Surfing through YouTube helps a lot when you don’t have anything to do. But that’s not how I really found the new trailer for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie. It shows a bit more of what’s about to come on this new fantasy film, and maybe what impresses a little is Uma Thurman’s face as the villain Medussa… seen through an iPhone? That’s a bit odd, I admit it. I confess I haven’t read the books but I’m planning to do it, and to buy them. I feel attracted by the mythology thing… so, here’s the new trailer for the ones that have seen it, and for the ones who hasn’t, enjoy… see ya Ryders!

So, as I’m in the lab of the ASB building, I’m blogging from internet explorer and i’m pretty sure that for just that reason, this blog is going to be exceptionally terrible. However, as I’m mostly excited that I’m headed to Austin tomorrow, I’m slightly in an uplifty spirit.

I’m going by plane, which is pretty much the only way I ever go to Austin. I honestly don’t see why more people don’t fly. I mean, driving takes like 5 hours to get from the valley to Austin and flying takes only 45 minutes. Counter-argument invalid. Plus, I always fly SouthWest, so I don’t have to worry about some stupid people being all “oh thank GAWD I don’t have to board last like the people in economy”. Fuck you, those people.

Now, back to the gist (jist?) of the post, Sign language.

In my ASL 1 class, we were split into 5 groups some weeks ago in order to present a children’s story in sign in class. We’ve literally had about a month or so to work on the powerpoint and to learn the signs in the book and whatnot. Just last night,  I posted the embedded video on my YouTube account and send a link to the other people in my group, just as a last minute “how do you sign this” kind of video, as today was supposed to be the day we presented. Literally seconds after I send them the link, I got a barrage of texts from ALL of them asking what pages they were supposed to learn and what parts I was going to sign and how to sign shit. They were supposed to know ages ago, but as no one was in direct lead of the group, not even I knew. So I, being sane, took the liberty of being safe rather than sorry and learned to sign the whole video, thus the YouTube video.

I guess I was supposed to take charge. See, I don’t exactly like being in charge, essentially because there is always that one person in the group that is completely arrogant  and incapable and believes that they can handle a bunch of fellow lazy pupils that don’t feel like talking to one another at all. Then there’s the person in the group that is capable, but really just doesn’t want to do it unless as the absolutely last gun-to-the-temple last resort. Thats me.  Luckily this time, another capable wallflower took the reins and gave everyone a few lines to perform and told them to learn it, as we were supposed to present today.

Well, we didn’t. One painful thing about having a deaf ASL teacher is that, not only are you learning a new language entirely, but you’re learning it from a person that can’t exactly explain clearly in your spoken language. So, we’re left with alot lost in translation. That said, no one in the entire class (any of the groups) re-printed out the powerpoint and translation sheets as he supposedly asked us to do. So, we’re all left to present on Monday. Which is a giant thorn in the ass, as I’m going to be in Austin on monday and attendance is required.

So, trying hopefully to still be able to work something out, I wrote down on a piece of paper that I’m going to be out of town on monday. He seemed surprised and asked if I had other classes on monday, I said “just this one” exaggerating my expressions, and he said “oooooh”, then I wrote terribly and quickly that I had made a YouTube video of me signing the story, and he immediately understood and said my group could play it on monday for me to get my credit, or at least I think he said that. Either way, that’s what I understood.

Sign language is hard man.

Anywho, I already have 26 views today at 3:30p even though I just posted it up at like 11p last night. Interesting what goes quick on YouTube, ey?

right, and I finally made my new YouTube account in an effort to step away from always having some part of my name in my SN’s. (how uncreative). So, as soon as I get some decent video’s up i’ll THINK about posting either the video or a link or just putting the links on the sidebar. For now, my RolyVola account is going to be used for randomness for school (such as the above ASL vid) and home vids where I could care less about the quality. Oh, and my tongue twister vid and my group interview stuff went underground until further ado. That basically means I set it to private and i’ll put it up later when people at work forget about it.

I know that goes completely against the whole “get noticed on youtube” philosophy. But, as it is, I’m only really shy when people I actually know are watching my vids and then show it to other people I know. It’s the same with singing. I was in choir for ages, but the one time my grandma asked me to sing her a song, I made her sit on the couch in the living room looking away and I stood halfway in the hallway with my back towards her, shutting my eyes as if i was standing in front of Medusa. No joke. It’s pretty sad.

Well then,

Good day chaps.

Annie Lennox’s album “Medusa” was the first CD I ever owned – I bought it around 13 or so after I had given up my long love for country. (I met Garth Brooks! Yeeha!) Her version of Procol Harem’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” is great. If found this tape at Savers and it’s mostly been a recent listen in my car, over the summer when I was driving back and forth to Maryland and feeling sad about my college years in Baltimore. Driving past the Ottobar, shedding a single tear, etc. etc. I thought about nights getting wasted on rail gin and tonics upstairs and playing pool with old townies, while the DJ played The Rapture. Sigh.

“A Whiter Shade of Pale”

This simple but stunning wallpaper features the cunning witch, Medusa, from the anime Soul Eater. One of the most powerful witches in the whole series, she plays a key role in the Kishin’s revival and causes an immense amount of damage and chaos to Death City. She uses powerful spells that redirect her opponents and arrows that ricochet off any surface. She pushes the most powerful Meisters to their limits and is most deserving of this gorgeous wallpaper. Showcasing her in her child form just emphasizes how manipulative she can be.

The wallpaper is featured on www.animepaper.net and is designed by Kyle Silverwind. You can see more of this artist’s work here.

If you’re interested in the anime, the full series can be found at our friends, Anime Season.

SABATO 28 NOVEMBRE MEDUSA -Torre del Greco
Uno splendido locale con uno stile inimitabile! Mancare a questo evento sarebbe un vero peccato!
Chiama e lascia il tuo nome per la lista.
SPECIAL GUEST SAGI-REI emotional song
INFO E PRENOTAZIONI:
Info: 3297823343 Pierluigi

While talking back and forth with Amy, from Shrinkle, about the much anticipated Sugar Pill launch she offered to send me the pressed shadows from Medusa that she’d gotten last year.

I accepted thankfully and they arrived today!!

Packaging

They are similar to MAC, in little black containers with the flip top lid.  The containers are a little bigger, though, the actual pan inside seems the same size.

The bottom is labeled with the color and ingredients.

Formula / Colors

Amy had mentioned she never used them because she thought they had an odd texture.  When I sat down to swatch them I immediately noticed the same thing.  They are hard.  There really isn’t any other way to describe it.  It’s almost impossible to get any color to pick up on a brush and it took quite a bit of rubbing with my index finger to get enough color to swatch on the back of my hand.

The first time, I tried it bare on my hand and the colors barely stuck, they were very light.  I reswatched using UDPP as a primer and got enough color to stick to take some swatch examples.

From left to right : Electro Red, Electric Indigo, Electric, Purple, Electric Kiwi

Even with a primer and depositing as much color as I could, the colors are not as vibrant as they appear in the pots.  The red in the pot is an amazing bright shade, but the swatch is very tomato.  The blue is deep and rich, but on my hand it’s very pale.  The purple is a nice red-violet shade and on my hand it barely shows up at all.  The kiwi looks like an amazing and bright lime shade.  Sadly, it’s as a washed out yellow when swatched.

Conclusion

Would I purchase these again?  No, although they were given to me as a gift to review.

• I’m not sure I could wear them if I tried, they are so hard.
• The color payoff for the amount you have to pack on isn’t worth it.
• The cost, at 9.00$ is a little steep for a product that has almost no payoff.

I realize that loose shadows are not for everyone, and lots of people are looking for something pressed with amazing bright pay off.  I’m sorry to say I don’t think Medusa’s pressed shades are worth it.

Señores y señoras que acuden esporádicamente a este rincón de la web, quiero decirles que ya no soy la misma. He pasado por la experiencia de la fiesta de egresados y ha sido más traumático que pasar por el tracto vaginal. La noche fue larga, muy larga. Igual, a pesar de las profundas huellas psicológicas, me divertí, y mucho.

Tags: sanwiches de miga, el boliche en Palermo, los locatellis, los padres, los profesores en sus mejores galas, los misses,

El comienzo: el inefable cocktail. Extremadamente largo y aburrido, ¿qué necesidad de hacerte ir a las 9 de la noche?, con lo que falta para el reviente. Paseás por ahí te sacás fotos con tus profesores que están vestidos “paquetes”, te preguntan qué carajo vas a hacer de tu vida. Aunque tengas la respuesta sigue siendo molesta ya que tu vida va a empezar ahora. Y lo peor de la noche, el ritual mamarrachesco de los “Misses”. Todos sabemos en que consiste esto, bah, tal vez la gente que va a instituciones serias no lo sepa: tus amigas te ponen un nombre, ej: Miss Tornado, con una frase que la explica, ej: porque por donde pasa arrasa. Previamente, te leen unas líneas diciéndote lo genial que sos. Bueno, eso es relativo, si no sos genial te dicen cosas que podrían pasar por medio feas, si lees entrelineas. Los Misses no son originales, nunca lo fueron, la mayoría son cosas que se escucharon en otra parte, hay una Miss Gallina (porque la pisa cualquiera –es para la enana perra del curso) Admito que hacerlos fue divertido, porque es una manera de insultar por lo bajo. Y a mí eso un toque me gusta. No todas las maldades quedaron pero nos reímos un rato con mis amigas. Lo mejor es que algunas  sí quedaron y ni siquiera son las que dije yo. Acá sale esa característica rivalidad/guachada femenina donde te da un poco de placer insultar a tus amigas. Si tu mejor amiga es medio putita y no para de calentarle la pava al pibe que te gusta te va a llamar Miss Guillotina de juguete porque no deja títere con cabeza. A Mery S, le pusieron Miss vegetal, porque siempre está fresca como una lechuga. No todos captaron que en verdad el “porque…” era un invento y lo que le estaban diciendo es que no pincha ni corta y mas le vale que se compre una personalidad en el once. Por supuesto que yo les ahorré a mis amigas que pasaran por el dolor de cabeza de decir algo sobre mí y pensar un Miss. Si hubiera sido por Medusa tal vez me ponía Miss Yegua. Lo hubiera aceptado con la cabeza muy alta pero mi madre se hubiera querido matar, pero no tanto como la mamá de Miss Sally Bowles cuya vida es un cabaret, o Miss Angustia oral. Por alguna razón me ofrecí a leer los nombres esos. Ya que no iba a tener, Rocío tampoco, pasamos al frente a leerlos. El sonido era malo, todos hablaban, pero mi carisma y yo hicimos lo que sabemos hacer. Mucha gente al borde de la lágrima y muchos otros al borde de la indignación. Campaña para que se erradique este ritual retrasado ya.

Fue una noche muy larga y esto recién es el cocktail.

I took this picture at the Getty Museum in Westwood on Saturday. It is a photo of a painting (from the first decade of the 1700s) by Sebastiano Rici, and depicts Perseus holding the head of Medusa in combat against Phineus and his not-so-merry band of men. Phineus, a failed suitor to Perseus’s bride-to-be, Andromeda, crashes their wedding, Dustin Hoffman style, but unlike Hoffman, doesn’t end up with the girl, but is turned to stone by Perseus holding before him and his men Medusa’s creep face. The ending of The Graduate  seems to be echoing the disrupted and chaotic wedding of Perseus and Andromeda, but with Phineus victorious:

All that cross swinging in the film above recalls the waving around of the Medusa’s head by Perseus, doesn’t it? I suppose that the moral of the story is this: Don’t let anybody get between you and the one you love. And if they do, consider wildly swinging before them a Freudian energized taboo symbol that frightens all opposition into stony silence. And if that doesn’t completely ward them off, go to Plan B: run like hell, hand in hand. Everybody has a right to their own choice of who to marry, right? (Opponents of gay marriage, are you listening?) Anyway, here’s a scene from Clash of the Titans, showing how Perseus got Medusa’s head in the first place:

Amore mio, non so nemmeno da dove partire..sono ancora sconvolta da ciò che mi è accaduto. Non preoccuparti, tanto per cambiare è intangibile, ma ciò non gli impedisce di trafiggermi comunque come una lama.
Eravamo io e la Sarah in sala, guardavamo il film, Nemico Pubblico, tra gli spari e i morti, e alle nostre spalle si sente aprirsi la porta d’ingresso. Ci voltiamo sentendo tre ragazzi parlare e dire ad un volume di voce normale, quotidiano…”guarda queste persone”, il tono disgustato. I ragazzi quindi si dividono, mani in tasca, uno alla nostra destra, due alla nostra sinistra, abbassano di poco la voce ma continuano a parlarsi da parte a parte delle file. Un pò si guardano tra di loro, un pò guardano il pubblico, il ragazzo a destra alza il labbro, e gli leggo in faccia lo schifo. Comincio a sentirmi il sangue che si ritira dalle vene, mi coglie una sensazione improvvisamente. Penso ” ora ci uccidono tutti “. Sento, vivo la Columbine, penso alle storie di cronaca, ci sono dentro completamente, non “im-” ma “som-”mersa. Stanno li un cinque minuti, mi sembra il tempo più lungo della mia vita, provo a parlare con Sarah, sento che per quante parole possa dire, non sarebbero abbastanza, penserebbero che sono pazza, paranoica, e anche se così non fosse, io non potrei comunque fermarli. Dallo schermo solo rumori di spari, se ci ammazzassero con un revolver non li sentirebbe nessuno, basterebbe un cazzo di silenziatore.
Ma cosa ti viene in mente? provo a rassicurarmi, non mi riesce. Alla fine io sono qui, stasera, che nemmeno dovevo uscire di casa, sono qui con Sarah, e guardavamo il film in sala, ora guardo la realtà, più forte, anzi troppo. Può essere la mia morte questo luogo e io non dovevo nemmeno trovarmi qui.
I ragazzi cominciano ad uscire dopo aver osservato ovunque. Dico a Sarah dell’ansia che mi assale..mi dice tranquilla, che anche a lei hanno messo ansia ma che non è nulla di grave. E io non mi calmo. Loro sono fuori, hanno visto quanti siamo e ci aspettano fuori, aspettano che finisca il film. Alla fine della pellicola sto seduta e ferma, mi dico, lascio che escano gli altri..tanto se devono sparare sparano ai primi che escono, e, se dovessi sentire che aprono il fuoco su di loro, mi accascio a terra e non mi muovo, fingo di essere morta, non c’è problema, aspetto anche dei giorni, non mi muovo finchè non mi trovano, finchè non mi vengono a prendere, finchè non sento che del pericolo non rimane nemmeno il pensiero.
Ma io non posso morire adesso, ho troppe cose nella testa, non posso lasciare le persone che ci sono qui. Vorrei morissero le persone che amo al posto mio, rifletto, perchè mi fa più male il pensiero che loro soffrano a causa mia (penso alla morte delle persone che amo, a come vivrei se succedesse – cazzo Giorgia, succederà, oddio), che il pensiero di soffrire io per la loro perdita, il dolore più grande. Allora continuo, meglio: provo a ricominciare a guardare il film ma sento che loro fuori ci aspettano, che sta per scoppiare il finimondo.
Cioè…
alla fine io sono qui, una vita incredibile, fortunata, e non concepisco in questo bel momento la possibilità che una persona disperata compia un gesto distruttivo. Perchè poi? il mio mondo sono io e nel mio mondo è un bel periodo, c’è un bel sole, perchè cazzo dovrebbe cadere un albero come in un tornado se c’è una giornata senza vento e di sole pieno? Ed è allora che esco dal mio corpo, in un secondo sono un’altra persona che ha dentro di sè un rogo ed è lì, in piedi accanto a me, che mi guarda e vuole uccidermi perchè gli faccio schifo, perchè in quel momento non ha più un’anima, non ha più un domani, non ha più niente e vuole distruggersi e vuole distruggermi per una ragione, senza alcuna ragione. Solo distruzione. E da quel corpo mi guardo seduta, una ragazza carina, bella vita, bella testa, tutto ok. Rientro dentro il mio corpo sullo schienale e subito avverto una sensazione: è quella di una persona con puntata addosso la morte. Mi scattano una fotografia da fuori: “ragazzo guarda negli occhi giovane ragazza al cinema”, media offline, “giovane ragazza sul punto di morire osserva il suo carnefice, che restituisce lo sguardo”. E accade tutto senza un’immagine, senza una prova che esista, ma esiste, io sono lì: testimone, sono lì: vittima, e muoio al pensiero di morire.
Lui però non mi sta guardando, è fuori dalla sala, fuori dalla porta, dentro la mia mente, non importa. Fingerò di essere morta, e così sopravviverò. Ma conosco la mia condizione, morirei comunque anche se dovessi continuare a vivere. Il fisico è un dettaglio irrilevante. Respiro a fatica. Panico panico panico panico, tutto sta cambiando e nessuno lo vede, la compostezza del pubblico mi disarma fuori, mi sconvolge dentro, ma non mi alzo, peggiorerei la situazione, e poi…impazzirei.
Aspetto inerme l’ora della verità.
Posso scrivere questa lettera perchè sono viva, ma il motivo per cui la scrivo è che sono morta.

G.B.

The Legendary Annie Lennox

I was truly looking forward to writing this review. There are so many things that need to be said in regards to this woman. Its beyond her voice, beyond her presence, beyond her deeds, its all of it rolled up into one. The Great Annie Lennox.

As most people, my first experience with Annie Lennox was with the band, The Eurythmics. The 80s brought about sooo many amazing bands into my life and The Eurythmics were one of them. The moment I saw her I saw fire. LOL. That short red hair, the stunning eyes, the androgynous look made me think “Who IS that???” Then I heard that voice!

Annie has this voice that you see her and think, “wow that just came out of her mouth… really…awesome!”. Its deep,sultry, powerful, shocking, beautiful, enchanting, I could go on forever. You heard her voice and you forgot about everything around you. All that mattered was her voice. The great thing was my mom fell in love with her too and when you are 8 years old, with not many friends, and raised by a single mom, your bond is stronger and having our love for The Eurythmics and Annie Lennox made it just that much more fun!

So eventually Scottish-born Annie took a much needed break from the Eurythmics to work on solo work and whoa did THAT take off!!

Her first “solo” work was mainly a duet with Al Green covering the song “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” for the movie Scrooged. it was produced by her Eurythmics cohort Dave Stewart and it was just uphill from there.

Her first solo album Diva is probably one of THE most amazing albums ever. The songs “Why” and “Walking On Broken Glass” were epic! I can listen to Why and cry my eyes out. Its basically everything I feel in my head when I feel supressed or patronized. Its someone yelling for you “THIS IS HOW I FEEL YOU DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL!!” Its such a release you want to laugh, scream, cry, shake your fist, breathe a sigh of relief. Walking on Broken Glass the range of octaves for her in the bridge are just so amazing. Its a standard of mine in karaoke. Little Bird is also a favorite from that album. The video for it is just as great. A bunch of lookalikes from all her personas in her many different videos from the past. Its a fun romp!

She also did a song for the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The movie kinda sucked but the song “Song for a Vampire” is one of the most beautiful songs in the world. I wish I had sang it. I wish I had that talent. I do have talent but wow, to be Annie Lennox!

Anyways after Diva came Medusa which was an album of cover songs however I gotta tell ya, I forgot No More I Love You’s wasnt her own song. In fact almost all the songs on that cd you forget they are from other people because she makes them her own.

Bare was exactly that but in a good way. A bit more simplistic yet just as beautiful. Annie found her niche and its as a phenomenal solo diva!

As for soundtrack work, she release yet another gem with her song for Return of the King, “Into the West”. It won a well deserved Oscar for best original song.

More recently in 2007 she had put out yet another album entitled, Songs of Mass Destruction. I highly suggest checking out all of her work. Annie Lennox is sheer majesty! I bow down in reverence.

The video I have is Song for a Vampire from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was hard finding a video since most were disabled for embedding yet I lucked out with this one!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of  “All the Pretty Snakes… (& Bellydancers”) is the coming together of so many creative, talented individuals. Last Friday we took over EPICA studios for a multi-person shoot with Sherri Wheatley and friends (snake and otherwise). This particular shoot brought a lot of anticipation and agonizing over every detail as it was by far our most complex shoot from a costuming and makeup standpoint.

In come Amy and Melissa! At Karma’s Halloween party, these two sisters (along with third sister Meredith) did a zombie-inspired number with makeup to boot! So Lee asked Amy if she had any experience with costume makeup, explained to her the concept of our trying to achieve the look of stone, and soon thereafter started communicating frequently about how best to accomplish said goal. Lee was busy all last week starching thrift store shirts to get a frozen, statue-d look With some professional makeup purchased from Cinema Secrets in Los Angeles, a few makeup brushes, sponges and whatnot, and most importantly, some very enthusiastic and talented participants, we were ready.

The day of the shoot dragged – it just seemed like it couldn’t happen soon enough! But then in rolled Omarr, Tonantzin and Zenen… followed shortly by Amy and Melissa. Slowly but surely the whirlwind of creative energy started up… clothes were flying as we fitted the men for their statue costumes. Once that was done, the sisters were out in the parking lot adding finishing spray-paint touches to the starched clothes which Karma then finished. Then the sisters (aka makeup artists extraordinaires) and I soon had the men lined up in another room and were making the transition come to life. We coated their faces first with gray, then with a darker color to shadow, and white goop to highlight; those of us doing the makeup had our hands and wrists covered in it. Amy and Melissa were so expert at applying the makeup, and also extremely patient with me as they instructed me in the ways of costume makeup (I jumped in because it looked like so much fun, plus time was of the essence)! It took almost an hour and half and 4 sets of hands to transform 3 men into statues. It was so much fun!!!

There is no way we would have accomplished this shoot without the help of our volunteers: Amy, Melissa, Karma, Omarr, and Zenen, and even Tonantzin and Sada for their moral support and snake-holding ability. We hope the effect will be mesmerizing, however we are true believers that the process is just as satisfying, if not sometimes more, than the outcome itself. It was a lot of fun having an extended team of snake-charmers around and we’re so appreciative that they endured more than 5 hours of “All the Pretty Snakes…” up close and in person!

Medusa and her village

In Italia molte notizie passano sotto silenzio. Molte. Quelle politiche a volte trovano qualche paladino che le diffonde. Il problema è il silenzio silenzioso della cultura italiana. Del resto il berlusconismo è la quintessenza dell’ignoranza. La Cultura con la C maiuscola è diventata CULtura con il CUL maiuscolo e in bella mostra e il sistema mediatico sembra adagiarsi salvo rare eccezioni.

Un bel giorno c’era il cinema. Il cinema vero, quello con la grotta buia, e le ombre che danzano sul suo fondo. C’era la verità e la rappresentazione, l’appropriazione del reale tramite l’irreale. C’era il cinema. C’erano i film fatti per il cinema. E’ del 19 novembre 2009 un accordo fra Mediaset Premium e Universal, Warner e Medusa* per mandare in onda on demand i film in contemporanea alla sala al costo di 10 euro, dal 2010. Evviva. Una comodità. Ora masse di cerebrolesi che già entravano nei cinema una volta l’anno, cioè a Natale, potranno gustarsi l’ultima pellicola holliwoodiana a casa per 10 euro. 10 euro. Si vuole ammazzare un luogo sacro come il cinema per 10 euro. E nessuno li ferma, anzi. Ben venga. 10 euro son pochini per destare la coscienza dell‘italiano medio.

*Notare quanto Mediaset Premium e Medusa facciano riferimento allo stesso soggetto. Fare accordi con se stessi si sa, è sempre conveniente e non scandalizza mai nessuno.

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© Betty Bones

From a test roll off an Olympus Pen D2. Taken in High Street, where else.

//Adam Dumper, aka Dumperfoo
For Booking NOVACANCYBOOKING. COM
is a community leader in the Arizona Hip Hop, Art, and Social scene. Having been involved in promotions in Arizona since 1990, beginning at the Grind Night Club. Dumper began as an after-hours DJ and Mural artist there. For a few years Dumper did freelance graphics and logo work for such artists Vanilla Ice, Sugar Ray, Everlast, The Headquarters, Zulu Nation, Hip Step Massive, XIS, and many more from punk rock to hip hop.

Concentrating on his graphic and live painting Dumper hit the Music circuit hard performing and promoting at numerous events from Raves to Concerts in the mid to late 90’s.

In 2002 Dumper teamed up with Keith Nichols, Emerg McVay, Hyder, Catalyst and friends to start his new venture, The Blunt Club. For the past years the Blunt Club has been Arizona’s Hip Hop church, hosting nearly every local live painter, poet, mc, dj, fashion designer, and beyond, supporting the artistic community in a multidimensional format.  The Blunt Club has since been named one of the top “101 hot spots in the U.S” by Spin magazine, as well as AZ’s “Best Hip Hop Night 2003-2006″ by Phoenix New Times and 944 magazine.

In 2003 Dumper founded with Baron Gordon, the Alpha Monster Art Collective, consisting of over 20 members globally. The collective’s goals are to advance each artist, business wise and ethically, give back to the community.Currently Dumper and the Alpha Monster’s perform all over the USA traveling and doing gallery events, to hip hop shows & Festivals , every final Friday at Club 909, First Friday’s downtown at the UM Gallery , and every Thursday at the Blunt Club In Tempe AZ . In 2003 Dumper joined forces becoming a resident artist with the So Cal collective, theAbstract Workshop. In 2005, Dumperfoo has since become a resident artist traveling out to paint live once a month at Abstract Workshop’s major events.

Recently Dumper joined the Pacific Art Collective, and doing gallery shows from San Jose, to Seattle, back to L.A. You can catch Dumper live every Thursday at The Blunt Club in Mesa, AZ or you might just see his paintings hanging in a studio or home near you. You can also check him out at
www.myspace.com/dumperfoo.

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I’ve painted onstage with at one time or several times..
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FESTIVALS : ROCK THE BELLS (San Bernadino CA. & Concord CA, UM Booth) SCRIBBLE JAM (Um Booth) COMIC CON INT. after parties 2001-2009 (San Diego) , GOOD TIMES FESTIVAL 2007, 2009, EASTER MOON, GEM & JAM, SPEAK YOUR MIND INVASION.

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….and of course I have my own Dumperfoo piece !!!

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Monday Phyrra suggested I check out Medusa MakeUp.  I had to laugh because I had JUST placed an order with them!  I had actually noticed them reading my latest issue of Nylon, although they have been in a TON of magazines including Alternative Press (AP), which I’ve been reading for over a decade.  Medusa was a name I recognized, they’ve been around since 1992.  Medusa is also available in stores all over the world.  While they do sell mineral makeup, I’m not sure I would go so far as to call them a mineral makeup company.

Ordering

Medusa sells a wide variety of products.  Eye dusts, glitter, pressed shadows, body shimmer, blush, brushes, bags, gloss, liners and a wide range of fixatives.  The site is bright and well organized.  It’s full of images of women in bright, imaginative makeup.

One thing that bothered me is the cart, run by Paypal, opens on a totally different page.

Most of the products (the Eye Dusts and Blushes for example) are all posted on a page with a black background with no color descriptions.  I think the only thing I found with any description was the glosses.

The prices were very reasonable, nothing was insanely overpriced, the Eye Dusts were 6$ which is really a competitive price for a loose shadow.

I ended up ordering:

Eye Dusts in Tiger, Red Baron, Purple Rain, Flamingo, and Helter Skelter

Mascara in Majestic

Gloss in Loverboy

Blush in Dangerous Liaison

A small cosmetics bag

Shipping

I ordered late on November 15 and my order arrived on November 18th.  Shipping is free on orders over 50$.  Everything was packaged very carefully in a bubble mailer.  Most of the items were packaged in small bags with information about the makeup included on the back of a product card.

Included was my invoice as well as a really cute Medusa Makeup sticker with their logo on it as well as a brochure.

Packaging

The packaging, featuring bold images and black and hot pink is eye catching. It’s original and creative and so bright.  It’s all pink everywhere.

The shadows come in stackable 5gram jars, minus the sifters and jam packed with product, so you could possible screw them all together, which personally appeals to me.  The mascara is in a bold black and pink tube and the gloss is in a really unique squared tube.  The blush I ordered is so eye catching.  It’s in a clear jar and the lid is domed and rimmed in bright pink.  The pressed shadows, which I didn’t get, sort of look like MAC shadows on the website, in black jars with clear domed lids.

Product / Colors

From top to bottom, left to right : Loverboy, Dangerous Liaison, Tiger, Red Baron, Purple Rain, Flamingo, Helter Skelter

Bottom row : Grape POP!, Pink, Blackstar Blue

The Eye Dusts
Oh, the Eye Dusts.  The swatches on the site are simply amazing.  Bright and shocking.  But not all of them have descriptions, so you really have to hope the colors on your monitor are right.

Tiger – I was expecting a nice bright orange, and it was what I got.

Red Baron – Am I crazy for expecting a red shadow?  It was more of a deep pink.  (By the way, if anyone knows of someplace I can get a nice true red mineral shadow, for the love of Dave, please tell me.)

Purple Rain – Sucked in by the Prince reference, I picked this one because it was bright.  Swatching it I realized with a bit of sadness I already had it.  It’s a match to Grape Pop! from TKB.

Flamingo – Again, on the site it looks BRIGHT pink, but in person it’s very soft.  And again, I found out I already had it in TKB’s Pink.

Helter Skelter – Can you see where this is going?  It was a match to TKB’s Blackstar Blue.

This in no way means they are simply repacking directly from TKB (or any other site, there are a dozen places to get mica wholesale), since two of their shades were not available on the TKB site.  It would have been more damning had I been able to match them ALL.  So while I know several were matches, I’m going to assume they sell a mix of unblended shades as well as original colors.  Nowhere on the site do they claim to custom formulate their makeup, though, so it’s a non issue to me since they don’t reply on it as a selling point.  However, they are NOT straight mica.  The Eye Dusts are made with a titanium dioxide blend, turning them from mica into an actual eyeshadow with blend-ability and staying power.

When Phyrra emailed asking if they make their own products they replied :

The majority of our products, eye dust, glitter, body shimmer/blush, lip gloss are all made in our Chicago facility.
Sincerely,
staff @
Medusa’s Make-Up

The Mascara

I picked the purple.  I am very predictable that way.  I already have a lovely purple mascara from Lauder, but I’m always willing to try a less expensive alternative.  This formula is waterproof and volumizing, just like it claims to be.  However the purple is a very light shade, so unless you’re looking for it, you might expect that I just have some regular mascara on, the tint is that subtle.

The Gloss

Loverboy is described as intense pink with a bubblegum flavor.  It’s a nice pink, but I wouldn’t call it intense.  I always wonder, though, if my idea of intense is different then most peoples because I am used to bright colors?  It’s however a very lovely Barbie pink that I will enjoy wearing.  I like the formula, it’s not sticky and it’s quite opaque, but I’m not getting a bubblegum flavor from it.

I’m sure there are many dupes out there available for the gloss, and at 9$ a tube this might be the only product I might suggest you find one for.  I might suggest Sephora’s Sweet Candy Gloss if you really want a flavored gloss, or maybe even something like Hard Candy if you’re looking for a drug store alternative.

The Blush

I adore the packaging.  It’s really cute and innovative.  The color, Dangerous Liaison, is a nice clear pink.  It’s not quite as bright as some of the other shades I own, but it’s also not ‘dusty’ so it’s a good alternative for a “less is more” look.  I suspect, however, it’s basically just the same blend as the eyeshadow, just mixed with a higher ratio of the base.

The Bag

It’s a bag.  Ummmm.  It’s a cute little transparent bright pink bag with the company logo.

Conclusion

Would I buy from Medusa Makeup again?  I might.

• I didn’t try the pressed shades, so I wonder what those might be like.
• I am willing to take a chance on a few of the other Eye Dusts.  I’ll look more carefully, though, knowing the pictures are not as accurate as I thought they were.  They are not prohibitively expensive that it would be too great of a waste.
• I love the concept and the packaging, the bright colors and all the extras they sell, including brushes.

Phyrra has a couple of looks using Medusa here and here and a ton of swatches here. We’ve come to the conclusion your swatches may be brighter using TFSI rather then the UDPP that I used for my swatches.

Einer der ganz Großen in der VFX-Szene ist Ray Harryhausen. Er gilt als Großmeister der StopMotion-Technik. Hier werden Motive animiert, indem sie für jedes einzelne Bild des Filmes immer nur geringfügig verändert werden. So entsteht beim Abspielen der Eindruck von mehr oder weniger flüssigen Bewegungen. Harryhausen erhob diese Technik zur Perfektion. Größen wie Pixar verneigen sich noch heute vor Harryhausens Schaffen, wie wenn in beispielsweise in “Monster AG” ins Cafe Harryhausen geladen wird.

Der letzte Film des Meisters war 1981 “Kampf der Titanen”. Er erzählt die Geschichte der griechischen Mythologie. Bei Kosten von 15 Mio. US-Dollar spielte der Film allein in den USA 41.092.328 US-Dollar wieder ein und belegte Platz 13 der US-Kinocharts 1981.

Derzeit wird “Kampf der Titanen” neu verfilmt. Bei YouTube fand ich den neuen Trailer. Der Film soll 2010 in die Kinos kommen und kostet rund 70 Millionen US-Dollar. Die Bilder zeigen: StopMotion ist vobei, der Film ist CGI pur.

Obwohl eine klassische griechische Tragödie vorliegt, werden es die Drehbuchautoren wieder mal schaffen, eine Geschichte zu verhunzen. Davor hab ich echt Angst, das die Geschichte um Medusa, Perseus, Poseidon, Zeus und Athene den Bach runter geht. Hoffentlich sagt es einer demn Kollegen Lawrence Kasdan in Hollywood: Es geht nicht nur um fliegende Pferde, 2köpfige Hunde, und ein gigantisches Seeungeheuer und die eindrucksvolle Medusa.

Es ist zu hören, dass eine ähnliche Greenscreen-Technik wie bei “300″ verwendet werden soll, aber mehr Fotorealismus beinhaltet, so Regisseur Louis Teterrier. Was das genau bedeutet, werden wir sehen. Ich fand die Stimmung bei “300″ hervorragend, während ich die Bauten von “Troja” oder “Alexander” eher als moderne Variante des Sandalenfilms ansehe.

Another epic mythological spectacle coming to a cinema near you soon. Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 original of this movie (with some added CGI I guess) in which Perseus has to defeat both Medusa and the Kraken monster to save his beloved prinsess Andromeda. Perseus is played by Sam Worthington. The movie further stars Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Check out the trailer below:

Looks quite alright to me! Hitting the cinema’s around the world from March 2010.

El otro tema por la que Medusa casi se come un piñón tamaño baño fue la discusión sobre el disfraz de la fiesta. Aclaro que el piñón era mío. Me genera tanta violencia esa mina que no puedo evitarla. Candela dice que se asusta y que tiene miedo de que me exploten las venas de a cara y le manche la pollera. Me dice que si eso llega a pasar trate de apuntar para otra parte. Yo no creo que esas cosas se controlen, explota la vena y explota. Tintorería.

Les explico bien para los que no saben. A la fiesta de egresados hay que ir disfrazados porque es mucho más divertido así. No hay mucha ciencia, te vestís de gatone para divertirte más. Funciona igual que con la cerveza. Una verdad universal. Pero no da ni un poco que cada egresado vaya vestido de lo que se le canta el orto porque eso sería democrático y no creemos en ese invento griego sin sentido. Por lo tanto, había que ponerse de acuerdo.

Se barajaron tantas pelotudeces que ahora hace que me ría pero en el momento tuve ganas de bazookear a alquien en la jeta.

Podríamos decir que todos eran vedette pero con otro nombre: mecánicas, indias (pero onda Pocahontas, no mapuche), piratas, pin-up, novias, diablas, ángeles, camioneras (mía), vaqueras, bailarinas, alguna excusa para medias de red, murgueras, circo, domadoras de leones, mujer barbuda (Candela, para terminar con el campo semántico), modelo (Clara: sos muy insulsa), marinera, YMCA (por alguna razón que no entiendo).

Finalmente, llegamos a un consenso. Llegamos es una forma de decir, yo no llegué a ninguna parte. De todo lo que pudieron haber elegido, eso era lo menos peor. No pienso pagar los 100 pesos para el disfraz que va a hacer un x que sacaron de la Bond pero igual me voy a disfrazar de lo mismo, de lo mismo pero un poco distinto. Me van a odiar y lo voy a  disfrutar.

Para comenzar esta nota de hoy, me gustaría dejar claro que lo que aquí escribo es una crítica personal que intenta ser un poco constructiva.

En el día de ayer tuvimos una presentación o un acercamiento al proyecto Medusa del Gobierno de Canarias, con el que se pretende dotar de las infraestructuras necesarias a los colegios para integrarse dentro de la sociedad de la información. La presentación corrió a cargo de Manuel Sergio Fortes Gómez y en ella se nos mostró las diferentes rutas de acción que tiene este proyecto.

Entrando a valorar la exposición debo decir que fue francamente aburrida, salvo en casos excepcionales en el que se nos mostró cierto material didáctico. El señor Manuel no conectó con los que estábamos allí salvo en casos puntuales como comentaba antes. El discurso se centró en la parte teórico-técnica del programa, por lo que muchos de los alumnos se quedaron en treinta y tres al no contar con la formación adecuada para llegar a comprender lo que allí se exponía.

Los que hemos podido cursar la asignatura optativa de habilidades sabemos que lo principal en una exposición es conectar con el público, por lo que debemos plantearnos qué es lo que quiere escuchar o mejor dicho, qué es lo que más les interesa de lo que vamos a hablar, es decir, hacer lo suficientemente llamativo nuestro discurso y que sea relevante para los que nos escuchan (no es lo mismo presentar un proyecto a unos niños de 6 años que a unos profesionales de la informática). Y en caso de no acertar con nuestras predicciones debemos adaptarnos a la situación. La verdad es que pese a que Don Manuel se percató en varias ocasiones de que su discurso estaba aburriendo, no se adapto a las circunstancias.

Yo salí del aula con un montón de palabrería técnica y lo único que me quedó claro es que facilitan la estructura tecnológica dentro de los centros, gestionan el mantenimiento de sus servicios (intranet, ordenadores, etc.) y poco más. Personalmente me hubiera gustado que se nos hablara de las diferentes experiencias que se han llevado a cabo en los centros, como ha afectado a estos, si ha mejorado o no la práctica docente, qué tipo de formación han recibido los profesores para poder hacer un uso didáctico de esas herramientas… No sé, algo más relacionado con la educación y no con la informática o la estructura jerárquica del programa.

Desde mi punto de vista, si hubiera conectado primero con su audiencia desde este discurso, tal vez nos habría interesado un poco más la estructura del programa. Lo triste del asunto es que se nos machaca en la facultad con que no hagamos la típica presentación y luego nos traen al aula a un profesional que nos da la típica presentación. Esto es como el perro que se muerde la cola.

El Proyecto actúa fundamentalmente en:

-          Dotación de infraestructuras y equipamientos.

-          Formación del profesorado en el uso y “explotación” educativa de las TIC.

-          Formación del alumnado y aprovechamiento educativo de las TIC

-          Impulso de procesos de innovación e investigación y elaboración de contenidos.

-          Comunicaciones y redes como soportes de comunicación y difusión de contenidos educativos.

-          Gestión académica y administrativa de los centros escolares.

Buscando un poco por la red me he encontrado con una noticia sobre una experiencia de aula con Tablet PC en Gran Canaria, que habría sido muy interesante escuchar ayer en clase.

Well, these things are never planned, but I had 3 different encounters while sitting in Seat AA-5 at the Palace Theater the other night.

1:  “Becoming Medusa” by Stacy Garrop:  I enjoyed the piece as a piece for the most part, but I became increasingly agitated through the whole thing because I could feel Athena’s mounting rage at the presumptuousness of the becoming Medusa, who elicited her wrath with the seduction of Poseidon in Athena’s temple.  (The noive!!!)  The percussion, the strings, the brass, the ominous nature of it all.  My my my.  I could feel the grey-eyed one’s vengeance emergent, and I was actually terrified.  Ms. Garrop effectively channeled Pallas into the piece, and the devastation of Medusa who now was hideous and tormented.  Quite effective, but it left me with a chilling sense of awe at the power of this Goddess.

2: “Piano Concerto” by Saint-Saens, as performed by George Li (age 14!).  I was of course captivated by this young master’s performance, and he truly was a master of the piano at this fresh age.  Li put his whole being into the piece, and oddly, I felt that Artur Rubinstein was in the house for some reason.  Midway through the performance, I decided to check the program notes and discovered that CSS had actually written the piece for Rubinstein.  I was wondering whether Master Li was A.R.’s reincarnation, or whether the piece is so Rubinstein’s, that he appears wherever it is played live. 

3: “Symphony No. 2″ of Brahms.  I found myself impatient through the first 2 movements.  I felt something was being prepared in the 3rd, however.  And with the fourth, I sensed that there was an opening forced onstage from one of the other worlds, and I felt a yellow seam appear, vertical in the middle of the air around where the conductor directed the orchestra from memory.  A giant stag emerged, and said to me “Pay attention!”  He proceeded to juggle 10 suns in his antlers – yes, they had limberness and dexterity, and then he threw them out into the audience which then was ablaze in a gorgeous yellow glow, and the Stag became surrounded in a bubble of that color, and then disappeared in a pop.  Suddenly, each person in the audience had a stag right next to them, and each juggled ten suns of his own in his rack.  But the stags wanted to merge with the various audience members.  (I must confess I was only looking to my right, at the majority of the audience.  I did not see if anyone to my left or immediately behind me was included in what transpired.)  My stag merged with me all right, but the others were sitting next to their people, and they sort of “turned off.”  Still, there were 7 or 8 people whose stags had melded with them, and I could sense they were around, sense that most of them were elders, but I think there was at least 1 other person who was not a senior (probably a child, I would imagine–there were several there).  I did find myself drifting in awe for a few moments, but I remembered I was supposed to pay attention, and I felt a little sad for the people whose stags sat there inert.  I felt they had all become like the background of the Crowley deck 7 of Disks – a sort of thicket of dullness in indigo tones.  Various bright colors dotted the hall, though.  I stayed yellow, but for some reason I could feel vivid green and red and orange.  The Stag started to emit a red light out into the space, and then I felt the music shift toward “home-base.”  The stags were all basically called back into the first Great Stag, and then as the music reached its final segment, I saw the stag bound back into the other world, and the seam close up behind him in a yellow blaze, and then disappear.

Wow, Johannes.  Eat venison much?

cross posted at ordinarysacred at livejournal.

Uy la colgué de nuevo. Es el fin de año que me está matando, necesito una porcina que me da unas vacaciones como las de julio. Una fiebre zombie o algo por el estilo.

Falta menos de un mes para que termine el secundario para siempre. Estoy muy cerca, la recta final es esta. La cercanía de la meta es proporcional al lo insufrible que se vuelve todo. (más cerca, más pesado)

Cierra el trimestre y ya empiezan las integraciones (exámenes de fin de curso que evaúan toooda la materia). Son una pajota. Lo positivo del tema es que vas, rendís y te volvés a tu casa a dormir la siesta. La supuesta tesina resultó ser una monografía de diez páginas, asi que ahí no hay mucho problema.

Por otra parte, en dos semanas es la fiesta de egresados, una fiesta de mierda va a ser. Encima juntamos menos plata de la que teníamos pensada (a mí me parece que es una barbaridad pero la Gorgona contadora dice que es poco, su criterio de realidad está bastante atrofiado así que no la escuchemos) así que no va a ser en Pacha como siempre soñó Medusa. Aparte tampoco conseguimos la fecha que “queríamos”, ideal hubiera sido -escuché- que fuera en octubre o antes de las otras fiestas (no fui a ninguna) pero terminamos siendo una de las últimas.

Dos temas muy puntuales hicieron que casi le rompiera a Medusa el pinchapapeles que tiene por nariz: el primero un divague con el que saltaron de la nada y consiste en lo siguiente. Se les ocurrió que sería “muy copado” (porque se manejan con esos términos) que nos juntemos todas en una casa y que nos pase a buscar a cada una su novio. Las que no tienen novio no se tienen que angustiar porque una amiga le puede presentar a alguien o le puede decir al amigo feo de su chico que le haga el favor. Mucha película de highschool. Por suerte, no fui la única que las puteó. De hecho, no tuve más que quedarme recostada en mi silla y ver como saltaban chispas en la clase. Me hubiera gustado tener pochoclos o maní con chocolate para pasarla mejor. Aunque pocas cosas me dan más placer y a  la vez tanta repulsión que escuchar a chicas con papa en la boca decirse puta. Cuando las cristianitas se pelean de llaman cosas, en general son distintas variantes de la profesión más antigua del mundo. A mi me parece que decirle a alguien que es sucia y huele mal es peor. Si “La Sucia”-otro personaje de la fauna local- no fuera tan sensible respecto de su olor natural creo que la mandaría a bañarse. O a que mande su pollera con sangre de menstruación a  la tintorería. No quiero ni imaginarme el ecosistema que tiene debajo de las uñas. (Esto me recuerda a una anécdota de un campamento, aunque mucho que ver no tiene).

Finalmente, nadie va a ir a buscar a nadie a ninguna casa y no vamos a hacer esa ridiculez. No tuve que gritar (punto para mi), y otra gente se encargó de decirle a Medusa que es una pelotuda. Si me decían que a Madre Forrita la había atropellado un camión, era la perfección.

“¡Ay, que mala! Te fuiste al carajo.”

Relajen, Forrita se va al cielo directo. Y ella siempre dice que es lo mejor que le puede pasar, es como irte a Cancún con todo pago.