Sunday, March 28, 2010
Lady Gaga YouTube Videos: 15 of the Best
Samuel Axon Mashable March 25, 2010
You may have heard that Lady Gaga is the first music artist to reach one billion online video views. Some of us here at Mashable say that’s downright ridiculous — a tragedy, even — but other staffers are cheering her on.
And while we may not be able to agree on the merits of her music, we did think it would be appropriate to celebrate the occasion with 15 of the best Gaga YouTube (
) videos. Watch these videos and tell us if you can figure out why Gaga has outdone all the competition — why does she appeal so much to the YouTube-browsing, web-savvy crowd?
Maybe she’s just in the right place at the right time, maybe her label’s Vevo music video strategy is responsible, or maybe there’s just something undefinable about Gaga’s global appeal. These videos might serve up some hints.
Music videos are at the top, everything else is farther down. Enjoy the music, Gaga disciples! Everyone else: Enjoy trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.
Table of Contents
- Music Video: “Bad Romance”
- Music Video: “Telephone” feat. Beyoncé [Explicit]
- Music Video: “Poker Face”
- Music Video: “Just Dance”
- Music Video: “Paparazzi”
- Music Video: “LoveGame”
- Stefani Germanotta: Gaga Before She Was Gaga
- Tutorial: Lady Gaga “Poker Face” Makeup
- Cover: Christopher Walken Performs “Poker Face”
- Cover: “Bad Romance”/”Poker Face” Acoustic Ballad
- Mashup: Gaga in Wonderland
- Mashup: South Park Does Lady Gaga on Rock Band (Extended Mix)
- Parody: “Poker Face” (“Outer Space”)
- Parody: “Bad Romance” (Key of Awesome)
- Parody: “Telephone” (Key of Awesome)
Music Video: “Telephone” feat. Beyoncé [Explicit]
Stefani Germanotta: Gaga Before She Was Gaga
She wasn’t always outrageous. This early video of Stefani Germanotta — Gaga before she was Gaga — shows a young songwriter singing and playing the piano like Norah Jones without any elaborate costumes or electronic gimmicks. You might be surprised at what you hear and see here.
Tutorial: Lady Gaga “Poker Face” Makeup
Want to look as outrageously glamorous as Lady Gaga? Here’s how.
Cover: Christopher Walken Performs “Poker Face”
Campy movie star and regular SNL host Christopher Walken appeared on the BBC one Halloween to read some Gaga lyrics. That’s an awful lot of weird in one minute.
Cover: “Bad Romance”/”Poker Face” Acoustic Ballad
We were originally going to include a far more popular acoustic Gaga cover, but when looking for it we stumbled on this one and decided to include it instead. It has only a few thousand views, but it is unexpectedly beautiful.
Tim Burton’s cinematic reinvention of Alice () in Wonderland is a web video hit in its own right. This mashup brings Gaga to Wonderland in Alice’s place. She fits right in.
Mashup: South Park Does Lady Gaga on Rock Band (Extended Mix)
This is an extended version of a very short clip of South Park’s Cartman singing a Lady Gaga song with his buddies while playing a Rock Band-like music video game. The original clip went viral shortly after the episode aired, then Lady Gaga’s songs came to Rock Band in real life. Coincidence? Probably. But it’s fun to think maybe they were related!
Parody: “Poker Face” (“Outer Space”)
The joke here seems to be that Lady Gaga is a space alien. Fair enough, but the video isn’t as funny as the other parodies below. At more than 21 million views, however, it is much more popular.
Parody: “Bad Romance” (Key of Awesome)
This episode of Next New Networks’ Key of Awesome funny music video web series helped the series make its appearance in our January webisodes chart. It’s pulled in just shy of eight million views so far.
Parody: “Telephone” (Key of Awesome)
After the “Bad Romance” was so well received, Key of Awesome tried to make lightning strike twice with a parody of Gaga’s new video “Telephone.” This new video was just plugged on Perez Hilton’s celebrity gossip blog, so expect it to get some serious traffic.
The 'Mighty Nine' of Beethoven
by Richard Nilsen The Arizona Republic Mar. 28, 2010 12:00 AM
Herbert Von Karajan Conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major 'Eroica', Op. 55
The mighty 9 symphonies of Beethoven
Beethoven's nine symphonies are the cornerstone of classical music. Every conductor cuts his teeth on them; every audience expects them. Their monumentality influenced every composer who came after him for at least a century, and even now, it's impossible to dip into classical music without addressing "The Nine," as they're known. But the symphonies are very distinct; each has its own personality. The Phoenix Symphony will be playing five of the nine over the course of its Beethoven Festival, along with the Violin Concerto and several shorter pieces. Here's a quick overview of the most famous set of symphonies in the repertoire. Please note that modern critics aren't the only ones who are idiots.
Symphony No. 1 in C
First performed: 1801.
Beethoven's first is his lightest, brightest and funniest, an obvious imitation of the spirit of his teacher, Joseph Haydn. Its jokes begin with the very first notes: a dissonance in the wrong key!
Initial critical response: One critic called it "a caricature of Haydn pushed to absurdity."
Suggested recording: No one has captured the wit of this symphony better than David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
Symphony No. 2 in D
First performed: 1803.
Now considered one of Beethoven's "shorter, lighter" symphonies, it was a large symphony by the standards of the time and a challenge for its first audience.
Initial critical response: The Leipzig critic called it "a gross enormity, an immense wounded snake, unwilling to die, but writhing in its last agonies, and (in the finale) bleeding to death."
Suggested recording: Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony.
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, "Eroica"
First performed: 1805.
This immense symphony single-handedly changed the course of music history; twice as long as the standard Haydn symphony and built on ideas of heroism, with a great funeral march as a slow movement.
Initial critical response: The leading music journal of the day described it as "a daring wild fantasia of inordinate length and extreme difficulty of execution. . . . There is no lack of striking and beautiful passages in which the force and talent of the author are obvious; but, on the other hand, the work seems often to lose itself in utter confusion."
Suggested recording: Many modern performances are too tame. For the needed heroism and grandeur, and the sheer visceral excitement, try Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.
Symphony No. 4 in B-flat
First performed: 1807.
Robert Schumann called it a "graceful Grecian maiden between two Norse giants." It seems like a retreat after the furious charge of the "Eroica," but if it is less noisy, it is subtly subversive, with an introduction in the "wrong" key.
Initial critical response: Carl Maria von Weber wrote a review in which the orchestra instruments all bitterly complain about having to play this symphony and then are threatened with being forced to play the "Eroica" if they don't shut up.
Suggested recording: Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic are as elegant as it gets.
Symphony No. 5 in C-minor
First performed: 1808.
For two centuries, this has been Beethoven's calling card, the primal symphony, restless, turbulent, an epic struggle to wrest a triumphant C-major out of an obsessive C-minor, and with more than 700 relentless iterations of the iconic rhythm: "Da-da-da-dum."
Initial critical response: French critic Jean Lesueur said it was such exciting music that it shouldn't even exist.
Suggested recording: The music is so familiar, and so emotional, it's hard to play now without irony, but when attacked with conviction, it still packs a wallop. Wilhelm Furtwangler and the Vienna Philharmonic are still the champs in a pre-stereo recording, but in modern sound, Carlos Kleiber and the same orchestra come very close.
Symphony No. 6 in F, "Pastoral"
First performed: 1808.
This is Beethoven's musical picture of nature, complete with birdcalls and thunderstorm. But it's also one of the composer's most tightly argued pieces musically, with much of the symphony drawn from the first two bars: It's a miracle of concision, even when most discursive.
Initial critical response: Berlioz agreed with critics, "as far as the nightingale is concerned: the imitation of its song is no more successful here than in M. Lebrun's well-known flute solo, for the very simple reason that since the nightingale only emits indistinct sounds of indeterminate pitch it cannot be imitated by instruments with a fixed and precise pitch."
Suggested recording: Every critic's choice in this seems to be Bruno Walter and the pickup Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
Symphony No. 7 in A
First performed: 1813.
Richard Wagner called this the "apotheosis of the dance," and it is the most rhythmically driven of all symphonies; the second movement hardly contains anything but its rhythm. It all comes together in a Dionysian paean to the spirit of life.
Initial critical response: Weber expressed the opinion that Beethoven "was now ripe for the madhouse."
Suggested recording: Even though it's a pre-stereo recording, you have to hear Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony in a driven performance that wrests every ounce of power out of the score.
Symphony No. 8 in F
First performed: 1814.
The composer looks backward with a smaller, almost Haydnish symphony, full of Haydnish "jokes," such as the metronome tick-tick of the second movement.
Initial critical response: One critic wrote that "the applause it received was not accompanied by that enthusiasm which distinguishes a work which gives universal delight; in short - as the Italians say - it did not create a furor."
Suggested recording: Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony give a brawny performance of this work and include a really fine Symphony No. 7 as well.
Symphony No. 9 in D-minor, "Choral"
First performed: 1824.
Beethoven's magnum opus, which adds singers
and chorus to the symphony and expresses the composer's view of universal brotherhood and the joy of the cosmos. At more than an hour long, it is immense and usually performed for ceremonial occasions.
Initial critical response: "Beethoven is still a magician, and it has pleased him on this occasion to raise something supernatural, to which this critic does not consent."
Suggested recording: Despite mangling the finale by changing Beethoven's "Freude" ("joy") to "Freiheit" ("freedom"), there is no more committed performance than the one given by Leonard Bernstein at the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Arizona's other grand canyons
by Roger Naylor Special for The Republic Mar. 26, 2010 04:10 PM
John Stanley/The Arizona Republic A magical world of sinuous sandstone curves and filtered sunlight awaits hikers who venture into Lower Antelope Canyon, on the Navajo Reservation near Page.
More than any other feature, Arizona is defined by canyons. All across the state, those great gouges in the landscape harbor scenery and secrets. Besides the Grand, an array of other unforgettable canyons invites exploration. Whether you prefer to do your canyoneering by car or on foot, here's a sampler of spectacular Arizona canyons.
Navajo Reservation
Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic Light paints the walls of Antelope Canyon.
Some canyons act as portals to other worlds, and if you've ever set foot in Antelope Canyon, perhaps the most famous slot canyon on Earth, you understand that sensation. Just east of Page, Antelope is a cavelike passage through water-sculpted sandstone that glistens with quartz crystals, which seem to rearrange the shafts of sunlight before your eyes. It is an ethereal experience. Both Upper and Lower Antelope canyons contain graceful, curving slotlike contours. You must have a guide to enter Antelope Canyon.
If you're seeking a slot-canyon experience without camera-wielding crowds, sign up for a tour of Canyon X. More remote and slightly deeper than Antelope, Canyon X receives far fewer visitors. It is accessible only through Overland Canyon Tours in Page. Groups are limited to six, allowing for a very personal experience.
North of Chinle, don't miss the chance to peer into the sculpted chasm of Canyon de Chelly. Anyone can take the stunning scenic drives along the rim of this elaborate canyon system, but to truly appreciate the heart-squeezing grandeur, hire a Navajo guide for a walk, horseback ride or four-wheel-drive tour. With a guide, you receive knowledge of the landscape and an understanding of the culture of the people who still farm within these sandstone walls. Except for hiking a short trail to White House Ruins, entering the canyon without a Navajo guide is prohibited.
Oak Creek Canyon
The Mogollon Rim slashes across the midsection of the state, forming the abrupt southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. The soaring escarpment creates optimum conditions for canyons as streams tumble from forested high country to the desert below, carving dramatic defiles along the way. The most famous of these is the 12-mile-long gorge of Oak Creek Canyon, and if you haven't made that drive, you really can't call yourself an Arizonan. But there are other canyons, equally beautiful.
Sycamore Canyon
Take a moment to imagine Oak Creek Canyon without the development. Imagine the same towering red-rock buttes and haunting formations but with no roads or resorts, no homes or hotels. You've just conjured an image of adjacent Sycamore Canyon.
At 20 miles long and 7 miles wide, Sycamore is the second-largest canyon in the state. Far from pavement, the rugged outback of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness provides habitat for deer, mountain lions, black bears and hardy hikers seeking unspoiled beauty.
The Parsons Trail, which begins near Clarkdale, provides the easiest entry point, starting from the south and rambling through a shade-draped corridor alongside Sycamore Creek. During spring, a riot of wildflowers enhances the lush setting; in summer, several premier swimming holes beckon. Parsons Spring marks the end of the trail and the end of reliable water in Sycamore Canyon. The rest of the vast canyon is a fiercely scenic but arid wilderness.
Verde Valley
If you're looking for a wet-footed canyon experience, this is the right neighborhood. Fossil Creek, Wet Beaver Creek and West Clear Creek form three canyons that undercut the Mogollon Rim in slender riparian channels. Each of the waterways can be accessed via trails.
David Wallace/The Arizona Republic - Water flows down Fossil Creek at the old dam site outside of Strawberry on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. The restoration of Fossil Creek continues as the state grants it protected water status, APS moves toward removing the final pieces of its old hydroelectric operation and the Forest Service begins work on a plan to accommodate visitors to the popular waterway.
The Bell Trail explores the lower portion of Wet Beaver and leads to a renowned swimming hole, "the Crack," after 3 miles. Horseback riders can drop into Fossil Creek Canyon by the Mail Trail, a route once used by mail carriers traveling from Camp Verde to Payson. Note that the Forest Service recently imposed camping restrictions and campfire bans to protect the oasis of Fossil Creek.
The Bull Pen Trail leads into lower West Clear Creek, and the short, steep Maxwell and Tramway trails descend from atop the Mogollon Rim. The architecture of this narrow gorge creates a perilous, unique environment. Up to 2,000 feet high, sheer cliffs cradle the plunging waters. In many spots, the stream fills the canyon from wall to wall, requiring hikers to swim and wade through pools, not just once or twice but 15 to 20 times. Venturing into the inner portion of West Clear Creek Canyon should be attempted only by experienced canyoneers.
Southern Arizona
Here, isolated mountain ranges rise from the desert floor to form sky islands, or isolated ecosystems that occur at a high altitude. And where you have mountains, you're bound to have canyons. South of Tucson, in the heart of the Santa Rita Mountains, pyramid-shaped Mount Wrightson soars to 9,453 feet. Most people flock to nearby Madera Canyon for exquisite birding and the trails leading to Wrightson, but you can avoid the crowds by climbing through Florida Canyon. Along the way, you'll enjoy panoramic views and bursts of wildflowers. The canyon is named not for the state but for the Spanish word meaning flowery.
Northeast of Tucson, a perennial stream has carved out a trough up to 1,000 feet deep in the Galiuro Mountains. Aravaipa Canyon twists as a verdant ribbon through unrepentant desert. High cliff walls adorned with cactus overlook this splashy oasis, home to a diverse population of wildlife, including bighorn sheep. The canyon stretches for 11 miles, and wading the creek is often the only option. The canyon is a federally designated wilderness area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Access is by permit only.
If you're looking for something other than hiking, drive Carr Canyon Road into the Huachuca Mountains, outside Sierra Vista. It is a steep, narrow, unpaved road with no guardrails, so use the pullouts to savor the jaw-dropping views across the San Pedro Valley. After snowmelt and heavy rains, spectacular Carr Canyon Falls can be seen leaping down the mountainside. You'll also pass the remains of an old mining town, called Reef, and a couple of beautiful campgrounds. The upper portion of the road is closed during winter.
RIP: Dick Giordano 1932-2010 | The Beat
Comics lost a giant with the passing this morning of Dick Giordano, a former Executive Editor at DC and an influential inker who helped shape the look of Bronze Age comics and usher in a new era of talent.
Giordano’s career included work at Charlton, Dc and Continuity Associates, the studio run by Neal Adams. As Adams’ inker on such much admired works as Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Giordano’s techniques influenced a generation of inkers, including Terry Austin, Bob Layton, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein, and Bob Wiacek, essentially setting the tone for the entire Bronze Age of comics.
Giordano was equally important as an editor. At Charlton, he helped create and revamp their line of characters. That feat got him a job at DC. During his first stint there, from 1967-1970, he helped usher in a more modern era of comics storytelling with books such as Bat Lash and Manhunter, and helping to bring in the first wave of new talent to DC Comics since the Golden Age. After leaving to go to Continuity, he came back to DC in 1981 and continued at VP/Executive Editor from 1983 until 1993, where he oversaw such epochal events as the maturation of the Direct Market, limited rights for creators, the publication of Watchmen and Dark Knight and the establishment of the Vertigo line. While Giordano was not the originator of these changes, along with Jenette Kahn and Joe Orlando, he helped usher in the first truly modern era of comics.
He was much admired as a a line editor — one who supports and advises without heavy-handedness.
Giordano retired from DC in 1993, partly due to hearing loss that made working in an executive capacity difficult. However, he continued to draw and ink and was a familiar figure at conventions, and an important mentor and confidante for some of comics’ most important creators of the period. In recent years, he had suffered from leukemia and was hospitalized last week.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
All the World's a Stage
Inspired by my friend Sebastian Collier:
Meaning
Life is like a play - we merely go through the stages of our life acting it out.
Origin
From Shakespeare's As You Like It, 1600:
JAQUES:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Inspiration
Andrew Carnegie
How to keep top performers
With the national unemployment level at almost 10 percent and the state of Arizona’s following closely behind, employers that are hiring in this market have the luxury of selecting from the cream of the crop.
But that trend is unlikely to continue as the economy improves. Human resources executives say furloughs, salary cuts and policies of doing more with less can leave companies vulnerable to losing their best staff when the economy rebounds.
Analysts say businesses can take action now to help prevent mass turnover and keep morale and productivity moving in the right direction.
“At any time, it’s important for an organization to pay attention to its culture, but it’s even more critical now,” said Donna Dobrovich, an owner and principal of DFD and Associates and a partner in Peak Performance Coaching of Phoenix. She specializes in executive and leadership coaching for individuals, teams and organizations.
Dobrovich said having a positive, productive culture doesn’t have to be expensive.
“One of the most important things in times like this is communication. The more a company can communicate about their business, about their clients and about what is happening in the company, the better employees feel,” she said.
Simply having a manager walk around the office and connect with people can have a huge impact on employees, said Rhonda Bannard, founder of Inspired Connections.
Bannard and Dobrovich both said it’s important for employees to feel their work is making a difference. That is particularly true for younger people, who are more interested in working for companies that do good things and are civic-minded, Bannard said.
With businesses in so many industries struggling to stay afloat in the recession, simple things often have great impact on both morale and expenses.
“Trying to get employees to act in healthy ways can help cut costs, so it could be a basic as setting up bowls of fruit and granola in your break room,” Bannard said.
Other ideas include a dress-down day accompanied by a suggested donation to a charity, participation in an organized walk to benefit a nonprofit or even a weekly walk around the block, HR professionals say.
Getting creative
SCF Arizona, the largest workers’ compensation insurance provider in the state, focuses on finding creative ways to help employees, said SCF spokeswoman Christa Severns.
As part of that effort, SCF opened a wellness clinic at its Phoenix office in December. Through a contract with a third-party licensed medical provider, the clinic offers workers a handy place to get flu shots, have lab work done and receive treatment for medical issues such as asthma, influenza and strep throat.
“This is a win-win for everyone,” Severns said. “Our employees are finding it very convenient, and it’s helping us keep our work force healthy.”
Severns declined to talk about the company’s financial investment in the facility, but she said the on-site clinic lets employees pop downstairs for a half-hour instead of taking a morning off to see a doctor, which cuts down on employee absenteeism.
SCF managers also are doing more at the department level to boost productivity and morale.
Severns said keeping communication levels high and updating workers on company happenings are key elements of that process. Managers also give out quarterly awards for jobs well done, and colleagues at all levels can nominate one another for recognition, she said.
The company newsletter also highlights one SCF employee each month, who receives a plaque and small gift for contributions to the workplace.
These are just some examples of the many things companies can do that don’t cost a great deal, but can show staff how much they are appreciated.
“This has been talked about, and still people don’t do it. But people remember it,” Bannard said. “It’s taking the time to write a handwritten personal note, just because. That is just not done in this technology-driven age.”
Tide will turnFinding ways to keep top talent happy during the recession is much easier than trying to replace them after they leave for greener pastures in a better economy.
Chad Heinrich, market director for KForce Staffing in Phoenix, said there is going to be a lot of turnover when the economy rebounds.
“It’s going to be a domino effect,” he said.
Heinrich said the loss of a single worker can result in a series of promotions or disrupt operations as work is distributed to others while a replacement is sought. It’s a less-than-ideal situation for companies trying to position themselves for success.
“A lot of companies need to prepare for these situations and these scenarios. The hiring process has definitely picked up,” he said.
KForce is working with corporate clients to conduct risk assessments, identifying departments that are most likely to experience turnover.
“The question that employers need to ask themselves is, ‘Do you think you are at risk of losing these overqualified people?’ And they need to prepare themselves for that,” Heinrich said.
Employers face the risk of losing workers, but creating a positive workplace culture — particularly in today’s environment — holds a lot more sway than it did three years ago, he said.
“Many times, it comes down to intangibles,” he said. “And the intangibles today include job security and the way (people) have been treated during this downturn.”
Get Connected
Inspired Connections: www.inspiredconnections.net
Peak Performance Coaching: www.peakcoach.com
SCF Arizona: www.scfaz.com
KForce: www.kforce.com
Morale-Boosting Tips
1. Walk around the office or the department daily.
2. Communicate to people exactly how their work is helping the company achieve the mission, get a deal or improve the bottom line.
3. Offer fresh fruit, granola or some other healthy snacks in the break room on a Monday or a Friday.
4. Host a dress-down day with a suggested contribution benefiting a nonprofit.
5. Hand-write a note to thank or congratulate an employee for a specific accomplishment.
6. Organize an off-site event that helps a nonprofit, school or community.
7. Organize a lunchtime walk around the block.
8. Use or establish a company newsletter to focus on individual workers and their contributions.
9. Establish peer-to-peer nominations to recognize employees.
10. Hold an “accomplishment” meeting, not a “what needs to be done” meeting
Trentemøller: Moan (Trentemøller Vocal Remix ft. Ane Trolle)
Credits
Artist: Trentemøller
Title: Moan
Mix: Trentemøller Vocal Remix Video Edit
Vocals: Ane Trolle
Label: Poker Flat Recordings
Directors: Niels Gråbøl & Ulrik Crone
Running time: 03:33 min.
Additional: shot in January 2007 on location in Moscow at minus 25 degrees Celcius.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Daily Dose Pick: Gorillaz
by Doug Levy Flavorwire March 9, 2010
Three albums in, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s animated superstars are still going strong, roping in Mos Def, De La Soul, Lou Reed, and Snoop Dogg for a stay on their Plastic Beach.
Other guests include Fall legend Mark E. Smith and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys, plus the Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simenon. As always, equal attention is given to the band’s visual side, as represented by an immersive online game and a stunning video for lead single “Stylo,” which blends animation and live action and stars quintessential badass Bruce Willis.Visit the official Gorillaz website, stop by their MySpace page, become a fan on Facebook, check out their YouTube channel, and buy the album.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Stamps 'capture' Abstract Expressionists
by Richard Nilsen The Arizona Republic Mar. 14, 2010 12:00 AM
A new set of stamps honors America's "bad boy" artists - and one woman.
The U.S. Postal Service has issued a page of 44-cent stamps with images of 10 paintings by the group of artists known as the New York School, or Abstract Expressionists, who brought the gravitational center of world art from Europe to America for the first time just after World War II. They were famous at the time as gruff, hard-drinking working-man's artists in denims and Dickey's shirts whose work gave up using recognizable subjects for pure color, shape and brushstroke.
Included are Hans Hofmann, Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock - and Joan Mitchell.
Someone once looked at a painting by Pollock - a swirl of drips and swipes - and couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be a landscape, a portrait or a still life."What is it?" he asked the artist.
"A painting," Pollock said.
For him and his colleagues, a painting need not be "of" something anymore than a symphony was "about" something. It was an experience to be had, not to be explained.
This group of artists saw themselves as heroic: They were changing the course of art history and they knew it. And their canvases were heroically large, which kind of makes postage stamps not much more than computer-top icons for the real thing. How can you reduce a wall-size Pollock to an inch square?
One is reminded of a series of paintings by California artist Robert Irwin, who as an experiment once created "tiny epics," by making very small versions of Abstract Expressionist paintings as a kind of ironic joke: Can it be heroic if it's pint-size?
Or, put another way, size matters.
"These bold artists used art to express complicated ideas and primitive emotions in simplified, abstract form," says Linda Kingsley, USPS senior vice president for strategy and transition. "Although these stamps can't compare in size to their real-life canvases, they bring the passion and spirit of Abstract Expressionism to an envelope near you."
Well, maybe. But it is nice to see these artists recognized.
Although you have to wonder, if there are any misprints, will you be able to tell?
New museum gives popular culture a whole new meaning
The Barbie display of popular culture artifacts at the Arizona Popular Culture Museum at City North.
by Jennifer McClellan The Arizona Republic Mar. 12, 2010 11:55 AM
Certain toys - Barbie dolls, G.I. Joes, Star Trek figures and Matchbox cars - are so ingrained in American popular culture they span social, ethnic and generational divides. At Phoenix's first museum devoted exclusively to popular culture, a Phoenix man pays homage to toys that are more than just playthings.
Using his personal collection of nearly 10,000 items, John Edwards opened the Arizona Popular Culture Museum in a 4,700-square-foot space at CityNorth on March 5. He hopes the museum will inspire visitors to think about the connection popular culture has with science, technology and education.
"This stuff is memory- and thought-inducing," Edwards said, pointing to the hundreds of small boxes filled with toy superheroes, baseball players and dolls. "Hopefully, it stirs something in people and makes them think."
That's just what toys can do, said Jack Hirsch, advisory board member of Arizona State University's Center
for Film, Media and Popular Culture. Hirsch, who has been in the toy industry for 45 years, working with companies such as Mattel and VTech, said toys like those at the museum are essential to childhood development.
"Playing with toys from an early age really becomes the way children discover things (about the world)," he said. "Child's play is also their natural work."
For Edwards, a Major Matt Mason toy astronaut sparked his lifelong interest in science. The toy ignited his imagination, he said, and led him to pursue an education in physics and mathematics. While he never became an astronaut, Edwards graduated with a master's of science degree from the University of Arizona and worked as an aerospace engineer.
Now retired from engineering at 51, his story is the kind of scenario Edwards hopes to create for children who visit the museum. That's why Edwards developed partnerships with 17 school districts, from Scottsdale to Peoria, Cave Creek to Chandler. Perhaps, he says, the baseball exhibit will spawn an interest in statistics, or the "Lord of the Rings" display a love of creative writing.
"A kid is only as successful at school as he is engaged," Edwards said.
Edwards doesn't want the toys to teach children only about math and language. He hopes the learning will extend to social aspects by creating bonds between people of all ages. Take the Peanuts characters, he says, standing next to a variety of Lucy, Snoopy and Charlie Brown figures. They've remained popular since Charles M. Schulz drew them in comic strips starting in 1950.
"Everyone knows 'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' " he said.
Developing a sense of community is what popular culture does, says Peter Lehman, director of ASU's Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture.
"To some extent, popular culture gives us common touchstones in our culture, regardless of race, class or gender," he said. "People can talk about these common experiences and feel a kind of commonality."
And not just the sense of community enjoyed by Trekkies, Edwards says, a self-proclaimed "nerd" himself. Rather, there's a nationwide sense of a shared past, present and future.
"One hundred years from now, stuff like this will be a historical record. It's a legacy."
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Kraftwerk - The Model
Kraftwerk - The Model
She's a model and she's looking good
I'd like to take her home that's understood
She plays hard to get, she smiles from time to time
It only takes a camera to change her mind
She's going out tonight but drinking just champagne
And she has been checking nearly all the men
She's playing her game and you can hear them say
She is looking good, for beauty we will pay
She's posing for consumer products now and then
For every camera she gives the best she can
I saw her on the cover of a magazine
Now she's a big success, I want to meet her again
ECCC: Whack, Smack! “Darkwing Duck” is Back - Comic Book Resources
Preliminary Cover Art for "Darkwing Duck" #1
He is the terror that flaps in the night. And come June, the Masked Mallard will once again get dangerous in a new four-issue miniseries from BOOM! Studios. Announced Saturday at Emerald City Comic Con, “Darkwing Duck” will be be BOOM!'s latest Disney property to make the jump to comics, courtesy of writer Ian Brill and artist James Silvani. The purple-clad hero's cartoon launched in 1991, spinning out of the popular “Duck Tales” starring
Cause An Effect
http://www.myspace.com/nfamusic
Heath would often say: Talent begets Talent so when childhood friend and one of the Godfathers of Australasian Hip Hop - Nfamas of 1200 Techniques - decided to break out on his own as No Fixed Abode he didn't need to look much further for support than his 'boy' of many years - the late and great Heath Ledger. Heath's immense love for music and his unfathomable belief in Nfa spawned a great concept which metaphorised into the video for Cause An Effect. A throwback to when art and music went hand in hand, this amazing collaboration not only gives us insight into Heath's artistic direction and ability he was cultivating as a director, but boldly embodies the No Fixed Abode ethos.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Want to own props and costumes from the first 'Iron Man' film? You'll have your chance at an auction held during C2E2 | Marvel.com News | Marvel.com
Marvel Studios Offers Iron Man Fans a Chance to Own a Part of the Film
Want to own props and costumes from the first 'Iron Man' film? You'll have your chance at an auction held during C2E2
Posted: 2010-02-25 10:29:12 Updated: 2010-02-25 12:21:14
To celebrate the May 7 release of "Iron Man 2," fans of the first blockbuster Iron Man movie will be able to own props and costumes seen in "Iron Man" when Marvel Studios makes them available to the highest bidder at an auction held during C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) at McCormick Place in Chicago, April 16 - 18, 2010. Tony Stark's Convoy Missile, the Hero Schematic Drawings of Mark I drafted inside the cave, Hero Completed Mark I Mask and Iron Man Hero Mark II RT Unit will be among the nearly 225 "Iron Man" props made available at the auction produced by Propworx Inc., the leading provider of high-end auctions for the film and television industry.
Those unable to attend the live auction in Chicago will be able to take part online in real time at www.propworx.com/ironman. Following the live auction in Chicago, other "Iron Man" collectible items will be made available to fans on eBay.
"It is always great to involve our fans in the making of our films and now we have the chance to allow them to take a piece home with them," stated Jordan Hudson, Marvel Studios' Director of Production Operations. "'Iron Man' has already proven to resonate with moviegoers all over the world and now each of them has the chance to own some of the greatest items seen in the film just a few weeks before the continuation of Tony Stark's adventures in 'Iron Man 2.'"
Earning over $585 million in worldwide box office, "Iron Man" lifted off in theatres on May 2, 2008 with high-speed, high-flying action when jet-setting industrialist Tony Stark survived an unexpected attack in enemy territory and escapes by building a high-tech robotic suit of armor. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. Straight from the pages of the legendary comic book, Iron Man is a hero who is built--not born--to be unlike any other.
The highly anticipated sequel, "Iron Man 2," starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, John Slattery, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson., will be released on May 7, 2010 in the U.S.. In addition to "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Thor" on May 6, 2011, "The First Avenger: Captain America" on July 22, 2011 and "The Avengers" on May 4, 2012.
For more information about the C2E2 Convention, visit www.c2e2.com.
Visit our "Iron Man 2" movie hub for more photos, videos & news and stay tuned to Marvel.com for the official word on all things to do with Marvel movies!
Granny O'Grimm
Dear Whoever is reading this,
Hello, and welcome to Granny O’Grimm’s website. My website I mean. I’m Granny. And I have a website.
While you’re here, why not have a look at the short film ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’, starring me? This short film was written and performed by Kathleen O’Rourke, directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Brown Bag Films in 2008. It has screened in numerous festivals and won several awards, which makes THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM THINK THEY’RE GREAT ALTOGETHER!! Hmmm.
Warner Bros. Goes 3D for Green Lantern | Animation Magazine
By: Thomas J. Mclean Animation Magazine Friday, March 05, 2010
Warner Bros.’ upcoming Green Lantern film is getting the 3D treatment.
The studio has confirmed the movie, which reportedly has just began shooting some tests near New Orleans, will be released in stereoscopic 3D when it comes out June 17, 2011.
The film, adapted from the DC Comics series, is directed by Martin Campbell and stars Ryan Reynolds as test pilot turned cosmic warrior Hal Jordan.
Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard and Tim Robbins also all are signed on to the movie, which will take Jordan far into the reaches of space to defend order in the galaxy.
The studio has been ramping up its release of stereoscopic 3D films, announcing the Zack Snyder movies Sucker Punch and the animated Legends of the Guardians, as well as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 and II, all will be released in the format.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Neil Gaiman on Writing « occultdetective.com
1 Write.
2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7 Laugh at your own jokes.
8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
I ♥ INTERNET! Anarchy artist, Rafael Rozendaal
Rafael Rozendaal (Rafael Rozendaal) is present in the contemporary artists most of the work on the Internet. The back of the lip "INTERNET" I love the Internet about tattoos and they have also received high respect on the Internet. He sells his work for each domain, "that is always ready to access the Internet." In other words, even after the purchase to anyone, anywhere in the world they can always access 24 hours a day. And the public continue to question the ownership of art never fit the stereotype, "an anarchic artist," said Rosendahl called. I'm good Takuro Someya Contemporary Art Exhibition being held now where they talked at Takuro Someya Contemporary Art. more...
