Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)
Just saw a pretty cool documentry called Sketches of Frank Gehry. Frank gehry is and artist/ architect that is probably most known for his Disney concert hall or the the Guggenheim in Spain. The docuemntry exposes a man who cares nothing fro conformity and captures the essance of entrepenuership. He quits his job as an architect as as he puts it “he has nnever been hapier”
Check out a trailer here or more on imdb here
Just saw Musical Minds on PBS, pretty interesting stuff. The only problem I had with it was that it was to breif..
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/musicminds/
Musical Minds examined the inate symbiotic relationship man has with music, more specifically in this peice was the extraemem cases of this relationships. The film is broken up into 4 stories the first about a man having no music bone in his body who was struck by lighting and is now a composer and pinists playing to sell out crowds, the next is an amazing story of a blind autistic boy who began playing piano at 2 and now has the ability to
process music he hears in microseconds and then can play them back, a young man with a bad case of tarets who’s tcks are completly subdoed when playing the drums and finnaly a case of a woman who has amusia which is like color blindness for music, rythm, or melody. Cool show based on the works of Oliver Sacks, who is the man behind the movie awakenings and many of famous books on oddities of extremes of human mental limits such as the man who thought is wife was a hate. This is a fun movie that expores ow deep the connection between man and music go and as oliver pits it, Rythm is the only thng that can not be taken from the core of a man.
Do you or a friend have amusia? Take the test here to find out!: http://www.delosis.com/listening/measure1.html
( I am proud to say I scored 29/30 on both tests )
Catch some peices from the show here:
http://science.discovery.com/videos/musical-genius-color-notes.html
No Goals
What we are talking about here is the grasping of some greater force, call it fate or kismet, that can be harnessed if one is willing to give themselves up to natures will and allow this ‘force’ to guide them through their day. I have done my research my friends and can safely say that if you live in a city such as DC, NY, LA, SF or even Huntington Beach, CA you have an amazing story awaiting your discover right outside your door any day of the week. There is no need to plan, no need to find a buddy, no need to check the news paper for events. Nope, you and the city can work together to create an amazing night. It all lives within the faith and trust you give your cement filled provider.
Pursue the unexpected
You must give in and recognize the unexpected pleasures that can only be found when walking aimlessly through a bustling city. Is it a pleasure that can only be understood while doing so. Much like Martin Buber wrote in “I and Thou”,:
it is within the moment that understanding is achieved. The moments after a moment is realized the human mind begins to analyze it, it begins to process the moment thrusting it away from the experience you’re having and into your memory, or it will begin trying anticipate what should be expected to happen next; the experience itself is short lived and is felt – not understood.
Every time you leave your house and you give your fine city a chance to express itself it will return the favor with a parade you didn’t know about, a race that wasn’t on your calendar, a must see sculpture to see thats not on your to-do’s, an unfortunate accident that will be seen on the news to your suburban counterparts only hours after you have taken it in, or a simple interaction with a new or old friend that you didn’t expect in a part of town neither of you have any good reason being in. Adventure must be your middle name and patience must be your side kick.
The rules are fair and must be followed to a T and with complete acceptance both of the mind, the body and the spirit. They are as follows:
Simple Version (Bill of Nights Lite):
1) Go out early on a beautiful day
2) Don’t expect anything more then getting the chance to experience your city
3) Don’t make plans or make phone calls to see what your friends are up to
4) Push your self to stay out all day and night, do not go home till after midnight
Full Body Version (mmmm…..Sooooo meaty):
1) You must pick a beautiful day. Good weather and good sun is key
2) You must leave the house early, no later then 11 AM
3) You cannot have any expectations or plans set up for the day.
4) You must be prepared to enjoy the day and nature for what it is, do not expect to drink, or have “fun”. Focus more on getting to know your city, enjoying the day and being alone with your thoughts
5) You can not call a friend, you can answer calls but you can not make calls at any point of the night to see what going on with others. Doing so will derail the fate that nature has worked so hard to prepare that you have no chance of foreseeing.
6) You must go into any bar, restaurant or diner that catches your eye. If you have even the slightest of curiosity – follow it. Even if it’s to just go inside the establishment and walk around to get a feel for it and leave.
7) You must force your self to have a beer, snack or coffee at some of these places. Try your best not to convince yourself otherwise, walk in!
8) Make small talk with strangers. I know this is tough for many of you, especially the shy ones, but as a recovering shy-aholic I must tell you every chat has possible outcomes that grow exponentially greater when you and your world are combined to help permiutate the possible outcomes; onother words its necessary to shake your destiny up a bit. Small talk with strangers when you’re by yourself is like a brilliant chef throwing spices into a soup that allows for an unexpected taste to dazzle his customers. I learned from traveling throughout Europe that it was the necessity to experience my surrounding on a budget that forced me to asked questions about where to go, how they like their town etc. As Blanche DuBois put it , Always depend on the kindness of strangers
9) Wear sneakers
10) If you get tired sit on a bench but don’t get too comfortable, keep walking and exploring new neighborhoods. There is always a dip of excitement a few hours into the adventure. It’s normal and is a hump that needs to be passed much like a cramp you would get in a race.
11) Observe your surrounding do not stare at the ground
12) Do not have head phones on. The city is bustling with activity and you may just find, as I always have, someone you know in a random part of town bump into you. It’s amazing how bloody often this happens!
13) You must stay out till after midnight and not in any single place….once again keep moving
14) say yes. If you do see someone you know and they ask you to come with them for lunch or a beer etc….go!
15) Always leave one opportunity experienced for another new presented opportunity. Allot of people go wrong here. The night turns out great early, they get excited that The Bill of Nights worked and get too comfortable in that experience to entertain the possibility of a different one. A new request comes in and is turned down, the person thinking that the night was already success…it is not a success until you are out after midnight and interacting with all possible out comes. See 3+4
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Remember it is not a single event your are perusing rather it is the night as a whole. Experience new things, new neighborhoods, all new adventures every chance you get. I know it snot easy. I catch myself making mistakes now and again but stick to the mantra and correct myself as soon as I can. I have had an amazing night implementing The Bill of Nights 100% out of the 10-12 times I’ve done it. Not only that, but close friends that implemented it correctly have also succeeded in an amazing story about unexpected encounteres and memorable experiences.
If you believe in your city, your city will believe in you!
…
P.S. If you have a good or bad experience from your Implementation of “The Bill of Nights” leave it. Share your experience and comments 😀
Fantastic movie. It reminded me of one of my first novels I read as a child, James and the Giant Peach. I am very fond of movies that take a side story, or a backdrop to the story and make those peripherals rife in fantasy. The rest of the aspects of the movie are very true to life, in this case a fatherless boy and a scard old man. This movie was funny but didn’t create a comic relief character that pulled the audience to far from the story for a cheap laugh. It was full of great life messages, a few tear-jerkers, and a glimmer of insipration here and there. The movie did an awesome job with “shorts”, where a life time of information was passed on to the viewer gracefully and memorably in very little time. I saw the 3D version and I think it gave a new dimension to movie (no pun intended). It’s not a game changer but it is much like not seeing 20/20 and then getting a pair of glasses. I may be crazy but I could have sworn something wasn’t quite right as a certain select few scenes made my eyes cross for a second.
Yes this movie is funny, that’s its goal, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, I think I was a victim of over hype by my friends. In my opinion it’s your responsibility as a friend to decrease expectation and allow the person you are describing the movie to be pleasantly suprsed not unfortunatly disapointed. One of my firends described it well, ‘its almost like the whole movie was built up for the credits at the end’ – you’ll see what he means. So, my advice, see it for a good luagh but dont go in there expecting to much if you want to get the most out of it. — Or just watch it drunk.
I had a bad feeling going into this movie that I was not going to like it. Being that I loved transformers as a kid I had to give it a shot in a theater with all the bells and whists since its a CGI, and action pact film. As I stated above I’m happy I went in withte attitude so I wasnt upset walking out but much of the story was forced, and fairly cheesy. It was 2 1/2 hours so it was fairly long, it didnt have to be as there was allot of superflous scenes inthe move that didnt give the viewer any benifit at seeing. It is a kids movie even though it isnt rated as such and I dont know if I’m just getting or bt the vulgarity in it was few and far between but intense and unessecary when it would peek its head. There was conserviatism undertones and I feel like Michael Bay must be a stonch republican they way somethings were laid out. BUT the action was cool and the fighting scenes got me at the edge of my seat. I hate to nit-pick but I found myself lost form time to time when the robots would battle one another. It was confising to see who was hitting who at times as the robots facad weresn’t clearly distinct from one another; a little more color would have helped.
Found this new album on http://newmusic4.us (Shows recently released albums and a sle of ways to get them from torrent to youtube to amazon etc….)
It’s very Wu and it’s new and thats all I could ask for. Some times I want a completly new take and some evolution form a musician sometimes I just want more of what I like….This is just more of what I like as far as I cant tell.
I am a Kanye West music fan, and I am not afraid to admit that I can love his music. I appreciate his message but I do so for example the same way one appreciates the lady in the next cubicle, who annoys the hell out of you, tells your jerk of a boss off in front of everyone. It’s intensly awkward, and your jaw drops open in amazementat the audacity of the action. In the back of your mind you may think however, ”way to go, you sure did stick it to him!’ — but you would rather not associate with them moving forward.
Anyways I came across his blog not to long ago (http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/) and find that it churns out some great fasion, style, and songs. So I figured I would share the link and some of the posts with you, you can decide what to do with it for yourself.
Music
Great Jam with harpsichords and a tight beat:
http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=235082_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=
Design
Cool looking interior designs:
Art
Cool Art work:
Videos:
And Interesting Videos:
http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=234763_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=
Not a huge MJ fan directly but he definitly changed the game musically, and through perfrormance.
I have heard some pretty bad jokes recenlty about his death, and although I am just as cras and cold as the next guy, and although comically they were pretty funny, let’s try to show a little restraint and give the man some R.I.P respect — for at least a little while. I beleive although he was a hurt sole and seemed to be abused as a child both physically and mentally Michael had some great intentions and made quite an impact on the world in allot of positive ways. He transended all things black, white, masculine, feminine, child, adult pop icon, and recluse which inadverntently kept us all a bit more accepting or creative.
Tight beat laid down on Billie Jean track. Pretty sick.
http://hypem.com/#/artist/michael+jackson+with+kanye+west
Jay-Z’s remix of You Rock My World by Michael Jackson.
http://hypem.com/#/track/850467/Michael+Jackson+-+You+Rock+My+World+remix+ft+JayZ
Wouldn’t it be nice to go for a bike ride through a national arboretum?
It would be great for a beautiful day like today. How far do I have
to travel you ask….that’s the crazy part, it’s IN the city and only
a min. or two from the PointAbout office?!!
Check out the street level view on google maps to see the trail as if
you were there. Its late fall in the picks so not as floral:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=National+Arboretim&sll=38.910203,-76.966181&sspn=0.020771,0.049009&ie=UTF8&ll=38.900853,-76.976223&spn=0.041547,0.098019&z=14
Some nice pics of the park in season:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/collections.html
Sean Shadmand 