Retro-Future Ad Contest

This is part of an ongoing contest to design and create retro style ads for futuristic concepts/events/products based on works of fiction (TV, books, movies, what-have-you).

I'll post more when I find them!

Edit: Here's the site with all the rules so you can enter too!

Guitar Shovel is HARDCORE

The epic guitar playing/singing...can be seen starting at 3:00.

The Wilderness Downtown

I think this is probably the most beautiful thing I've seen/experienced in a very long time. At first I didn't know what to expect, but by the end I was in tears. Please give it a whirl (and use Google Chrome for your browser, as it's optimized for it). I won't explain any more than this, just because I liked being surprised. Just as a hint, I'll let you know that it'll make you fall even more in love with Arcade Fire...

The Wilderness Downtown

Saturday

New Song, Old Stylings

So, I saw Cee-Lo Green's new video today, and was immediately reminded of Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries' "Dakota". Green's piece is kind of a simpler version of the yhchang piece, but both are really enjoyable. Now I shall share them.



and

Dakota

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring...

Lobster phone!

Lobster Phone, Dali, 1936

Heat

It's been hot in Bellingham of late. I enjoyed this.

Meteor Meteor

Thursday night (or rather, Friday morning between 12am-3am) is the best time for those of us in North America to view the Perseid meteor shower. According to all the articles this past week, this year will be one of the best for seeing the shower, as there's a new moon and lots and lots of pretty comets-per-hour. I remember a few years back when the Perseid came by, but the full moon washed out all but the most stubborn meteors.

Having recently seen Joanna Newsom in concert (as you may have gathered from my post a few days back), I'll probably have "Emily" chiming through my head the entire time I watch the comets. In fact, it's already chiming around in there, at least the chorus is...

Meteor showers always make me stare at the sky and start thinking those big, freaky questions about how insignificant we all are (such a tiny dot on a slightly bigger tiny blue dot in an immense blackness)...but I'm similarly comforted by the small joys of holding someone's hand in the Perseid meteor shower, and snuggling deeper into piles of blankets and sleeping bags to enjoy the show.

Joanna Newsom--Emily

Animated Fit

Remember that news story circulating this week about the flight attendant from Jet Blue who quit in a blaze of glory (and expletives)?

Enjoy a Taiwanese reenactment via anime-esque CG hilarity.

hey hey hey

Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes) covering "On a Good Day" (originally by Joanna Newsom), with such power and elegance. Nearly as good as the original.



I got to see him (and her) last Wednesday at the Moore. I leaned over to tell my friend that I'd be crying during the whole concert, and that was very nearly true.

Modern Vintage Tech

from

Russia With Love

Vintage photographs from the 50s and 60s in Russia.

Strange Angels

In Vitebsk, Russia millions of tiny butterflies flocked to a bridge one night and began to die.

rawr

For Emily

disney loops

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

So, so weird. Kind of sad.

advice

old things like all others

I've been immersed in old movies lately. The kind of old movies that nobody's really seen, and I've never heard of, and maybe you don't even have to see to get the gist of. Most recently I watched James Whale's Waterloo Bridge (1931). I found it in a boxed set called Forbidden Hollywood that featured several films that were banned or censored for their "racy" content. Waterloo Bridge was certainly the tamest of the bunch, but also, for me, the most passionate...and I guess "truest" in a sense. Anyway, Mae Clarke (you may have seen her in Frankenstein) plays the main character Myra, and she's got the most expressive and beautiful face--I had to constantly kick myself for thinking of Laura Mulvey every 10 seconds so I could just enjoy how pretty she was when she cried. Sometimes I forget to enjoy things when I'm so busy enjoying not enjoying them...er well...that's not exactly what I mean, but you English types will get that. But seriously, she has the prettiest crying face ever, and that's no easy feat.I couldn't find a picture of the crying, but check out how foxy she is in general.

and from Frankenstein:

It all makes me want to wear gauzy dresses and traipse through London alleys with a soldier boy and a grin.

Speaking of Trash

from BB -- "buy our product or your baby will end up in a grave"

Finally Until

via

Hello blog. It's me. Remember me?

You probably don't, it's been quite awhile since we've spoken. But I'm back, for the most part, and I still love you--even though I've neglected you into quiet submission.

The last few weeks have been chaotic and strange, and I wasn't sure if I could hold myself together let alone a little old blog like you. But never fear.

I moved into a new place last week--it's a big yellow house on a hill overlooking Bellingham bay. I have a little downstairs room with a big, beautiful view and very white walls. It's been one of those moves where it feels like your whole world has tilted a little bit, and it's taking me awhile to get my balance again. Today was a good start--the sun lit up all the white sails on the water, a woodpecker perched on the telephone pole on the alley below, and I started my final ever undergraduate course at WWU. I feel nervous and excited and twisted up all at once. This summer I want to prove to myself that I can be a grad student, teacher and scholar (though I seem to have everyone else convinced...I'm just not sure yet).

You little blog will be my creative outlet, my source of joy and beauty and wonder in the world. Sounds like a big job, I know, but you can do it. We can do it together.

Today

#29 Make an audio recording of a choir

A recording of the Nelsen Middle School Choir (of which my brother James is a member). Wonderful concert, wonderful singers, awesome project to brighten up my Dead Week. :)

Some of the song titles I had to guess on...but you get the gist.

Firefly (6th Grade Mixed Choir)

Aura Lee (solo by Casi Goodman)

Unknown Animal Song (7th and 8th Grade Treble Choir)

The Heart's Friend (Shoshone Love Song)

Pura Vida (7th/8th Grade Concert Choir)

Pie Jesu

Siyahambe

Part of an ongoing series of projects.

This Week

This sums up my feelings for the week. Thanks Choppy for the idea...

Oh Poor Thing

I'm neglecting my blog for awhile because of Dead Week and end-of-the-quarter madness. Please forgive my internet absences. I have a doctor's note.

An Old Obsession

Chas fed the fire today by sending me an email filled with old, questionable ads. I had to post some of course. Thanks Chas!

I'll probably put more up later. They're just too crazy not to share!

#55 Photograph a Significant Outfit

What I wore the night I knew, for the first time, that I loved you, and that everything would be okay.

Part of an ongoing series of projects.

#62 Make an Educational Public Plaque

People walking by my poster on my college campus.

Me and "All About Snakebites"...super cool!

A poster about snakebites I made and posted on campus. First teaches you how to identify the four types of poisonous snakes in North America, then tells you the steps you should take if bitten by a snake. The little flaps on the bottom are a four-question "can you identify this snake?" quiz. Had a lot of fun making it, and it managed to stay up all day! Hopefully at least one person read it, and was educated. My poster will have been successful then. (Crossing my fingers).

Part of an ongoing series of projects.

Book a Week Project: Book Six--The Horse and His Boy

I have to admit, I have never read the complete Chronicles of Narnia. Of course I've read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as The Magician's Nephew (for some reason I assumed this came earlier...which it did in terms of lore, but not chronologically...). But to this day, The Horse and His Boy is only the third of the Narnia books I've finished. I suppose this is due to several factors--chiefly that I never owned all of the books, and then by the time I had the opportunity to buy the books for myself, I realized what they "were" and hesitated. I definitely loved the first book when I was young, but allegorical novels just don't sit well with me anymore. The Horse and His Boy, while primarily about what I do love (animals), is also dripping with Christ symbolism (and, what seemed to me, slightly racist undertones...). For the purposes of this review, however, I'm not going to address the allegorical intent (or lack of, as your opinion may be) of this book--rather I simply wish to address the themes I appreciated, the literary qualities and merits the book has, and the very real pleasure I experienced reading it. Because, despite everything else, it was a fun read!

Foremost in my mind is the emphasis on the relationship between Bree (the talking, Narnian horse stolen from Narnia as a foal) and Shasta (the young fisherman's son, washed ashore in a small boat as an infant and raised (basically) as a slave). The process through which Shasta learns to ride involves constant instruction (and chastising) from Bree, but also a good deal of care and, later, love and respect for one another. I appreciated that Bree repeatedly emphasized that he was a "free horse", and that in Narnia no horse belonged to anyone--hence the title, The Horse and His Boy. It's easy to say we "own" things...I mean, we say it all the time right? What's your cat's name? How old is your dog? But in actuality, how can we ever really own animals? In saying that, I'm not saying we shouldn't have pets (I love having kitties around my house), but that we should remember that animals aren't the same as staplers and computers and fancy pens with feathers on top. 

I see more thoughts and feelings flitting across cat's faces than I can begin to imagine--and maybe that's just the point. We want to connect with animals the way Shasta and Bree (and later, Aravis and Hwin) bond. I might say "If only I knew what was going on in his (the cat's) head right now...I bet he's imagining something really exciting." But really, the only connection we can have with animals is something significantly different than our relationships with other humans--it's something instinctual (primal?)--we connect with them because they make us happy, make us feel needed and loved and wanted.

Bree and Shasta need one another to escape "To Narnia, and the North!", and their bond centers on the continual evaluation of one another as peers and free "animals." I wonder how much of my own desire to know animals was piqued by this book, and how big of a role that desire played in my enjoyment of it. The climactic battle of the book didn't nearly interest me as much as the feeling of movement, or journeying I guess, towards a land that promised freedom and inclusion for two (and eventually four) mistreated creatures. 

I suppose I do love Aslan as well (because of the first book), but his appearances in this text were sporadic, and marked almost explicitly as either the miracle-working or punishment-doling of God. The punishment he bestows on the principle enemy of the book near the end is actually more harsh than I would have expected...and didn't really leave me feeling very connected to his character anymore. Oh well. 

Anyway, The Horse and His Boy is a fairly fast-paced, and certainly beautifully descriptive novel. The impetus for the book is an epic journey, so the compulsion to finish the novel and reach a resolution is strong (at least for this reader). It left me thinking, but also eager to bite into something a bit more substantial for next week. Stay tuned. 

Recommendation: Not high on my list for must-reads, but certainly good for something enjoyable, quick, and pretty. Also good if you like talking animals.

Book a Week Project: Book Five--The Book Thief

This week I've chosen another Young Adult novel for my BaW project--though it certainly wasn't the breezy read I was expecting. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, is, without a doubt, one of the most harrowing and haunting holocaust narratives I have read. As you can see from the cover (not the cover of my edition, but a nicer one than I had), the primary figures in the novel are a young girl, Liesel Meminger, and Death. Yes, Death with a capital D, who happens to narrate the book. Initially I thought it a bold move to choose Death as the narrator of a holocaust story, but later realized just how perfect and powerful Zusak's decision was for this book. 

I think the most irritating (and simultaneously fascinating and moving) elements of the story was the use of foreshadowing. Throughout the text, Death hints at tragedy, plays with our expectations, and sometimes, when you least expect it, comes right out and tells you when a character you're reading about will die. This happens without warning, and in several instances involves an important character. Death will set up this elaborate image of the character, only to say something like this: 

***A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT***

      ABOUT ____________________

He didn't deserve to die the way he did.

In your visions, you see the sloppy edges of paper still stuck to his fingers. You see a shivering blonde fringe. Preemptively, you conclude, as I would, that _____ died that very same day, of hypothermia. He did not. Recollections like those merely remind me that he was not deserving of the fate that met him a little under two years later.

I omitted the name of the person to die...so there wouldn't be any spoilers. But yeah, that "announcement" comes nearly 300 pages before the character actually dies. It kind of "ruins" the suspense, but also...I don't know...makes it more intense I suppose. It definitely makes every scene of that character after the fact more poignant and special, which is unusual for a novel. I literally have never seen a book with as much foreshadowing as this--and yet...I wasn't as bothered with it as I expected. At the end, I think it was the reason that this book made me cry.

Well, I still have a paper to write on this, so I'll come back to this response later on. I still have more to say, but time, as you can see, is not my friend. (Though maybe Death is).

Recommendation: Would recommend if you want a dense and sad book that's awesome. 

Inspired by Art

Working on an art project for school and stumbled upon this striking photograph.

via

#52 Write the phone call you wish you could have

Me: Um…hello?

A: Hi Lauren…

Me: A? Is that you?!

A: Yeah…I got your number on Facebook. Sorry if that’s weird

.

Me: No, it’s ok…what’s up?

A: I wanted to talk to you…you know, about everything.

Me: Oh.

A: I just wanted to say, I’m sorry about how things turned out between us. I realize that what I did…wasn’t the best way to do things. I really hurt you, and I regret that.

Me: ….

A: I know that you’ve tried to reach out to me several times, and that I was cold to you…I shouldn’t have done that. You were always such a good friend, and I know that just because of that one incident, I shouldn’t have changed my whole opinion about you. I’m sorry.

Me: Um, it’s ok. I’ve moved past that now A.

A: I just hope that even if we can’t be friends anymore…maybe we could at least acknowledge each other? Wave or smile when we pass instead of looking away?

Me: I can try that. I’m glad you called—even though I’ve had a good life so far, it did always weigh on me. You really hurt me, but I’m glad to hear that you’re recognizing that and moving on too.

A: I guess I’ll see you around?

Me: Yeah, I guess you will.

A: Bye Lauren.

Me: Bye A.

__________________________________________________________

Part of an ongoing series of projects.

#27 Take a Picture of the Sun

Part of an ongoing series of projects.

Interesting

Was thinking, for some reason, about prosthetic limbs today (and about their history). Some assorted images from my research:

And learn a bit about it yourself here.