Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
This character holds many regrets in life, like us all, however, he has allowed life to severely distort his perception of Earth.
Dear Diary,
I felt the cold brush of the wind against my quivering ribs. The dogs never seemed to quiet down. I walked alongside the broken homes, the children screaming, the wives weeping. Nothing seemed to be right anymore. The neighborhood bled, and the sky fell onto the battered pavement. Everything grew dark as my fear boiled. Everything froze, forever still. I broke through the shards of clouds and bullets of rain, attempting to grasp what had happened. The Earth stood still; it was cold, dead. All eyes rested on me, a hopeless, miserable being. I felt the great weight on my chest. It was all my past mistakes, the undying misery. It was the beloved friends I left behind, the lover I tossed aside, the dying I did not save. And in one breath, it all consumed me.
I was a maniac, incapable of reasoning. I felt my lungs being pulled towards the ground, my ears ablaze, my head pierced by contempt. My eyes, they rolled over to the back of my head, as though attempting to see into a fearful mind. The excruciating pain was taking its toll and the only thing I could think to do, was run, run until my legs gave up. I eventually arrived across town. The buildings, they wept for a charge of motion, the people rushing, the couples arguing, the elderly clinging to their scripture.
I felt a great absence, then all of a sudden, I could see. Abruptly, I felt the warmth creep back into my fingers. The redness flowed back into my cheeks, and love flowed into my heart. The sun glistened onto the falling sky, which now sparkled exquisitely. The birds, they fluttered in song, pleased to feel the wind through their feathers. The wind whispered a sweet anthem of affection. And finally, the people, they began to move, to listen, to love. Life and color cascaded onto Earth, filling each crevice of its form.
That day, I felt the intensity of the world and everything in it.
That day, I learned to embraced the heartache which allows us to comprehend its great beauty.
That day, I saw that, the earth is not a cold, dead place.
- astruso.
Evening television has basically gone to hell.
William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Dante And Virgil In Hell
It disturbs me to turn on the TV, and be forced into the same sad scene on each network: Two or more individuals screaming "fake bitch", flailing their arms against each other, proudly displaying negative behavior, all of this possibly topped off by something along the lines of a strategically coordinated nipple slip, while an audience watches, cheering at the entire debacle until commercial break. It's disheartening to know that scenes such as this are considered “entertainment” but what's more disturbing is to see traits of this behavior being emulated in real life.
Jersey Shore - "Reality" TV
We’ve all encountered and observed the praises of absurd actions.
I remember sitting with a few individuals who were dishing on the wild night they had recently experienced, hoping to get kudos from some of the others who were listening on standby in between facebook status updates. As a few of them began to delve deeper into the details of their night it became apparent that they believed it was hilariously attractive to get drunk and flop over inanimate objects, only to awake the next day and sloppily have no recollection of the occurrences from the night before. A couple of them were even bold enough to take to the streets while intoxicated, blaring some pop song from the speakers of their car, failing to think twice about how they may be endangering the lives of those around them by driving drunk.
Or real life scenarios that seem to be drawn from the scripts of shows like Gossip Girl, a program where young adults put on an elaborate display of rumor, jealousy, and betrayal, all wrapped up in a bow fashioned out of a shitload of pretend money and the social life that appears to be everyone's dream. There isn't anything wrong with a good tv drama, but there used to be a time when you could say that such shows were merely fictitious, failing to resemble reality in the least bit, but in a society that adheres to no sense of privacy, it's plasticized shows like Gossip Girl and the ever growing parasite known as reality television that has lead to never-ending pageantry. Theatrics that leave nothing as a mystery, and it seems as if everyone is working aimlessly to impress each other and secure their ostentatious appearances.
Gossip Girl
Although this quote left William Shakespeare's pen almost 400 years ago his words ring truer than ever:
“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…”
Time never changes, people do.
We live in a society where it's not only good to be bad but “villains” are often rewarded for their mistakes.
In the world of the Dragon Ball good always prevails over evil, and nice guys finish first, but not for a lack of challenges.Its shows like Dragon Ball Z that have become out of the ordinary.Although DBZ is animation it promotes a sense of truth and loyalty amidst battles between good and evil. I've never been one of those A-Con type fanatics, but I grew up watching Dragon Ball-Z on Toonami and the raw action filled plot in its early sagas never failed to deliver a level of integrity and sportsmanship that is no longer portrayed in many popular scripted and unscripted series.My friends always think it's weird that I compare an animated show to real life, but the fight for honesty in a universe preoccupied with self interest reminds me all too much of the world we live in today.
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| Goku and his son Gohan |
In the world of the Dragon Ball good always prevails over evil, and nice guys finish first, but not for a lack of challenges.Its shows like Dragon Ball Z that have become out of the ordinary.Although DBZ is animation it promotes a sense of truth and loyalty amidst battles between good and evil. I've never been one of those A-Con type fanatics, but I grew up watching Dragon Ball-Z on Toonami and the raw action filled plot in its early sagas never failed to deliver a level of integrity and sportsmanship that is no longer portrayed in many popular scripted and unscripted series.My friends always think it's weird that I compare an animated show to real life, but the fight for honesty in a universe preoccupied with self interest reminds me all too much of the world we live in today.
Goku doesn't give up when facing a challenge
In the Vegeta Saga, Saiyans are the baddest fighters in the universe known for their merciless bestiality, inflated egos and the ability to become twice as strong after surviving defeat. This warrior race is equipped for pure destruction and in The Vegeta Saga, Super Saiyan Vegeta (one of the last known survivors of the Saiyan race) and his small squad of stereotypical jocks tear through multiple galaxies taking down every planet within the Z-sphere in order to claim titles as rulers of the universe.
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| Vegeta |
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| Goku |
Remaining undefeated until they reach the Milky Way and stumble upon planet earth they are introduced to a force of heroes willing to do anything it takes to preserve what good is left in the galaxy. The Earth defenders are the underdogs, they aren't the strongest, but they are led by a Saiyan named Goku, and backed up by his halfbreed son Gohan and Piccolo, a lost survivor from planet Namek.
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| Picollo! |
Piccolo was always one of my favorite characters. The evil half of the greatest living good in the Universe (Kami), Piccolo struggles with his desires to engage in evil in order to connect with the spirit of his better half . Kami possesses the ability to create Dragon Balls, a key to any individual’s second chance in the universe, a chance to try again and make things right despite the past.
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| Goku protecting Gohan from evil Saiyan fighters |
Dragon Ball Z- The Vegeta Saga is an allegory of the victories and challenges that one may face in their journey on earth.Discovering who you are as an individual while learning to embrace and modify circumstances of your environment in an effort towards greater good. Each episode never failed to leave me hanging on suspense, entranced by a theme which ensures that good always supersedes evil. No matter how discouraged, weak, and torn the Earth Defenders may have ended up in battle, despite how bleak their chances of taking down Vegeta became, they continued to strive for their values, and the passions in their hearts combined with the courage to stand up for others.
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| Goku catching up on some rest while in heaven |
I've had my fair share of shame, but I believe as humans part of our purpose on earth is to learn from our faults and work towards good when we are forced to choose between positive and negative (no matter how small the feat). We’ve all made mistakes in life, but with each second we are given the chance to rewrite the script. When Goku died, he came back even stronger than before, he was a better fighter, and even ended up joining forces with Vegeta in the fight against evil (well, after he kicked his ass of course)!
"A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity."
"A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity."
Art Star being a blog (for now, *wink*), I'd like to think we're allowed to make a few generalizations in setting up an argument, all for the sake of expediency. So while I could write you an entire thesis on how the best children's stories are allegories for the trials adults face as well, lets just accept that as a given for now.
Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are, adapted from Sendak original (haven't you read this part in every blog and newspaper in the country before?), falls into the allegorical window, but I'm not entirely sure why. Max does learn just how hard it can be for his mother to make a life for them through his attempts at living and loving with the Wild Things, but something about that moral just feels...unfinished, now that I've had a few months to stew on the film.
So, if unfinished is the case, how much higher should Jonze have reached? Teaching a child to empathize with a parent is definitely an admirable and lofty goal, but is there something more Wild Things could do with its premise? More importantly, what could it do without sinking (further) into a gloom that inadvertently ends up turning kids away from soaking up the messages? This isn't to say the film doesn't hit a few home runs on certain topics, like:
- Showing that even a fantasy isn't always what you expect it to be.
- Showing that love, even though it may be painful, is worth it to experience and give.
- Showing that your imagination truly can build great things -- your own personal fort.
- Showing how, nasty as it may be, it does take someone special to lead (to be a king), and that a lot of shit can splatter if you aren't who you say you are.
- Showing how, as painful as it is, sometimes family members let each other down.
- Providing a world that feels like a fairy tale, albeit one with real consequences. Trees get smashed, and so can little boys. Makes you wonder just how safe you really are, anywhere. Even in your own head.
I hate adspeak as much as the next guy, but I do recommend you see WTWTA as soon as possible. Go see it for the perfect use of real effects and CGI, for the imperfect steadycam (motion sickness is possible), for the fitting soundtrack, and to see some solid performances. Go if only so you can reflect on it like I've tried to and see where you think the film could have pushed for more. Max lives, learns, and goes home to (literally) eat his cake too. Did you get the sense his change was permanent? Does the semi-ambiguious ending serve the movie well? I don't think so, but I am curious to hear what you decide. Oh, and it doesn't sink into hipster moodiness nearly as much as some reviews suggest.
For more on Jonze, love, and even a couple robots, check out the preview for his Absolut vodka-sponsored short "I'm here." You can watch the film in its entirety here, but /film says Absolut has it limited to about 700 views (yeah, thats globally) a day. Get in when/while you can.
So how many of your facebook friends/people you follow on Twitter* had some version of "R.I.P Big Poppa" as their status?
Still hard to believe that it's been 12 years since he's passed--even harder to believe there are kids who claim to like rap and are unfamiliar with his music--but it is time for a movement that truly honors his legacy.
Though he and Tupac are remembered for the "East Coast-West Coast beef" that was largely fueled by media sensationalism--and integral in both of their untimely deaths--these icons are so much more than that.
Are we willing to boil their legacies down to the fatal moments that took them from us?
Billy X. Sunday over at XXL, brought this point up before but I'mma say it again, May 21st is much more important that March 9th. Let's celebrate the day of Biggie's birth if we really appreciate his legacy.
Go to a great concert, listen to great music, express yourself through poetry/music, or help a young person find their voice through these mediums.
But don't just stop there. Celebrate June 16th for Tupac.
May 30th for Big L.
March 2nd for Scott La Rock.
January 21st for Jam Master Jay.
May 17th for Freaky Tah.
September 9th for Soulja Slim.
Perhaps you find this overwhelming. Or maybe you wanted me to list artists who died non-violent but still too soon (Big Pun, Lefteye, and Aaliyah come to mind).**
We could fill our calendar with days of remembrance of favorite artists who are no longer with us. Let's celebrate these legacies everyday through true appreciation of their art.
If we can divorce ourselves from our collective infatuation with death dealing, praise the artists that are with us, and make sure new generations NEVER forget the history of our music, then we are doing their legacies justice.
It warmed my heart to see Biggie's lyrics on Facebook all day today, and Diddy twit away with memories of his friend, but let's be back at it on May 21st.
If Hip-Hop will live, it can only do so through an everlasting conversation between generations.
*I've taken to calling the people who follow me on Twitter, "my disciples" (no blasphemy) cuz honestly disciples did follow someone's every word. But what is a good term for the people you follow? P.S. If you wanna follow me on Twitter, the name is I_AM_CtotheB. Preciate it.
**November 9th, May 27th, and January 16th respectively.
Art saved my life.
As a young black male growing up in the DFW area - I had all the statistics against me.
I was keenly aware that I had a better chance of going to jail than of going to college.
I knew that even my all white, all boy, catholic prep school wouldn't be enough to protect me.
Because the kids there were often involved in activities that might get them a slap on the wrist, but would land me in jail.
And then there was these emotions. These raging highs, and lows, and rage, and lunacy, and insecurity - the desperate ideal to feel alive, to do something stupid.
It is so hard to deal with the desire of "proving oneself" when one feels invincible.
It is so easy, almost effortless, to wind up either dead, in jail, or severely disappointed.
So, how did Art save my life?
It was precisely this: whenever I was hurt, whenever I was pained, whenever I was confused, whenever I was angry - I could take whatever negative emotions that plagued my mind and channel them into something beautiful.
The pain could become a poem that made you want to cry - the anger could fuel a passionate brush stroke on the canvas.
Art allowed the raw destructive emotions that so many young black males experience to be turned into something beautiful.
Art is transformative like that.
We see the final product - the great painting, the beautiful song, the amazing poem - and we appreciate it.
However, rarely do we ponder what the artist has had to go through, emotionally, to make such compelling art.
Rarely do we consider that the art we so enjoy might be more than just an instrument of beauty.
Rarely can we imagine that art might be the relic of a saved life.
A journey bound by both humility and love, pressing her bare feet against a road that is sometimes dirty with “selfishness, greed” and pain sharp enough to break her skin, but she continues to push forward, not for her own benefit, but for the sake of the hearts and spirits of others. A true personification of some of the scarcest positive qualities found on earth, Karen knows her purpose in this world and strives to make each moment about something greater than her own desires.
“As individuals we should all do our little part.”
She creates art to inspire everyone to create some level of positive change in their life and in the lives of those around them. Everyone has a greater purpose, and she works to “look at the divine in every person [she meets] rather than criticize or judge” because we all have something good within our hearts to give. “We’re all contagious in one way or another”, you don’t need a title or an abundance of money to change the world, like “checkers at whole foods” we posses some of the greatest “energy and power.” She explains that each day people who work at registers make more than just a monetary exchange, they come in contact with more individuals than those who spend their days behind computers and in boardrooms and they can make a substantial positive influence on the hundreds of people that they meet each day.
“I have been on that path of selfishness and greed, power and money”, but that only led her to think that everything that was important to her at that time didn’t “cut it” anymore. Though a manifestation of six years of meditation and over 30 years of artistic experience and journalism, Karen “recognized the power art has to influence the world”, she began to want more from life and ultimately she began wanting more for others. With all of the deadlines, bills, consumption, and monetary requirements we consistently endure or are accustomed to it’s hard to focus on giving to others, but when we all embrace our purpose with selflessness, honesty and love it will lead to a level of security, completeness and faith that cannot be supplied by possession. The intricacies of this world are a part of a greater sphere, everything repeats itself; life, death, history, but eternal phenomena like love are never-ending, they can only grow if nourished or dwindle if ignored.
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| "I make my home in your hearth" |
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| "Dying of love is what I hope for" |
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| "Cleave the heart of a raindrop, a hundred pure oceans will pour forth" |
