Okamoto Tomotaka - Ave Maria

This man, Okamoto Tomotaka has the voice of an angel. He sang Ave Maria in a big beautiful church, the sound of his voice echoing off of the tall concrete walls. The paintings surrounding the windows on the ceiling are so detailed and overwhelmed with children's heads. But the sound of his voice is so soothing its hard to notice anything else. People are coming in and out to hear him sing, some sitting in the pews come looking in through the open doors. I can tell you that if i heard that man's voice coming from inside a building, i would most definitely go inside to check it out.

How Walt Disney Cartoons are Made

It's hard to believe Snow White was such a big deal when it came out as the first full length motion picture from Disney because of the endless animated films we have to choose from today. Back then when if kids wanted to see a picture move, they had to make a flip book out of it. You start with a story, once your plot, conflict, resolutions, and conclusion come together, a director writes out a script. A musical composer puts together a score for the film, timing out each scene carefully so the men working with him can picture what it'll look like. Then comes the animation, drawing each picture over and over again with slight variations to make something of a flip book. Then the photographs are put into sequence and taken a photograph of, where later they're put together to create a series of fast moving pictures- video animation.

And that's only the first draft.

Animation really has come such a long way since Snow White, but it will always be the beginning of what is Disney today. 

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

As far as YouTube videos go, Marcel The Shell takes the cake. Marcel is a very small shell that has a face and wears shoes. She has a very distinct voice that I find irresistibly soothing. She has a couple video's, but the original is by far the best. It starts with her introducing herself as Marshell, not the first time she'd done that apparently. The second one isn't too bad, but the third only has one good line it about a grape.

Some of my favorite lines from the video

"guess what i use as a pen, a pen but it takes the whole family"
"one time i looked at a diamond and it gave me a sunburn"
"sometimes people say my head is too big for my body and then i say compared to what"

Art Performance Piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAEoLkCg8mA&feature=youtu.be

Ballet Dancers in Random Situations

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Panopticon

Panopticon is an architectural structure so that all inmates in an institution can be observed. The institutional building was designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. Obviously it would be impossible to view every room at once, but since every room can be observed, inmates wont know when they are being observed. This ensures constant good behavior because at all times, you don't know if big brother is watching you. "Bentham himself described the Panopticon as "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example." Elsewhere, in a letter, he described the Panopticon prison as "a mill for grinding rogues honest"".
I think it's a brilliant structure especially for prisons, although it's even more useful in hospitals, asylums, schools, and daycares. I'd like to see this structure built for a hospital so doctors and nurses can monitor all critical condition patients while they're in the ICU.

Hansel und Gretel

After having watched the less than 60 second trailer for Hansel und Gretel's tour, it looks like a modern day interpretation of the fairy tale. It's Laurent Pelly's highly imaginative retelling of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. It's an on stage show, performed in front of a live audience, so there's no time for after-the-fact special effects. It would look as though the witch's house is instead a candy store, and instead of a witch she must be the store owner. It looks like a great family friendly show to take the kids to.

Atlantis, The Palms Dubai Fireworks

I think it's safe to say that anything that happens in Dubai is going to be ten times what it would be in America. Considering how far they've come as a country, they are above and beyond when it comes to visuals and displays. However, to spend an estimated $20 million on fireworks for a less than 15 minute show seems quite ridiculous in my eyes. Especially since the show didn't take my breath away. In the beginning it just looks like they set off a bunch of the same fireworks in different spots at the same time. There's so much going on you don't even know what to look at. You've got a center set that seems to fly a little higher than the 10 or so sets on either side of it. The ones on the left side don't even look like they're getting higher than 15 feet off of the ground. If you ask me, it was a waste of $20 million dollars.

Citizen Kane- Rosebud

Although I have never seen Citizen Kane, after having watched that short video I don't believe I would ever want to. I personally am not a fan of scary movies so this doesn't quite fit into my movie collection. From the scene I watched it seems very erie, dark, and highly spooky. From what I could tell, a man took his last words before dropping the snow globe down the stairs. A woman, dressed as a nurse, entered the room and was unfazed by the dead man laying in bed. It's really a creepy scene, not one I wish to watch again.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Growing up, i've always been a fan of the Wizard of Oz. Thanksgiving is never complete until I've sat and watched the movie in its entirety. The song somewhere over the rainbow- i think it's very reflective and crucial to the story line, especially considering the movie begins in black and white and moves into color when Dorothy enters Oz. Judy Garland will and always will be the sole performer of this song- any other version is just fake.

Flip Book

My flip book represents a garden growing and then dying out... the cycle of life.

Grid Project

For our grid project, I was feeling rather homesick so I decided to do something fall themed. Since I had recently gotten into origami, I thought the pinwheels were a nice design. Using fall colors, I attempted to make it look like the foliage you see in the North.

Wicked

When I was in 6th grade my best friend Christina, her mother, my mother, and I went into New York City to see the Broadway show Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre. I'd already seen my fair of broadway shows at that point, but Wicked was nothing like I had ever seen before. From the decor of the theatre to the prop scenery before the curtains open, I was blown away from the first note. I have always been a Wizard of Oz fan- it's not thanksgiving until i've watched it after dinner, and to see the backstory was a truly special moment for me. By the next weekend, I had listened to the soundtrack enough times to know all the words to every single song performed.
One of the favorite songs, Defying Gravity, is truly a treat to see in show. At the highly climatic end of the song, our Elphaba is seen to be defying gravity while she hits a high F. I had always wondered how she was able to soar above the stage with no visible wires or harnesses, but I finally learned that Elphaba runs across stage to a hidden deck and then takes off. It’s operated by the actress herself so when she steps in the device it locks and she's standing on a steel plate. The whole thing lifts her off the ground and it looks like her skirt is extending forever and she’s flying. The device is locked around her waist so there’s no way for her to get out unless she presses the release button. Makes it seem a lot less magical, but definitely better than visible strings, (and safer).
I also thought it was very cool that they use MAC eyeshadow to make Elphaba her famous green color instead of a gross green body paint.

Vaudeville Acts

Vaudeville is a type of entertainment popular in the late 19th century in America. It consisted of a series of unrelated acts such as magic, dance, comedy, and animals. It was developed from the form of variety shows put on in beer halls for male audiences. In 1881, Tony Pastor introduced a successful "clean variety show" in New York City. He tried thereafter to get others to follow suit and clean up their shows for broader audiences.
I always enjoyed the thought of burlesque dancers, mostly because of the fast and vigorous dances these women put their bodies through. Watching the woman dance with the chair however, made me question whether or not it's real because that is some serious talent to be able to balance a chair on your face.
The woman in the swing is a little more traditional- you can see acts like that at a circus or a big tent show. Back then i can't imagine them having safety nets or harness's to ensure safety so I feel it's only right to give these performers extra credit for being so brave and nonchalant about swinging through the air.

Bailey Art Gallery

This picture stood out to me a lot because how creative it is, however i don't quite understand it. If "I can not remember" is cut out, what's the difference with "I can not forget" being imprinted. I suppose "I can not remember" is symbolized through the words falling out, but since it's cut out of the paper, it looks more like it's carved into memory. I do understand and appreciate the "i can not forget" being imprinted into the paper because it's literal.

This piece I especially liked because of all the realness involved. It's the perfect depiction of the art produced by early grade school children. They're always taught the writing lesson, with structure and harsh rules, but when they're given the opportunity to create, to draw what they feel, thats' when the real lesson is being taught.

The Paris Opera House

Watching the video of the Paris Opera House actually got me really excited because The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite movies. Unfortunately, until this moment I never put two and two together to realize what the theatre in the movie was. The story of the chandelier falling from the ceiling is a great but tragic story. The colors in the paintings on the circular ceiling, the attention to detail on the front of the building but even thoroughly throughout the entire monstrosity that is the Paris Opera House.

Madama Butterfly

After watching the Madama Butterfly opera i felt an array of emotions. It's a sad but beautiful love story between a woman and a man, a woman and her daughter, and a woman and herself. Madama Butterfly is something of a phoenix woman. When the sailer returns and takes their baby she's so heartbroken, so empty, that she rips herself apart until theirs nothing left but her bones in bits and pieces. With a new day came a new Madama Butterfly, out of the pieces came a beautiful and more vibrant butterfly than the beginning of the film, and from that came again Madama Butterfly.

September 11, 2001

I was only in second grade, so I never felt the initial shock of what had actually happened. Growing up only 45 minutes outside the city, our family was deeply disturbed by the attacks on the World Trade Center. I remember being sent home from school early that day- everybody was. It was weird though, because even though I lived up the hill from school, I had to wait until my mom came and picked me up to go home. All the adults were distraught and on edge, and they wouldn't really explain anything to us since we were so young. Not like we would understand what had happened, but it would've helped to hear that everything was going to be okay. It's heartbreaking to think anybody could commit such a terrible crime on purpose, but as we are one, we will never forget.

Notre Dame, Paris

The stained glass windows in the church are really something to marvel at. The use of color and the smallest pieces of glass assorted between the panes must have the most beautiful reflection when the sun shines through. The detail in the faces on the outer arches of the doorways is so matriculate you would think they were real. While some are more pleasant than others, it takes a real artist to carve stone like that.

Colosseum

The colosseum, a roman structure used for "celebrating, sports events, and bloodshed" is a massive structure built in 70AD and over half still stands today. The outer south wall, having been destroyed in an earthquake, is gone completely, but it almost makes the place so much cooler. Instead of it being an enclosed oval, it's half open so you can see south from the north side. It's an iconic place of history, and a must see if you're ever in Rome!

Greek Theatre

The photograph is of a traditional Greek amphitheater from the early AD period. It was the ideal setting for plays and performances alike with the stage in the center and all rows of seating on an incline so there's no bad seat in the house. Even though traditional theaters today have a slight curve in the audience around the stage, they're not as circular as you see here. It looks as if the seating has been restored, and although the backdrop is in ruin, it's a beautiful sight to see.

Philosophy of Technology

Seeing how far we've come with technology, it's hard to have someone hate the concept of it. When you can build a machine that's capable of anything, you've only just scratched the surface of endless possibilities. However, with such advancement comes dangers. To some it's perceived that technology has had a negative impact on todays society.
Distinguishing between the philosophy of science and the philosophy of technology isn't an easy task either. A good way to distinguish between the two is to think, "science concerns itself with what is, whereas technology concerns itself with what is to be". 

Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling"

After having read the piece on wrestling, I continue to stand behind my views of wrestling being absolutely barbaric. In the piece, the differences between wrestling and boxing are compared by their techniques and reactions from the crowd. Wrestling is done for the pure enjoyment, in todays sense is completely staged, and yet still the routine seems to be at random. With boxing you can predict an outcome- you can bet on the winner. It would seem that wrestling does not have the luxury. In the piece it was stated that "America wrestling represents a sort of mythological fight between Good and Evil".  Wrestling is literally two people (or more) put inside of a ring to fight for the sole pleasure of onlookers.

Sunshine enthusiast. Smile aficionado. 

Taking life a day at a time and praying I don't get left behind.

I excel in putting words together to help an audience feel emotion. 

I enjoy the experience to learn and the opportunity to share.

So give me sunshine, a smile, and a pen and imagination is on paper.