Ahh, the funny names that companies give to their products never cease to amuse me. And how lovely to wake up this morning and find two of those very commodities living in my fridge, side by side. I am proud to present, "I can't believe it's not butter!" and "Better'n Eggs" (which in my opinion, is not better than the real thing if going by taste).
What funny foodstuffs are living in your fridge/household? Noticed any while walking down your local supermarket aisles? Oh do share!
My sister showed me this video clip of Mariah Carey's unsuccessful, and utterly hilarious, attempt at throwing the opening pitch at a Japanese baseball game. The both of us burst out into fits of laughter after seeing this and it's safe to say that Mariah Carey has made my week.
Did you know that prostitution is the oldest profession?
Last night, I gave into my state of utter boredom and put the telly on. As usual, there was nothing constructive or remotely interesting to watch, in my opinion, apart from an episode or two of The Simpsons and Family Guy - thank goodness for cartoon comedies! Now I'm not a hater of the television per se, I actually enjoy it from time to time when creative elements of human existence are composed together to produce terrific viewing material. One such example is a Vh1 pop culture documentary entitled, Sex: The Revolution. Now I know that Vh1 is home to shows such as, "Flavor of Love" and "Rock of Love," but this particular documentary is without a doubt an exception and a must-see, if you dare.
In the world as we know it today, sex is all around us. In the 19 years of my young life, I have seen it continue to progress, both in a positive and negative light and many may argue that we still have a long way to go regarding issues of sexual identity. "Sex: The Revolution" covers just about every issue you can think of from, the birth of the Sexual Revolution in the 1950s to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Other topics such as the gay liberation movement, same-sex relationships, extra- and premarital sex, inter-racial love, the introduction of "the pill", abortions and the use of sex in the media are also intimately explored throughout this four-part documentary.
It's pretty ghastly to think of some of the outrageous events and experiments that took place during those particular decades in history and how some of it still goes on in different but similar forms, despite how 'modern' we feel we have become. Many individuals and groups of people are still plagued with a lot of the issues that people faced over the 40 decades covered by the series. Sexual identity, or the lack of it, has always been something personal but the fight and search for it is something we all share.
Between the insightful commentaries, information from first-hand sources and factual accounts I found myself filled with an immense amount of intrigue and love. Love for the good in human nature and the ever-present willingness in us to fight for freedom.
Every now and then, I can't help but think that the most intense decades in pop culture took place during between the 1950s and 1980s and I unfortunately missed it all by being born in 1989.
Here's a snippet of a funny exchange between Lou Reed and interviewer that was featured on the documentary. See video below.
Interviewer: "Are you a transvestite or a homosexual?" Lou Reed: "Sometimes" Interviewer: "Which one?" Lou Reed:"I don't know, what's the difference?"
My life is just plain weird. Every now and then, I go through these funny stages where re-occurring themes seem to play out in my life, almost back to back. Last night, or actually rather early this morning, I desperately needed to watch a movie as I didn't intend on falling asleep just yet. After a brief search, I decided on Music and Lyrics, an absolutely charming romantic comedy about just that, Music & Lyrics. Watching this particular movie only increased my desire to one day romance Hugh Grant and my affection for Drew Barrymore (in a non-romantic manner) was re-affirmed.
The next movie in line, P.S. I Love You, fell under the same category. Less than halfway through the movie came the 'big bang,' well it isn't that much of a bang if you're not me. One of the characters mentions the fact that he doesn't have a 'social filter.' Now those two words are sounding awfully familiar and that's when I remember that the same words were said by Drew Barrymore in Music & Lyrics! Voila, 'theme' uncovered. Re-occurring phrase.
By the way, I recommend both of the above-mentioned movies. And Gerard Butler, if you somehow divinely manage to come across, "P.S. I LOVE YOU!" Ditto to you Jeffrey Dean Morgan, haha.
Today was a lot of fun. A friend of my mom's, from way back, was in Rhode Island today and my ma packed all of us ladies (my 2 sisters and I) in her buggy convertible and off we went to Rhode Island and back. I absolutely love long car rides and mini-roadtrips and cruising down the highway with the top down was purely incredible. The weather was absolutely lovely, clear skies and all. Didn't get to see much of RI, but it was good being away from NY and home for a while.
Yesterday, I stumbled across the most amazing news so far this year. A number of African artists will be making their way over to NYC over the course of the summer. Miriam Makeba, Habib Koite, Oliver Mtukudzi and many more will be performing at this year's Celebrate Brooklyn Festival. You may or may not be familiar with any of the above-mentioned names, but if you are at all looking to expand your horizons both musically and culturally, I urge you to attend a performance or two. This is a wonderful selection and representation of African musicians, whoever did the line-up for this festival is a genius! Don't miss out on this incredibly spectacular opportunity!
Beirut never ceases to amaze me and I think it is safe to that a ton of other New Yorkers, and possibly tri-state residents, feel the same way. Towards the end of last week they put up a concert date for a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this past sunday, and before you could say "Jiminy Cricket!", it was completely sold out. Ah, the wonders of the internet. Sad I was, indeed but what else could one expect from a band than consists of instruments ranging from a ukulele to a baritone sax and glockenspiel?
I suppose I'll have to put seeing them live on hold for now. In the meantime, there's always the good sounds of songs like, Nantes, A Sunday Smile, The Penalty, Elephant Gun and Postcards from Italy.
My dream. The ukulele, the man and the voice.
Support Beirut on record here. Visit them on myspace.
During the next few months, I plan on becoming re-acquainted with my film camera and newly acquainted with my oktomat that I received as a birthday gift from my sister, this year. Here are a few odd samples of some extra photos I took when I had left over space on a roll of film. Nothing experimental.
Now it's not everyday that one comes across a movie, book, song or form of artwork that triggers such a vast mixture of emotions within oneself. Having some time to spare after doing some spring cleaning, I decided to watch a few movies. I started off with Juno and let's just say I'm not half as crazy as everyone else was about it. Yes it was cute and a little witty but for all that hype, it came across as nothing but average to me.
But that's not the movie I was first referring to at the beginning of this entry. Le scaphandre et le papillon is a most compelling story of one man's struggle to overcome the restrictions of a syndrome that has rendered him immobile, save his left eyelid. From the very first scene, the perspective of the film keeps you both captivated and curious. As the film progresses, each and every moment and experience that unfolds becomes more and more sacred both to the storyteller and those witnessing his story. Such a film makes me feel very fortunate, not because of my physical state of being, but because seeing such a raw struggle makes you aware of so much more meaningful things in life.
You'll cry, you'll laugh, you'll be filled with hope and despair and be made aware of your own humanity, and the strength and kindness that exists within each and every one of us. Life is truly worth living, even through his eyes.
I'm on a hunt for the book of the same title, both in english and french.
Yesterday was a far from pleasant day. I had my first ever experience of food poisoning after eating, what is usually, a yummy vegetarian flatbread sandwich from one of my mother's favorite restaurants. Apart from a previous incident where they had mistakenly put chicken in my sandwich, I had had no prior negative experiences with this particular eatery. But some hours after eating my sandwich in the late hours of the morning, I began feeling horribly ill. My head was pounding and my stomach was in such pain that I could not bring myself to walk anymore. Now I won't go into detail about the incidents that happened following my experience, but I get the feeling I won't be ordering from that restaurant anymore. Today, I'm feeling slightly better but my appetite is currently M.I.A., I just hate that it put me a day behind schedule as I've a lot that needs to be done pronto.
I miss NYC tremendously, although the peace and quiet here is absolutely refreshing.
And on the subject of NYC, some exciting news just came my way via myspace. Gnarls Barkley will be playing the 150th secret show in NYC on June 8th! Haven't had a chance to listen to their new album in full, but as before, I love what I've heard thus far.
I'm officially no longer a freshman. Another academic year to store in my archives and I am more than ready to move on. I can finally spend my money (and save some) on things other than text books and school supplies.
Last summer was truly epic, one of the best I've had in a long time. The only thing that could make this summer give last year's a run for it's money, would be seeing Radiohead, which sadly seems very unlikely at the moment. They'll be headlining several festivals in the U.S. this summer, along with other tour dates listed here.
As listed in a previous post, there'll be other shows to go as well as a number of exhibitions I've been meaning to visit. This being one of them. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be going to the GBH anniversary party this friday, so that means no Grandmaster Flash which is a bit of a damp start to my first week of holidays. But if there's anyone who'd like to go, I'll be more than willing to sell you a ticket.
Lately, my luck's been changing a heck of a lot and definitely for the better. Been through a rough year and a half and this semester, although better than last, hasn't been easy for me. But all the toil and trouble that I went through has definitely proved to be worth it - surprisingly. My results are slowly trickling in and it's all looking good (yes, even my beloved ART 153 class). I won't go into detail about my freshman year at college, but what I will say is, "boy am I glad it's over!"
Tomorrow, I write my very last freshman final. It's amazing to think how fast things start to move along once high school is over.
I love that the sun came out for mother's day, how lovely.
My oh my, this week flew by so absolutely fast! I'm not sure that last part of that sentence even made any sense, haha, but the meaning is understood, right?
Let's break it down a little, shall we?
I managed to submit all my CIS homework for the semester on Monday morning before 10 (12 weeks worth of weekly assignments!) that I'd managed to do in just over a week. Raced to class, that same morning, for my final exam in the same subject and aced the hell out of that HTML & Javascript test. Seriously, you don't know how accomplished that made me feel. The joy of getting so much work done in such a short period and getting an A is pretty much a miracle in my life.
Tuesday is a bit of a blur now, although what I do remember is panic and pictures - a near lethal combination for me. I needed to develop and print a series of portraits I'd shot of my friend Mathieu, for my photo class, and the darkroom assistant was no where to be found. I called upon my professor, who was teaching a class, just to see if he knew where the 'missing' assistant was. Unfortunately he didn't, so I asked him to showed me if he could give me a quick tutorial on how to develop my film. He did so hurriedly and left me to fend for myself. It was an almost successful attempt for my first try at pouring the chemicals and developing film by myself but, alas, I had to shoot the entire series AGAIN! But something good did come out of tuesday, I trekked around TriBeCa and found a series of amazing restaurants and took some equally amazing photographs for my alphabet assignment and just for fun.
Ah, Wednesday. Mid-week approaches and panic still follows me on account of what happened the day before. Matt was such a good sport and found time for me to shoot him again, and this time our mutual friend Christina joined in the fun. The film developing process was successful but I unfortunately ran out of paper and couldn't make the prints the way I wished. Ah well, the ones I did manage to print would have to do for my portfolio. I made a new amiga in the darkroom, Keiko, an exchange from Japan who is pure fun. She introduced me to bubble tea, ordered some food and chatted the night away.
Moving along swiftly. Thrusday came along and I decided to treat myself to some thrifting on 23rd street. I then trekked from 23rd to 34th street and from Lexington Avenue to Herald Square. It felt really great and I feel as though there's a mini 80's aerobics revival happening inside me. I've also started doing tae-bo.
And today, friday. The weather was down-right horrible. Had to hand in my photography portfolio and send a package off. I came back to my room soaking wet and slightly miserable, but no longer am I either.
This is my summer show list so far. Notice how many of them are free. I don't plan on going to shows if I have to pay, this is really as good as it gets. I need to save cash just in case, just in case.
May. 16 - MSTRKRFT, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (DJ Set), LA Riots, Grandmaster Flash May. 22 - Laura Veirs June. 14 - Vampire Weekend, Kid Sister, Ecstatic Sunshine (FREE) July. 4 - Sonic Youth, The Feelies (FREE) July. 9 - Feist July. 10 - Santogold, Diplo, Plastic Little, A-Trak, Kid Cudi (FREE) July. 12 - Beth Orton (FREE) July. 24 - Akron/Family (FREE) July. 26 - Ghostland Observatory (FREE) July. 31 - Wolf Parade Aug. 6 - Bloc Party, Does it offend you yeah? Aug. 15 - Dirty Projectors, White Williams (FREE)
I don't go to the cinema much and I think the last movie I watched in a theatre was probably, "No Country for Old Men," in February and only 'cause my roommate persuaded me to go. But that's not to say that I don't enjoy watching movies, au contraire, mon frere, I enjoy them throroughly! Another thing I love doing is writing lists, they make me feel as though I have things to do and that my life has some sort of organization to it - some may laugh after reading that. Therefore, I combined the two and organized a list of movies I've watched or re-visited recently. The result? Well scroll down, matey!
Paradise Now
I thought that one of the main characters looked like a little like Sufjan Stevens.
Elephant
This movie was shot in Portland, Oregon.
Songcatcher
Every song in this movie is beautiful.
Rosemary's Baby
I didn't like her in The Great Gatsby but she does a fine job in this one.
Another night, another guest. My second experience of Inside The Actors Studio happened on monday night. After 2 hours of standing in line and being told that we may not get seats, my friend Mathieu and I finally made it into the on-campus auditorium it was being held at. This is probably the best thing so far about being a Pace student, we get free entry. I know for a fact I'd never pay for an event like this.
Sarah Jessica Parker was a HUGE improvement from the interview with Brooke Shields. This is probably because I knew more about SJP than I did Brooke. Anyhow, I enjoyed the way she was dressed, her sense of humor and spontaneity which both amused me and kept me awake. The only downfall was the time. Oh la la! Sitting on your toosh for about 3 hours, listening to someone else speak about how wonderful their life is and you not being able to do practically anything can bring one on the edge of boredom. No offence SJP, even you were loosing it towards the end. That doesn't mean I won't be going to see Dave Chapelle when he takes the stage (or should I saw chair) on May 20th. Oh yes! I see laughter in your future, tons of it!
I'm sure most of you know that the Sex and the City movie is due out on the 30th of May. I didn't - had to google it, haha. Mayor Michael Bloomberg makes a guest appearance as, wait for it...HIMSELF! HA! Don't know why but that cracks me up some.
And on the subject of guest appearances, this guy was sitting in the first row last night. I'll be honest and say I probably watched a total of 3 episodes of project runway. Not my fault I had no idea what time it came on, TV isn't much a priority in my life.
The weekend is winding to a close and I feel as though it's been a productive one for me. Got 'round to the darkroom and made some progress, despite the fact that they ran out of chemicals so I couldn't develop my last roll. I really don't want to have to pay for it to be done elsewhere. Not cool, not cool.
I'm chomping away on a veggie-wheat subway sub and thinking about the fact that I don't have to dine on my school's cafeteria because my hideous meal plan days are practically OVER! This all makes me feel more in control of my own diet as I often felt obliged to spend my meal plan there on the poor selection of veggie foods they have available. But yes, I thought I'd write a top 5 list of the various things I look to do, see and places to go. Some of the things listed aren't things I do regularly but I still love them so. Bear in mind that they are in no particular order.
Here goes! (feel free to copy and paste for your own pleasure)
Top 5 things to do:
1. Go to shows/ listen to music - DANCE! 2. Shop & Thrift 3. Take photographs and record videos 4. Play sports 5. Read & have discussions
Top 5 things to do in NYC:
1. Go to concerts & shows 2. Visit museums 3. Shop 4. Discover "new" neighborhoods 5. Daydream
Top 5 places to eat in NYC (I'm a veg.):
1. Home 2. Subway 3. Red Bamboo 4. Dang Lai Palace 5. Maoz
Top 5 things to drink:
1. Water 2. Arizona lemonade 3. Cold green tea 4. Vodka & Cranberry/Sprite 5. Sierra Mist
Top 5 places to shop:
1. H&M 2. Thrift stores 3. eBay/Amazon 4. Forever 21 5. Urban Outfitters (mainly because they have jeans that fit me)
Top 5 artists (at the moment):
1. Bruce Springsteen 2. MGMT 3. Lykee Li 4. Robyn 5. Saul Williams
Top 5 magazines:
1. i-D 2. Vice 3. JPG 4. Filter 5. NYLON
Top 5 belongings:
1. My (5) cameras 2. Laptop 3. Environmentally friendly shopper tote 4. Purse/ID case 5. Watch & Cell Phone
Top 5 things to do this summer:
1. Lose weight 2. Go to as many free shows as possible 3. Siren Music Fest. 4. Lollapalooza (hopefully) 5. Take my little sister on trips to the city
I am in a terribly sad and morbid mood today which can be attributed to the weather, and the fact that I have to find a way to finish my film photography projects - URGH! I really should not have taken this class, it's definitely the worst decision I have managed to make this year. Mistakes, I make, but when it's something you had a significant amount of control over but fail at it, nothing feels worse.
I wish I'd truly thought this all out but in a sense, I had a know idea that it would be as expensive and time consuming as it has turned out to be, even after I found out that is a film and not a digital class. I though it would be a fun learning experience, which it has turned out to be, without the 'fun' of course. Some sort of cure for the way I'm feeling would be just about grand. I think I just need someone to bitch about life with.
All I want to do is stay in bed, catch up on my movie-watching and listen to Joanna Newsom and songs like this :
What a busy day! Running from NYC to Larchmont, Larchmont back to NYC and to Union Square and finally from Union Square to Grand Central and back downtown. I guess I still need to get used to just how big New York is, as a state and city. Living in Pretoria, I never really had to travel great distances to get anywhere. If you know a little about South African geography, traveling from NYC to Westchester is roughly equivalent (or more) in time if one were traveling from Johannesburg to Pretoria. It's been a while since I've been home so I stand to be corrected on that last statement.
But the highlight of my day was definitely taking my 11-year old sister to her first show ever! I was about nine or ten when I went to see Coolio in Kenya, an event I remember vaguely but definitely enjoyed. Since then, I've been to countless shows, most of them free or below $30 which I am incredibly proud of. One of my life motto's is, "Live cheap," - and I do!
We arrived there an hour in advance and were about 5th in line, I truly couldn't believe our luck as I'm still a little scarred from the Regina experience. The hour-long wait went by quite fast and next thing we knew, we were standing right at the front of the stage, inches away from an all-black wearing, bleach-blonde petite Swede who goes by her first name only (with a y instead of an i) - Robyn.
Her stage presence is like no other. She's funky, groovy and pitch-perfect. Feeding off the energy of the crowd and giving them her all in return, if you haven't managed to see her live yet that definitely needs to change. She's the third Swedish performer I've seen this year, so far, and they've all been great ambassadors for their country. Jag älskar Sverige
Here are some video's of Robyn's killer performances:
The crowd were just as amazing. Energetic, encouraging and wonderfully enthusiastic! The intimate in-store setting was an absolutely brilliant setting for my first experience of Robyn in the flesh.
The majority of the pictures here are taken by me. If you would like to use them for any reason/purpose, please contact me BEFORE you use them.
Music files/MP3's are for sampling reasons only, please support the artist by purchasing their music on iTunes, Amazon or other reliable sources.
Furthermore, if I have used any of your material and have not acknowledged you, please inform me and I will correct that. If you are an artist, record label or company representative and would like me to take down a song, please feel free to send me an email at: tmakinwa@hotmail.com.
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