Mr. Roboto" sing along. I love Styx, but that was simply terrible. According to recaps, there were only a few shinning moments other than the awards themselves. If the top headlines are focusing on the Jennifer and Angelina drama, I can only assume.
Instead of watching the Oscars, I watched The Godfather with a few friends. I didn't organize it because of the Oscars (I honestly forgot), I planned the movie night because several of my friends had never seem the movie!! Once realizing the scheduling conflict, I decided that watching a movie classic was more valuable then watching the Oscars. However, I am sad I missed the presentation of Best Picture. I absolutely love Slumdog Millionaire. It deserved to win. If you haven't seen it, shame on you. I would write a quick review, but it's too difficult. One reviewer stated, "It is brilliant in a million different ways." I would definitely agree.
While looking at Oscar recaps today online, I drifted towards Oscar themed photo galleries on the Vanity Fair website. Below are two of my favorite photos from the site. One features Marion Cotillard who won best actress last year for the brilliant film La Vie en Rose. In the photo, she is re-enacting the shower scene from Psycho. It is cool to see the scene redone in stills. I can't even describe the second one with Dustin Hoffman... it is perfectly hilarious. Vanity Fair has the best portraits.
Want to waste some time on the internet, check these out >
But unlike Frank, I am not king of the hill. Oh, New York, New York.
In LAX, on the way the way to NY, I bought two of Godiva's new Chocoiste products. Both are now gone - eaten. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, right? The Godiva pearls (specifically the milk chocolate with café latte) are delicious! However, these pearls were completely consumed not specifically out of hunger or taste, but poor snack design.
They are pearl sized chocolate drops in a box designed to last so you can snack on these pearls for several days. Aye, here's the rub - two pearls, or even ten, are not enough! They are tiny chocolate specs! Who eats random drops of chocolate just to snack?!! Chocolate is not designed for people who have restraint or can manage serving sizes... those people stick to salads and don't buy Godiva pearls. Stupid over priced chocolate! Gone in one night - now I have an empty metal container. Worthless!
My hotel room is also worthless. I have free HBO, but no remote. I am not going to spend all my time watching TV, but what if I wanted to? Sorry, no remote! So, my relaxing hotel stay would be inconvenienced by the fact I would have to get up to change the channel.
Ok, I am not a complainer or that lazy. I am actually very happy this morning. I am watching Once (a great movie - well, actually an incredible feature length music video with an even better soundtrack) while I wait for my sister. We have wonderful plans to waste money and catch up.
This however, is not the only reason I am happy this morning. I woke up to a message from Stefan Bucher. The designer I wrote about on my blog yesterday. It was definitely a surprise. He thanked me for the post. I am flattered and frankly a little embarrassed. I never expected him to read it. I guess I was naïve to assume only my friends and family would be reading my blog. Well, not naïve, I just thought the ramblings of my personal life would be left unnoticed by the active blogosphere. Now I wonder, who is reading this? Perhaps someone from Godiva... make those pearls bigger!!!
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