I'm loving that I'm finally getting a couple comments on some of these posts...
Here's the update.
1) I went to Dallas this weekend. It was de-lovely. I saw Oklahoma, undoubtedly one of the best high school musical productions I've ever seen, and returned. I only decided to leave on Friday, but I'm so glad I did. Not only did I have a truly incredible time, but the show was absolutely phenomenal. I saw a video of one of my friend's high school musicals (at another ISAS school)--and it made me realize just how incredible the Hockaday/St. Mark's muscial theatre productions are. The choreography is always outstanding, and more than anything, they're always very tight/crisp and well put together. So, kudos to Beth Wortley, Rod Blaydes, BonnieJean Coleman, and Susan Hubbard for putting those together so beautifully.
2) I'm hopefully directing a show this spring. Goodness knows I don't actually have time for it, but it's going to make me extremely happy. I need musical theatre, folks. I just taught a new song to three girls and they got SO excited about the music--that is what I love about musical theatre. All four of us got the chills...It was pretty magical. When I was practicing with Leigh after Singers, Dr. Sharp came over and asked us what we were singing/playing. He was totally unfamiliar with Jason Robert Brown--I was shocked! He's looking it up now..which makes me rather happy. Hopefully he'll come to the show! Anyway, I'm planning on doing "An Evening of Jason Robert Brown." Ideally, the first act would be numbers from "Songs for a New World" and the second act would be most of "The Last Five Years." I think this makes for a PERFECT evening. If I could do anything, I'd make it a dinner theatre thing, but I really have no means of making/buying dinner for a full audience of people, so unless I do some type of fundraiser or something, then we're stuck with regular, beautiful theatre.
These are pretty much the big things going on for now. Thanks for reading--comment away!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Ineloquent Oscar Ramblings
Oscar noms came out this weekend. Here are my thoughts:
Best Picture
Let’s face it, No Country for Old Men pretty much has Best Picture. As great as Juno was, there’s no way. Atonement was beautiful and practically begging for Oscars on the screen, but we all know the Coen brothers rock.
Best Actor
Please, people, please give Johnny Depp best actor. I know it’s a musical and you artsy folk poopoo it, but he is a genius. And I will always love Sweeney.
Best Actress
I still haven’t seen La Mome, and I’m sure Marion Cotillard has a really good shot, but Ellen Page truly was great in Juno.
Best Supporting Actor
I don’t have strong sentiments, but Philip Seymour Hoffman was pretty darn good in Charlie Wilson’s War
Best Supporting Actress
The only two films I’ve seen in this category represented are Atonement and Michael Clayton—but the Young Briony’s performance far outshone Tilda Swinton’s.
Best Achievement in Directing
Coen brothers, hands down…That is, until I see the Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Best Original Screenplay
I would be completely content with Juno or Ratatouille.
Best Achievement in Cinematography
I will be positively heartbroken if Atonement doesn’t win in this category. It may be overrated in other realms, but it’s certainly not in cinematography.
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Oh, it is a tough, tough tie between Atonement and Sweeney Todd. I have to say Sweeney.
Costume Design
Sweeney Todd.
Film Score
Ratatouille. It is time for Michael Giacchino to win an Oscar. This score is nearly flawless—perhaps one of my favorite scores ever. While the music for atonement was brilliantly seamless, that was more a matter of editing than the score itself. I found his score for Pride and Prejudice much more pleasant. Atonement is pretty stagnant. Kite Runner is the token foreign-ish sounding score nomination, but it’s really not that great.
Best Original Song
I will be incredibly upset if a song from Enchanted is not chosen—three of the five nominations are from Enchanted, for crying out loud! I vote for Happy Working Song or That’s How You Know.
Best Achievement in Sound
Ratatouille
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
(WHY IS ATONEMENT NOT NOMINATED? AH!) Ratatouille.
Visual Effects
Golden Compass, but the other tow nominations are pretty weak.
Best Animated Film
Ratatouille. Another category that will make me stark-raving mad if Ratatouille doesn’t win.
Best Foreign Film
I haven’t seen any of them! I fail at life!
Alright, comment away with your evil butchery of my opinions!
Best Picture
Let’s face it, No Country for Old Men pretty much has Best Picture. As great as Juno was, there’s no way. Atonement was beautiful and practically begging for Oscars on the screen, but we all know the Coen brothers rock.
Best Actor
Please, people, please give Johnny Depp best actor. I know it’s a musical and you artsy folk poopoo it, but he is a genius. And I will always love Sweeney.
Best Actress
I still haven’t seen La Mome, and I’m sure Marion Cotillard has a really good shot, but Ellen Page truly was great in Juno.
Best Supporting Actor
I don’t have strong sentiments, but Philip Seymour Hoffman was pretty darn good in Charlie Wilson’s War
Best Supporting Actress
The only two films I’ve seen in this category represented are Atonement and Michael Clayton—but the Young Briony’s performance far outshone Tilda Swinton’s.
Best Achievement in Directing
Coen brothers, hands down…That is, until I see the Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Best Original Screenplay
I would be completely content with Juno or Ratatouille.
Best Achievement in Cinematography
I will be positively heartbroken if Atonement doesn’t win in this category. It may be overrated in other realms, but it’s certainly not in cinematography.
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Oh, it is a tough, tough tie between Atonement and Sweeney Todd. I have to say Sweeney.
Costume Design
Sweeney Todd.
Film Score
Ratatouille. It is time for Michael Giacchino to win an Oscar. This score is nearly flawless—perhaps one of my favorite scores ever. While the music for atonement was brilliantly seamless, that was more a matter of editing than the score itself. I found his score for Pride and Prejudice much more pleasant. Atonement is pretty stagnant. Kite Runner is the token foreign-ish sounding score nomination, but it’s really not that great.
Best Original Song
I will be incredibly upset if a song from Enchanted is not chosen—three of the five nominations are from Enchanted, for crying out loud! I vote for Happy Working Song or That’s How You Know.
Best Achievement in Sound
Ratatouille
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
(WHY IS ATONEMENT NOT NOMINATED? AH!) Ratatouille.
Visual Effects
Golden Compass, but the other tow nominations are pretty weak.
Best Animated Film
Ratatouille. Another category that will make me stark-raving mad if Ratatouille doesn’t win.
Best Foreign Film
I haven’t seen any of them! I fail at life!
Alright, comment away with your evil butchery of my opinions!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Oh, Procrastination
I'm trying to create a layout for this blog that is interesting but professional. I have no desire to make this look like an emotional portal from an angst ridden angry-at-the-world 12 year old, so wish me luck. It might go through some unattractive/odd phases, so bear with me.
Also...I've decided I need a Juxtap'art T-Shirt. We're going to make them for oodles of folks, make sure that they are full of beauty and pizazz, and then sell them as a potential fund raiser. If you happen to have an awesome design, let me know.
That's pretty much all for now, folks. Rozelle Art Party this Saturday--should be freaking sweet! Macbeth is this weekend!
Also...I've decided I need a Juxtap'art T-Shirt. We're going to make them for oodles of folks, make sure that they are full of beauty and pizazz, and then sell them as a potential fund raiser. If you happen to have an awesome design, let me know.
That's pretty much all for now, folks. Rozelle Art Party this Saturday--should be freaking sweet! Macbeth is this weekend!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Ode to Teen Angst Part 2: Another Mental Art vs. Faux Art vs. Shock Factor Conflict
Allison Klion was a high school friend I doubt I could ever forget. She is one of the most passionate people I know, she is one of the best writers I know, and she is--without a doubt--the most curious, inquisitive, and observational people I know. She sees the world through a lens most people couldn't fathom and she has the additional capability of describing what she sees eloquently. She's a photographer. She's a music enthusiast. She loves poetry.
Though my talents were polar opposites from Allison's, we (disgustingly enough) prided ourselves on NOT publicizing our "artsiness." On the contrary, Allison and I had regular battles with ourselves and our friends surrounding us regarding INFIABSIA.
INFIABSA was, at one point or another, a book and a movie script, a song, a play, and brilliantly enough, there was INFIABSIA: the musical.
We also regularly designed T-shirts with the acronym on it. At this point, you may wonder what, precisely, it is.
I Negate the Fact that I'm Artsy By Saying I'm Artsy.
You see, there were factions of the artsy crowd at The Hockaday School.
There were the 1) "artsy" medically experimental (AKA I actually heard a conversation between two girls that went as follows "Dude, I have my dad's prescription pad--this weekend's going to be freaking awesome") who read Ginsberg and Kerouac, skipped class, wore band T-shirts, and bemoaned their identity-crisis-driven-woes 24/7 (The worst bit was their need to publicize this constantly... because honestly, isn't everyone searching for themselves in high school?)
2) socially concerned "artsy" folk: those who used "artsiness" as an excuse to be anti social. These were usually the types sporting forty pounds of eyeliner, purple hair dye, and growled a lot. No joke. It's a sign of angst.
3) the performers: artsy by activity. you knew who these kids were. They didn't all hang out together, but they're generally type A musical theatre addicts. Usually surrounded by a small army of flamboyant men.
4) the artists: generally more reserved, produced amazing work, generally had an association with vibrato, and the good ones never flaunted their artsiness.
You may gather that there were quite a number of people who fell into one of these four categories. While this was highly beneficial for our arts magazine, Vibrato (which everyone should check out...It's won nearly every award possible. I can't take any credit for it, sadly. I never did anything for it, but it's beautiful!)
Anyway...Naturally, each group secretly believed themselves to be mentally/socially superior to the others. Allison and I snobbishly decided that the top two categories were entirely silly, and we therefore said "INFIABSIA" everytime there was a sighting of faux-artsiness.
This was pure silliness on my part, but at the same time, my sentiments about INFIABSIA and proudly wearing artsiness on your sleeve still bothers me. How can you balance reservations about shock factor and intentionally artistic art (do you know what I mean?) and genuine creativity? They can overlap, can't they?
My point is, I'm confused once again. I'm trying to plan Juxtap'art and while gesamtkunstwerk is brilliant, it's also messing with my head. I don't know that total art is actually a cohesive idea. I mentioned before that I've had some really varied ideas coming at me from all directions. I don't want something cheesey and lame and by the book, but I also don't want something so ridiculous and "shocking" and in your face "HEY THIS IS ART!" that I no longer like it. I need something edgy, but classy. Something with a sense of nostalgia, but that sense of something urban and hip (Not really for me, but to satisfy that NEED on this campus.) I can't just make my dream arts fest. My dream arts fest is something few people on this campus would enjoy, and that's not what this is about. I need to create something that will make me happy--something that excites me--but also something that will get others hyped up about it. Something that will satisfy the "cheese" desire in the musical theatre kids, the "by-the-book" desire in the general populous, the "hip, urban" feel for the arts majors, the "edginess" and "shock factor" for the theatre kids. At the same time, I don't want it to be incoherent. HELP!
I know it will all work out and that it will hopefully be a success, but I'm still grappling with general ideas at this point. Anyway, I still need to work on music theory homework (oops) so I better run. Feel free to comment with words of wisdom, encouragement, or hope!
Though my talents were polar opposites from Allison's, we (disgustingly enough) prided ourselves on NOT publicizing our "artsiness." On the contrary, Allison and I had regular battles with ourselves and our friends surrounding us regarding INFIABSIA.
INFIABSA was, at one point or another, a book and a movie script, a song, a play, and brilliantly enough, there was INFIABSIA: the musical.
We also regularly designed T-shirts with the acronym on it. At this point, you may wonder what, precisely, it is.
I Negate the Fact that I'm Artsy By Saying I'm Artsy.
You see, there were factions of the artsy crowd at The Hockaday School.
There were the 1) "artsy" medically experimental (AKA I actually heard a conversation between two girls that went as follows "Dude, I have my dad's prescription pad--this weekend's going to be freaking awesome") who read Ginsberg and Kerouac, skipped class, wore band T-shirts, and bemoaned their identity-crisis-driven-woes 24/7 (The worst bit was their need to publicize this constantly... because honestly, isn't everyone searching for themselves in high school?)
2) socially concerned "artsy" folk: those who used "artsiness" as an excuse to be anti social. These were usually the types sporting forty pounds of eyeliner, purple hair dye, and growled a lot. No joke. It's a sign of angst.
3) the performers: artsy by activity. you knew who these kids were. They didn't all hang out together, but they're generally type A musical theatre addicts. Usually surrounded by a small army of flamboyant men.
4) the artists: generally more reserved, produced amazing work, generally had an association with vibrato, and the good ones never flaunted their artsiness.
You may gather that there were quite a number of people who fell into one of these four categories. While this was highly beneficial for our arts magazine, Vibrato (which everyone should check out...It's won nearly every award possible. I can't take any credit for it, sadly. I never did anything for it, but it's beautiful!)
Anyway...Naturally, each group secretly believed themselves to be mentally/socially superior to the others. Allison and I snobbishly decided that the top two categories were entirely silly, and we therefore said "INFIABSIA" everytime there was a sighting of faux-artsiness.
This was pure silliness on my part, but at the same time, my sentiments about INFIABSIA and proudly wearing artsiness on your sleeve still bothers me. How can you balance reservations about shock factor and intentionally artistic art (do you know what I mean?) and genuine creativity? They can overlap, can't they?
My point is, I'm confused once again. I'm trying to plan Juxtap'art and while gesamtkunstwerk is brilliant, it's also messing with my head. I don't know that total art is actually a cohesive idea. I mentioned before that I've had some really varied ideas coming at me from all directions. I don't want something cheesey and lame and by the book, but I also don't want something so ridiculous and "shocking" and in your face "HEY THIS IS ART!" that I no longer like it. I need something edgy, but classy. Something with a sense of nostalgia, but that sense of something urban and hip (Not really for me, but to satisfy that NEED on this campus.) I can't just make my dream arts fest. My dream arts fest is something few people on this campus would enjoy, and that's not what this is about. I need to create something that will make me happy--something that excites me--but also something that will get others hyped up about it. Something that will satisfy the "cheese" desire in the musical theatre kids, the "by-the-book" desire in the general populous, the "hip, urban" feel for the arts majors, the "edginess" and "shock factor" for the theatre kids. At the same time, I don't want it to be incoherent. HELP!
I know it will all work out and that it will hopefully be a success, but I'm still grappling with general ideas at this point. Anyway, I still need to work on music theory homework (oops) so I better run. Feel free to comment with words of wisdom, encouragement, or hope!
Spoiled
Great weekend. I can post more later, BUT I'm currently freaking out about the possibilty of Lucky Dragons COMING TO JUXTAP'ART[Y] in April!!! I emailed Luke Fischbeck (Harvard alum, lives in LA, started this music group) this afternoon and got a pretty promising response...We'll see how this goes, guys. I have a post about the group at the Juxtap'art Blog. PLEASE post any ideas you have/comments/questions/suggestions. More later!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A Lovely Weekend
Hello friends. This weekend has been rather fun. Friday was pretty relaxing. Saturday morning John Weeden and I worked on another "Weeden Arts Radio" (we really need to change the title...ideas, anyone?) this morning. It was entertaining even though I was a huge slacker and came mostly unprepared/uninspired. Listen to the sadness here (wow, that's not very enticing...)
- Weeden Arts Radio
It's pretty fuzzy, but if you need some entertainment in your life, you can hear John yodel about 10 minutes in. He's trying to be a disney princess.
Basically,
+
=
(By the way, he says "fie" a lot--incorrectly. I looked it up.)
I went to the symphony tonight to see Bruckner Symphony 7 and a Mozart Concerto. The Mozart Concerto was played by an adorable old Irish man. I actually wasn't totally impressed by the piece or the performance, but it was pleasant enough. I sort of felt similarly about the Bruckner piece. Certain bits were really lovely, but I don't know how well I agreed with the conductor's movement or interpretation of the piece. Also, there were many pieces that were too-recognizable/forgettable in the symphony. Not my favorite, but enjoyable enough.
All the music kids then strolled over to Cheesecake Corner to indulge in way too many sugary delectable things. For some reason, Cheesecake caused me to desire swing dancing. I can't really explain it. Anyway, apparently there's a pretty huge swing scene in Memphis. Sadly, all the dance parties usually happen on Friday early. The only one we found open late was 21 and over--lame! Make swing dancing accessible, guys! Anyway, I think I'm going to try to take a lesson sometime this week and then definitely go to the dance party Friday. I'll let you all know how it goes. (I'm also going to try a number of places out...)
That's pretty much the update for now.
(Oh, and one last thing, I have an unhealthy obsession with Ratatouille. It's the magic combination of flawless animation, brilliant plot, incredible editing, pure genius, endless creativity, an incredible score, food, and France...I think...)
- Weeden Arts Radio
It's pretty fuzzy, but if you need some entertainment in your life, you can hear John yodel about 10 minutes in. He's trying to be a disney princess.
Basically,
+
=
(By the way, he says "fie" a lot--incorrectly. I looked it up.)
I went to the symphony tonight to see Bruckner Symphony 7 and a Mozart Concerto. The Mozart Concerto was played by an adorable old Irish man. I actually wasn't totally impressed by the piece or the performance, but it was pleasant enough. I sort of felt similarly about the Bruckner piece. Certain bits were really lovely, but I don't know how well I agreed with the conductor's movement or interpretation of the piece. Also, there were many pieces that were too-recognizable/forgettable in the symphony. Not my favorite, but enjoyable enough.
All the music kids then strolled over to Cheesecake Corner to indulge in way too many sugary delectable things. For some reason, Cheesecake caused me to desire swing dancing. I can't really explain it. Anyway, apparently there's a pretty huge swing scene in Memphis. Sadly, all the dance parties usually happen on Friday early. The only one we found open late was 21 and over--lame! Make swing dancing accessible, guys! Anyway, I think I'm going to try to take a lesson sometime this week and then definitely go to the dance party Friday. I'll let you all know how it goes. (I'm also going to try a number of places out...)
That's pretty much the update for now.
(Oh, and one last thing, I have an unhealthy obsession with Ratatouille. It's the magic combination of flawless animation, brilliant plot, incredible editing, pure genius, endless creativity, an incredible score, food, and France...I think...)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude has been running through my head all day. Does this make me a bad person?
Quick update:
1. Video stuff becoming more and more fun. Still really simple stuff that doesn't really mean anything, but I love it.
2. I have a monstrous desire to get out of Memphis for the weekend. If I had a car I'd either go to Indiana to visit my great aunt/uncle in their Walden-esque house in Fort Wayne or I'd trek back to Dallas. Too bad I need transportation for both of these things...
3. Tangent off of the previous comment: I realized that I have to travel. Whatever my job is in the future, I need to either make enough money and have enough vacations that I can travel on breaks or whoever I'm working for needs to send me places. It's essential to my being.
4. I want to make t-shirts. Not only do I want to make t-shirts, but I want to design clothes. I have no idea what makes me think I would be any good at this, but I would love an art-based fashion company. I'm dead serious. I want a halter top, 1940s cut a-line sun dress with layers of semi-sheer off white material with Monet or something splashed around on the skirt. I also want jeans with back and front pockets (and seams!) with contemporary art on them. How freaking cool would that be?
5. Need to direct The Last Five Years/Songs for a New World pronto. Let's hope this can happen...
6. Toying with the idea of opening up a domain website and putting up any artsy videos I make up there...I'd also love to eventually create an arts-community forum for anyone to partake in...If it got big enough it could even have events in different cities...I don't know.
Anywho, that's the briefing for the evening. Talk to you cats later.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I Got Soul but I'm Not a Soldier
Thank God for my ipod! Goodness knows I would be a mess of a human being without a walking soundtrack to my life. It has been the most wonderful addition to my new year. Here's what's new.
1) The MacBook Air computer is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Too bad it's not that effective. I'll wait for the second or third model to come out, then hopefully I can switch to the beautiful world of apple computers...Until then, I'm stuck with the ancient, revolting, dysfunctional Toshiba.
2) Still madly in love with the camera. What I've filmed so far:
- my shoes dancing around
- John Weeden unintentionally dancing during our CODA meeting. Yes, I will be creating a music video and I will absolutely be posting it here. Please look forward to it.
- Lauren Kennedy doling out words of wisdom regarding art.
- Random dancing about.
- My poor roommates, who I smothered in black eyeshadow in a sad attempt to create Tim Burton-esque characters. It was a miserable failure. They basically just looked like race confused insomniacs. Not attractive.
3) This week has been insanely busy/drama packed. Thus, I indulged myself in Sleepless in Seattle. Do not laugh at me. You can poke fun all you want, but it's a lovely movie. The hero of my life wrote it: Nora Ephron. I'm sure I've talked about her before on here because I'm madly obsessed/want to create a shrine for her, but you all really need to read "Crazy Salad" and "I Feel Bad About My Neck" Then, watch "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," and "You've Got Mail." Seriously, she's brilliant. Not all fluff, I swear. She was an intern for JFK, for crying out loud. If that means anything. Apparently, she was the only intern he didn't hit on. That's gotta hurt.
4) I've lost my camera battery charger, thus I have an absence of photos. When I get a car and then consequently get a job then subsequently get money, I'll buy myself a new one. Then I'll post beautiful pictures here.
5) I think I've lost the ability to dance. Seriously. I tried to do some of the dances from my company last year, and it was a miserable failure. Something needs to change here.
6) I am a COD-ette failure. Somebody PLEASE hit me over the head with a brilliant CAP idea! Seriously, folks, I'm braindead. I have about ten supremely mediocre ideas and nothing geniunely good or necessary. If anyone can give me a problem in the arts world--an absence of something they really deem necessary, comment or email me at genke@rhodes.edu. You'd be my hero for life.
7) Juxtap'art planning has officially begun. I already have two meetings next week, a host of scheduling issues, and some really random ideas coming at me at all directions. I can give you an idea of the incoherence occurring. Here's the ideas floating out there in the abyss:
My current ideas, centered around a magical backyard on steroids:
1. Hammocks tied to all possible trees
2. a wall of mirrors
3. Fog machine producing colored smoke all around the ground
4. Lights coming up from the ground onto the trees around the sides
5. Hubcap sculptures
6. Flourescent Lights stuck together as the two main lights on each side of the stage
7. Potentially projecting images onto smoke
8. Screens and projections in front of the stage and each side of the gardens--with videos/pictures on all three. Sometimes the videos would coordinate--like someone running through them all
9. Everytime an event happens, the screen in front goes "5-4-3-2-1" and then bam, something happens
10. Having music playing at all times, not necessarily live. Maybe just mix of student composed/other music. Question is, what kind? Do we want a laid back bluesgrassy feel? Or do we want like art gallery elevator/techno music? Foreign music? Does it change as the evening progresses?
11. Sculpture of TV screens
12. Something involving glitter
13. Something involving umbrellas--like an umbrella tree, or something?
14. Silver balloons in odd shapes all floating around the top
15. Chinese lanterns
This is going to involve a lot of electricity. Al Gore's coming after me.
Other kids ideas:
1. Belly dancing
2. Karaoke
3. Middle Eastern jewelry display
4. Paper mache human figures wandering around
5. Finger Painting
6. Smore Making
7. Graffiti Painting
Anyone have any ideas on how to make this all work together?
Okay, kids. That's the update for now. Have a lovely day.
(Yeah, yeah. My Title is a music lyric. I'm arranging it for a cappella, okay? Don't judge.)
1) The MacBook Air computer is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Too bad it's not that effective. I'll wait for the second or third model to come out, then hopefully I can switch to the beautiful world of apple computers...Until then, I'm stuck with the ancient, revolting, dysfunctional Toshiba.
2) Still madly in love with the camera. What I've filmed so far:
- my shoes dancing around
- John Weeden unintentionally dancing during our CODA meeting. Yes, I will be creating a music video and I will absolutely be posting it here. Please look forward to it.
- Lauren Kennedy doling out words of wisdom regarding art.
- Random dancing about.
- My poor roommates, who I smothered in black eyeshadow in a sad attempt to create Tim Burton-esque characters. It was a miserable failure. They basically just looked like race confused insomniacs. Not attractive.
3) This week has been insanely busy/drama packed. Thus, I indulged myself in Sleepless in Seattle. Do not laugh at me. You can poke fun all you want, but it's a lovely movie. The hero of my life wrote it: Nora Ephron. I'm sure I've talked about her before on here because I'm madly obsessed/want to create a shrine for her, but you all really need to read "Crazy Salad" and "I Feel Bad About My Neck" Then, watch "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," and "You've Got Mail." Seriously, she's brilliant. Not all fluff, I swear. She was an intern for JFK, for crying out loud. If that means anything. Apparently, she was the only intern he didn't hit on. That's gotta hurt.
4) I've lost my camera battery charger, thus I have an absence of photos. When I get a car and then consequently get a job then subsequently get money, I'll buy myself a new one. Then I'll post beautiful pictures here.
5) I think I've lost the ability to dance. Seriously. I tried to do some of the dances from my company last year, and it was a miserable failure. Something needs to change here.
6) I am a COD-ette failure. Somebody PLEASE hit me over the head with a brilliant CAP idea! Seriously, folks, I'm braindead. I have about ten supremely mediocre ideas and nothing geniunely good or necessary. If anyone can give me a problem in the arts world--an absence of something they really deem necessary, comment or email me at genke@rhodes.edu. You'd be my hero for life.
7) Juxtap'art planning has officially begun. I already have two meetings next week, a host of scheduling issues, and some really random ideas coming at me at all directions. I can give you an idea of the incoherence occurring. Here's the ideas floating out there in the abyss:
My current ideas, centered around a magical backyard on steroids:
1. Hammocks tied to all possible trees
2. a wall of mirrors
3. Fog machine producing colored smoke all around the ground
4. Lights coming up from the ground onto the trees around the sides
5. Hubcap sculptures
6. Flourescent Lights stuck together as the two main lights on each side of the stage
7. Potentially projecting images onto smoke
8. Screens and projections in front of the stage and each side of the gardens--with videos/pictures on all three. Sometimes the videos would coordinate--like someone running through them all
9. Everytime an event happens, the screen in front goes "5-4-3-2-1" and then bam, something happens
10. Having music playing at all times, not necessarily live. Maybe just mix of student composed/other music. Question is, what kind? Do we want a laid back bluesgrassy feel? Or do we want like art gallery elevator/techno music? Foreign music? Does it change as the evening progresses?
11. Sculpture of TV screens
12. Something involving glitter
13. Something involving umbrellas--like an umbrella tree, or something?
14. Silver balloons in odd shapes all floating around the top
15. Chinese lanterns
This is going to involve a lot of electricity. Al Gore's coming after me.
Other kids ideas:
1. Belly dancing
2. Karaoke
3. Middle Eastern jewelry display
4. Paper mache human figures wandering around
5. Finger Painting
6. Smore Making
7. Graffiti Painting
Anyone have any ideas on how to make this all work together?
Okay, kids. That's the update for now. Have a lovely day.
(Yeah, yeah. My Title is a music lyric. I'm arranging it for a cappella, okay? Don't judge.)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Way too much fun...
I am having WAY too much fun with the video camera I checked out from the library. I am documenting the most pointless things, but I LOVE IT. Oh well. What can you do? I'll post videos up here if I ever figure out how to load my footage to a computer and edit it...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A Little Late: New Years Resolutions
New Years Resolutions:
In the spirit of a new year, I’ve decided to follow suit and create some resolutions. I’ve basically spent the first 12 days of 2008 pouting. 2007 was undoubtedly the best year I’ve ever experienced. It’s going to be pretty impossible to beat…I was content with myself, travelling a great deal, getting into my favorite schools, meeting wonderful people, and becoming closer with people I was already friends with. The New Year got off to a mediocre start, but instead of pouting and whining about it, I’m going to applaud the things in my life that I love. My mother always told me “happiness is a choice.” I’m not sure that I agree entirely—It definitely can be on a superficial level but I don’t know that you can chronically choose to be happy. Anyway, I’m going to be happy (at least superficially) right now.
These are a few of my favorite things:
1. Cream colored ponies
2. Crisp Apple Strudels…
3. Quoting musical theatre around those who may or may not know that I’m quoting musical theatre
4. Wearing mismatched clothes that are comfortable (like now, for instance)
5. Walking. It’s been the best part of the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008. I have rediscovered the beauty of walking/working out. It is lovely. It’s my time to myself, my time to reflect.
6. My new Kreuger coffee maker. You just pop in a little packet of cocoa, tea, or coffee and out comes happiness!
7. My room at home and at school. I love my roommates, but I don’t feel like you get any sense of who they are from their little sections of our room. Mine might be ADD-Katharine-Infested, but I love it. It’s cluttered and musical and bright and cluttered and filled with letters and pictures of my favorite people.
8. Jon McLaughlin and Jason Robert Brown. These two men take jazz-piano to a new greatness. I’m about to sound really cheesy, but their music literally feeds my soul. I had another wonderful solo piano-playing experience in Tuthill this morning. The room was quiet and dark, and the extended grand Steinway was almost beckoning for me to sit in front of it and play. Pianos are possibly my favorite things in the world. They are impressive enough just on their own—a wonderful shape, clean, classy, inviting. The fact that they make music that I can’t explain is just a bonus. I know I’m not making any sense right now and that I sound like a crazy person, but that’s because I am. Point of story is Jon McLaughlin and JRB use pianos properly and I applaud them for that.
9. Film Scores and my discovery of Dario Marianelli- I’ve already discussed his work in Atonement in great detail, but I love it.
10. “Ode to a Butterfly”—Nickel Creek. This instrumental-only piece makes me giggle with happiness whether I’m in a good or bad mood.
11. Theatre that is well done. Kudos to Neo Futurists theatre for creating something provocative yet great. Goodness knows the effort to strike that balance is my greatest struggle.
12. Being proven wrong. If you know me at all, you know that I loathe and despise failure. At the same time, being proven wrong is incredibly healthy for me. There’s one class that I’m taking currently that I thought was going to be dreadful and the first class actually proved to be wonderfully helpful and fun. It’s not my favorite class, but it’s not as hokey as I thought it was going to be.
13. Clutter and the possibility of cleaning. Clutter is comfortable for me. My poor roommates are probably ready to kill me, but since most of my belongings—clothes, products, food, and bedspread—are absurdly bright colored, it’s nice having them all strewn about. I’m currently considering turning half of my section into a closet. I literally desire to put rows and rows of rods in my little corner to create a closet large enough to house my vetements.
14. French. I love it when people speak it, sing it, anything. I love French movies and French music. Take me to Paris. Or Nice—ahhh I love Nice! I think it’s time for another European excursion… Anyway, the language is just the best. One of my favorite things is when people can’t think to explain something properly in English, so they use French almost abashedly…as though it were too suggestive and mysterious to use.
15. Travel. I love planes, trains, cars, bikes…I just like moving. My mother made the observation over the holidays that I’m never happy where I am—I’m always searching for the next best thing. But isn’t that how people achieve? I definitely can be happy where I am but I’m rarely content. There’s a difference. Anyway, I love travelling and exploring new places and possibilities of future residence…
16. Millennium Park and Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. Kudos to all major cities creating parks to link their Arts District buildings together.
17. Banjos. Yes, banjos. My friend’s letting me borrow his, and I’m in love with it. It’s beautiful and it creates the most bizarrely wonderful sound.
18. Skinny lattes at starbucks. Basically, I’m ordering the same thing, but they have a wonderfully simple name for them. Rather than ordering a nonfat, no whip, sugar-free cinnamon dolce latte, I can just ask for a “skinny” cinnamon dolce latte. Isn’t that wonderful? I’m enjoying one now. It’s delectable.
19. Art in public spaces. The Cultural Center in Chicago literally produced a booklet of all the sculpture and art in the city so you could give yourself a walking tour. How ridiculously awesome is that?
20. Boots. I love my new boots. I have two pairs and they are both beautiful. The look awesome with almost everything and I got them on sale. Don’t tell.
21. Blogging! I love it. I love blogger, blogtalkradio, non “blog” official blogs…they’re all great. Mazeltov to all who express themselves at least somewhat eloquently and rant-free on the internet.
22. “Green Finch and Linnet Bird.” Besides the fact that I love the word “linnet,” this song is beautiful. “If I cannot fly…let me sing.” I love that!
23. Those who understand, appreciate, and encourage art.
24. Goofy voices.
25. Coats.
26. Hot cider brought to you by very kind friends when you feel disgusting and sick.
27. BBC Radio—I’ve listened to it all morning. It is lovely. Along with this I shall add my love for TED talks and Podcasts of books—free audible!! (I’m listening to Pride and Prejudice now…)
28. The posters for Atonement and Caramel. I want wallpaper made out of them.
29. Making documentaries. I have a camera I checked out of the library only after I realized I don’t have any tapes…I need to fix this, but then I can start making videos (which I love..) When I do, I’ll send you kids links!
30. Classic film heroines. Judy Garland and Katharine Hepburn kick androgyny’s butt. End of story.
I think that’s enough happiness for now. I also saw a Lesson Before Dying at Circuit last night…I’ll definitely post a review of that tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Back to Work...
I'm kind of a failure--it's been basically three weeks since I last posted. Here's an update moving backwards...
In eleven hours, I start my second semester at Rhodes...officially. It's certainly a bittersweet feeling. I had a wonderful break full of plenty of busy and restful moments and I'm not sure that I'm ready to get back into the old swing of things. It's a pretty odd social adjustment--coming from six years of friendships built to such an extent that they all literally feel like family to this strange world of "OMG, Hi! How are you?! I missed you!" when really that's mostly a lie. After all, I've only known these people a few months and who knows how many of them came to college either a) trying to figure out who they are or b) trying to re-invent themselves. It'd be cocky to say I was the only freshman not trying so hard, but it would also be a lie to say I wasn't at least mostly comfortable with myself. Strangely, I find myself less at ease now than I did at the start of the year. I just got back into the rhythm of acting exactly how I desired to around my friends--completely disregarding the fact that they might judge me for what I said or did. Now I'm back here...freshmen are frantically scrambling to find their acquaintainces they've hastily already called soulmates and best friends. All the while, upperclassmen are feeling an increasing amount of apathy towards the social situation. Thankfully, this whole party-hopping, let's-make-fools-of-ourselves on the weekends mentality is starting to at least partially slow down in my class...Just today my roommate and I had a discussion regarding our need/desire for true, legitimate friends--not just people to hang out with on the weekend.
Wonderfully enough, I think I've found some of those people in the CODA program. Before I endlessly ramble about the wonders of our recent Chicago trip, I should mention that the other CODA kids are some of the coolest people I've met since I've been at Rhodes. The funny thing is, too, that I feel like that sort of stand out around campus. The girls are the ones wearing the slightly artsier, J Crew-free clothing and occasionally-quirky makeup and the guys are mostly big personality-big ideas. Granted, this is a gross exaggeration and we all blend in well enough in this preppy, Greek-run society, but you can still tell. I haven't had a single weekend night or weeknight that I have been able to just sit and talk and think--hard--about issues I really care about since I've been here. By the time junior and senior year rolled around in high school, I found the friends I could do that with. We'd given up on the awkwardness of football games and spirit parties (because the team didn't win enough to merit the phrase "Victory parties") and started seeing shows, the symphony, the opera, an indie movie, a concert, and then just talking about everything from the superficial to the wonderfully thought provoking...For the first time since I've been here, I did that. Over the past five or so days, I was in Chicago with the CODA crew. Every night, the kids would all pack into our hotel room and start talking. Every night, we had the intention of watching a movie or just "bonding" over silly things, but every night we somehow made it into a deeply personal and interesting arts debate. Though one night's argument got slightly out of control, it was truly the best time I've had in a while. I was thinking again. I was the attorney, the arts advocate, the friend who wanted to express her opinion freely sans-judgement to a peer. I loved it.
Though we're all completely different, we (for the most part) get along marvelously. I kind of wish the school were full of CODA kids ready to strangle each other to get across something they deeply care about in art!! The only problem is...we're all pretty boisterous so there is the slight possibility that we would ACTUALLY kill each other. This would not be good.
Thoughts about the trip:
DCA: I need to intern for these people. I will shine their shoes, be their secretary, personal assistant, whatever--they are brilliant. The thing about Chicago is--it's all the ideas I dreamt of in my wildest, wildest dreams in actuality. These people make it happen.
Millenium Park: Like I said--like stepping into a wonderful dream. The idea of people accepting a multi-million dollar arts park is absolutely mind-boggling to me. www.milleniumpark.org
Neo-futurists Theater: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Thirty 2-minute sketches in 60 minutes. New plays every week. Briliant actors/writers. Sounds incredible, right? It is. And, really, how can it not be with titles such as: Why Can People Still Make Fun of Gypsies And Not Be Considered Politically Incorrect? Also, we are stealing from you. and The Emoting Larvae Players Present the Abridged Classics. This Week: Love Story
John Bryan's Estate: Crabtree Farms 20 houses filled with every world-renown artist imaginable. And, oh wait, they're basically building a modern museum in their backyard. Not only do these people do wonderful work and have wonderful art, they are incredibly kind and hospitable. We all had a great time at their place...(s)...
Magnificent Mile As magnificent as I remember. Not necessarily artsy, but still awesome.
Those were SOME of the highlights...though there are plenty others...
HOWEVER: Before I leave you all I need to tell you about the most brilliant (I need to stop saying that word in reference to films) collaboration ever: Stephen Sondheim, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Johnny Depp. Great scott, Sweeny Todd is absolute bliss. Before all you musical theatre crazies come running at me with pitchforks complaining about the low quality of Bonham Carter and Depp's voices, hear me out. This needed to happen. Not only is this movie appropriately placed between two ridiculously cheesy movie musicals (Hairspray and Mamma Mia--don't even get me started on that one...) but it was also unprecedented in the caliber of its artistry in the recent wave of movie musicals. The color scheme was brilliant, the hoaky gore was comical, the cinematography was eerily brilliant, and the acting of Depp and Carter was (no one can argue with me on this...) flawless. No, their vocals were not great, but did they really need to be? In musical theatre it seems we occasionally forget that the purpose of shows is not necessarily to showcase beautiful voices, but to depict a story through song. That's just what Tim Burton accomplished. Their talk-singing helped make the line between dialogue and voice seamless. Both characters were easy to understand. I've talked to a lot of preachy musical theatrettes about this, and I simply don't care what you all say. I loved Sweeney Todd.
I have about a thousand other things on my mind, so I think I'm going to go...However, I leave you with what is my favorite quote--at least for the time being. One of the most zealous people I know was going on about why he was so passionate about art--why it keeps him going...and mid monologue he said this "I don't really go to church anymore...but I worship art. I take it as a matter of faith--I can't help but believe in it." That's probably a miserable paraphrase, but I still love it. Pretty much the most sense anyone's made all day.
In eleven hours, I start my second semester at Rhodes...officially. It's certainly a bittersweet feeling. I had a wonderful break full of plenty of busy and restful moments and I'm not sure that I'm ready to get back into the old swing of things. It's a pretty odd social adjustment--coming from six years of friendships built to such an extent that they all literally feel like family to this strange world of "OMG, Hi! How are you?! I missed you!" when really that's mostly a lie. After all, I've only known these people a few months and who knows how many of them came to college either a) trying to figure out who they are or b) trying to re-invent themselves. It'd be cocky to say I was the only freshman not trying so hard, but it would also be a lie to say I wasn't at least mostly comfortable with myself. Strangely, I find myself less at ease now than I did at the start of the year. I just got back into the rhythm of acting exactly how I desired to around my friends--completely disregarding the fact that they might judge me for what I said or did. Now I'm back here...freshmen are frantically scrambling to find their acquaintainces they've hastily already called soulmates and best friends. All the while, upperclassmen are feeling an increasing amount of apathy towards the social situation. Thankfully, this whole party-hopping, let's-make-fools-of-ourselves on the weekends mentality is starting to at least partially slow down in my class...Just today my roommate and I had a discussion regarding our need/desire for true, legitimate friends--not just people to hang out with on the weekend.
Wonderfully enough, I think I've found some of those people in the CODA program. Before I endlessly ramble about the wonders of our recent Chicago trip, I should mention that the other CODA kids are some of the coolest people I've met since I've been at Rhodes. The funny thing is, too, that I feel like that sort of stand out around campus. The girls are the ones wearing the slightly artsier, J Crew-free clothing and occasionally-quirky makeup and the guys are mostly big personality-big ideas. Granted, this is a gross exaggeration and we all blend in well enough in this preppy, Greek-run society, but you can still tell. I haven't had a single weekend night or weeknight that I have been able to just sit and talk and think--hard--about issues I really care about since I've been here. By the time junior and senior year rolled around in high school, I found the friends I could do that with. We'd given up on the awkwardness of football games and spirit parties (because the team didn't win enough to merit the phrase "Victory parties") and started seeing shows, the symphony, the opera, an indie movie, a concert, and then just talking about everything from the superficial to the wonderfully thought provoking...For the first time since I've been here, I did that. Over the past five or so days, I was in Chicago with the CODA crew. Every night, the kids would all pack into our hotel room and start talking. Every night, we had the intention of watching a movie or just "bonding" over silly things, but every night we somehow made it into a deeply personal and interesting arts debate. Though one night's argument got slightly out of control, it was truly the best time I've had in a while. I was thinking again. I was the attorney, the arts advocate, the friend who wanted to express her opinion freely sans-judgement to a peer. I loved it.
Though we're all completely different, we (for the most part) get along marvelously. I kind of wish the school were full of CODA kids ready to strangle each other to get across something they deeply care about in art!! The only problem is...we're all pretty boisterous so there is the slight possibility that we would ACTUALLY kill each other. This would not be good.
Thoughts about the trip:
DCA: I need to intern for these people. I will shine their shoes, be their secretary, personal assistant, whatever--they are brilliant. The thing about Chicago is--it's all the ideas I dreamt of in my wildest, wildest dreams in actuality. These people make it happen.
Millenium Park: Like I said--like stepping into a wonderful dream. The idea of people accepting a multi-million dollar arts park is absolutely mind-boggling to me. www.milleniumpark.org
Neo-futurists Theater: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Thirty 2-minute sketches in 60 minutes. New plays every week. Briliant actors/writers. Sounds incredible, right? It is. And, really, how can it not be with titles such as: Why Can People Still Make Fun of Gypsies And Not Be Considered Politically Incorrect? Also, we are stealing from you. and The Emoting Larvae Players Present the Abridged Classics. This Week: Love Story
John Bryan's Estate: Crabtree Farms 20 houses filled with every world-renown artist imaginable. And, oh wait, they're basically building a modern museum in their backyard. Not only do these people do wonderful work and have wonderful art, they are incredibly kind and hospitable. We all had a great time at their place...(s)...
Magnificent Mile As magnificent as I remember. Not necessarily artsy, but still awesome.
Those were SOME of the highlights...though there are plenty others...
HOWEVER: Before I leave you all I need to tell you about the most brilliant (I need to stop saying that word in reference to films) collaboration ever: Stephen Sondheim, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Johnny Depp. Great scott, Sweeny Todd is absolute bliss. Before all you musical theatre crazies come running at me with pitchforks complaining about the low quality of Bonham Carter and Depp's voices, hear me out. This needed to happen. Not only is this movie appropriately placed between two ridiculously cheesy movie musicals (Hairspray and Mamma Mia--don't even get me started on that one...) but it was also unprecedented in the caliber of its artistry in the recent wave of movie musicals. The color scheme was brilliant, the hoaky gore was comical, the cinematography was eerily brilliant, and the acting of Depp and Carter was (no one can argue with me on this...) flawless. No, their vocals were not great, but did they really need to be? In musical theatre it seems we occasionally forget that the purpose of shows is not necessarily to showcase beautiful voices, but to depict a story through song. That's just what Tim Burton accomplished. Their talk-singing helped make the line between dialogue and voice seamless. Both characters were easy to understand. I've talked to a lot of preachy musical theatrettes about this, and I simply don't care what you all say. I loved Sweeney Todd.
I have about a thousand other things on my mind, so I think I'm going to go...However, I leave you with what is my favorite quote--at least for the time being. One of the most zealous people I know was going on about why he was so passionate about art--why it keeps him going...and mid monologue he said this "I don't really go to church anymore...but I worship art. I take it as a matter of faith--I can't help but believe in it." That's probably a miserable paraphrase, but I still love it. Pretty much the most sense anyone's made all day.
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