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It’s nothing to be proud of (yet), but I finally have ifoundbrian
So, check it out!
I just finished reading a great article from the New Yorker about this year’s Oscar Picks. So, if you don’t feel like reading all of it, here is what I believe is worth reiterating.
“The total of thirteen nominations for “Benjamin Button” has to be some sort of scandal. “Citizen Kane” received nine nominations, “The Godfather: Part II” eleven, and this movie, so smooth and mellow that it seems to have been dipped in bourbon aging since the Civil War, is nowhere close to those two. In fact, of the five nominees for best picture—“Milk,” “Frost/Nixon,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” and “Benjamin Button”—only “Milk,” a bio-pic with a thrilling sense of history and lots of jokes and sex, has the aesthetic life and human vitality that warrant its nomination.”
And finally, I found someone who can best describe Mr. Benjamin Button’s movie: “The central drama in the picture turns out to be Brad Pitt’s makeup. By degrees, lines and wrinkles fade; soft flesh tightens into muscle; a stiff, wobbly walk eases into a saunter. What is this strange movie really about? A guess: many people in Hollywood endlessly have “work” done to put off aging, and here’s a movie that begins with a wizened baby and ends with physical perfection, a progression that may encapsulate both the nightmares and the dreams of half the Academy.”
Needless to say, I will be very disappointed if Mr. Button’s Case gets any more nods at brilliance than it deserves.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is write a music review. It’s hard to put into words something as intimate as music, but nonetheless people do it all the time. I’ve decided to practice my music writing and write my first music review in a very long time. So here is my take on Wye Oak’s debut album “If Children”, an album that reminds me of growing up.
Wye Oak, “If Children”
Wye Oak is Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack. Together they produce whispers drenched in reverb, something that will remind you of Maria Taylor, only with an edge. They hail from Maryland and listening to their debut album “If Children” is like adding layers and layers to your favorite pop song and then distorting them just enough to make you think it could be a sing-a-long, or a dream, take your pick. “If Children” possesses the harmonies of Fleet Foxes only mixed with picking banjos, occasional heavy string, and the twanging guitar charm that reminds you of Yo La Tango mixed into a more dreamy substance that could possibly be described as shoegaze. It’s a strange arrangement, but Wye Oak has successfully avoided shedding depth or substance while maintaining a certain amount of potency and power, something they rely heavily on.
Don’t worry, I will resume my more legitimate postings soon.
I don’t know about you guys, but so far my 2009 has been exactly like the movie Freejack said it would be. Who would have thought that Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins had it right all along?
Do you own a strip mall?
Take note that as funding is drying up for non-profits and other help organizations, it is also taking a toll on much bigger city and state projects like convention centers, public schools, and public libraries. Many of these needed projects are being disregarded because of no funding. Despite the lack of funding for civic projects, there is one thing in America that is not lacking: abandoned strip malls, buildings, and warehouses.
The problem is there are warehouses, strip malls and Wal-Mart-ish buildings abandoned and left as a financial burden on the city as well as a scar on the aesthetics of that city. The problem is these buildings are not selling. The problem is that no local mom-and-pop store can afford to rent an entire warehouse. The design, development, and order of a city are just as much a social problem as they are a problem of aesthetics and functionality.
The solution is to recycle space. These abandoned strip malls, vacant warehouses, and deserted supercenters should not be a financial burden on a city or an aesthetic eye sore for its citizens. The city should not hold onto this property while there are many temporary, and permanent, solutions to the use of this space. A city should offer more incentives to get rid of the space. Remember that civic center that was lacking funding or that library that was forgotten about? An abandoned space can be divided-up, or segmented; it could be public space for markets and events, it could be transformed into a play area for children, it could be used as a temporary shelter for the homeless, or it could be adopted as an elementary school.
Much like the miles and miles of bland landscape that we consider suburbia, the possibilities of recycling space seem endless. It is time to be progressive and to think about things creatively. By doing so, a city can take on the ubiquitous and totally typical strip mall, and turn it into something remarkable.
Oh, God! I can’t believe it, but I’m actually considering a New Year resolution. Don’t worry, I haven’t committed to anything yet. While I’m deciding the future of my life, here’s a look at articles I’m planning:
1. Why you can’t be whatever you want to be, so stop telling that to our youth!
2. Does the world need another artist, musician, or writer?
3. Online Dating
4. Why we make our time in public private and is this okay.
5. recycling space
6. Why I have lots of ideas and no job
