with Muse, 311, Slightly Stoopid, Phoenix, The Bravery, Metric, Vampire Weekend, Cage the Elephant, White Rabbits
Gibson Amphitheatre

This blank page is

haunting me

mocking me

daring me to take away its

innocence

purity

perfection.

Silent words resound in my head

while my muse, Creativity,

rattles the cage that retains her.

I bring my pencil to the page…

The whore and virgin

meet

stare

shout.

“Set me free so I can taint this page!”

Creativity reaches through the bars,

grasping only air.

“You will never touch me,”

the virgin laughs.

In a sudden burst of strength,

cage bars are bent.

A slim, smiling muse slips through.

Then I write.

So long

laughter

blankness

and daunting.

The virgin, now marked,

is silent.

Good evening to you all bloggers, Jenny blogging tonight.

Well today we discovered that the lane at the bottom of the driveway of our stables this morning has in fact become even more flooded and deeper than it was on the weekend. It’s also moved up the driveway a little bit more which means that the water is getting close to our home, which is not a good thing really. The water is still running though the yards and down the drive and passed our home, but good news is that we now have ten sand bags in front of our front door that hardly any water is getting though. To get into our home we simply open the top part of our front door and in, simple really. Picture below is some of our grazing flooded, and this was on high ground, the bottom two fields are a good 2 foot under water at the lower end of them so no using the bottom fields again this year me thinks.

For the staffs personal wellbeing me and Motoko and told them to wear their 66North waterproof clothing, we normally only ever use for hacking out. Reason is that the 66North clothing is same type as Ocean which is that oil skin type, but its orange and very hi visibility. Unlike our Ocean gear that is Orange and Blue. So all of our staff members now wearing their 66North clothing so they show up on the yard, this means we can see each other though all this flooding and rain. Also Motoko told them to go to their provided cottages and, do a stock take on all of their food and note it down and hand a copy to us so we know how long we can all home out. It’s good news as every one as plenty of supplies for a good whole week, and by then all this flooding should be slowly going. We have a plan to use our canoe and paddle around the flooded lane for supplies from local farm shop which is not as flooded as we are. Also Sam our friend is a flood response operative and she lives on the arm with her partner. So help is a flooded lane away if we really badly need it.

With all this weather no one as you know can enter our leave our stables, so today has been customer free. So that’s not so good, but means that there are no lessons and treks to take and lead. That means there is more time to work on other things.

Also if you are a fan of the band called Muse, you will love this video.

I think it was a really great performance but not as good as their Devon gig which was just fantastic to hear.

Everyone here been really cheerful and up beat about the whole thing and Motoko has been wearing a lifejacket all day over her gear as a joke all day, that made me smile. Also have a painted sign on our yards driveway gate with a cartoon raft with lots of horses on board it. Was my idea, so I was the one to wade in and tie it to the gate, once again I got my hunters flooded. I really must remember to wear my waders next time I do anything like test the depth or put if funny signs.

Here is another RNLI video to continue Motoko’s RNLI support in her last blog.

But that is it for now, I need to see to our fire and then help Motoko with our dinner. You can’t go wrong with bangers and mash!

Jenny and Motoko Carter

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

Sabato 21 Novembre @ Futurshow Station di Bologna: tappa del Resistance Tour dei Muse. Io ero lì, con alcuni amici e mio fratello immancabile compagno di questi momenti, lì a dividere con me la passione tutta rock per una musica “difficile” dai suoni graffianti, dalle melodie distorte e da voci maschili profonde e intime.

Ad essere sincera, devo fare un mea culpa ammettendo che prima del concerto non ero del tutto impaziente ed entusiasta come avrei invece dovuto essere… non riuscivo ad essere completamente elettrizzata per vari motivi che come al solito disturbano la mia testolina [circostanze avverse legate all'evento, una settimana di mezza malattia e deperimento fisico, l'attesa di un evento a cui tengo molto che avrà luogo a dicembre...]
Poi però la scarsa emozione dell’attesa è stata totalmente rimpiazzata alle prime note di Uprising…

E’ stato un concerto incredibile, che mi ha fatto sentire elettrica dalla testa ai piedi… I Muse suonavo alla perfezione pezzi vecchi e nuovi, ed ognuno risvegliava in me un ricordo, o una sensazione, o un’idea dimenticata.. Mi sono setita scossa e ispirata dal loro talento e dalla loro energia, così travolgente eppure così timida…
Le loro canzoni parlano di emozioni incontrollabili e fortissime portate all’estremo, ma anche di libertà, di un futuro diverso, di un mondo migliore… la chiave siamo noi, le nostre azioni, le nostre decisioni, i nostri sentimenti…Love is our resistance.

You electrify my life
Let’s conspire to re-ignite
All the souls that would die just to feel alive
[Starlight]

Just got a message in the inbox telling Muse will possibly and more than likely by performing and headling Coachella next year

Friend to Dree Hemingway and Style Icon in the making. – S x D

tfs, altamira

Thanks to everybody who commented on my last blog post! I really appreciate you sharing your playlists with everyone and introducing us to some great new music!

As I was responding to your comments, something hit me. You guys have shown us an incredible ammount of support over the last few years. You’ve called your local DJs to request our music. You’ve come to our shows and purchased our CDs. And your votes have caused us to win more contests and get onto more playlists than I could count. Each of you has helped make what we do possible.

Last week was really cool because we had twenty people contribute to our post! But, our anlaytics show that hundreds of people read it. Why is that? I’m not sure. But I feel that it is – at least in some part – due to the fact that so often the creation and delivery of art is a one way street. I want to change that; so I’d like to invite you to take a moment to do three things:

1. Visit atris.wordpress.com (This will be more fun if everyone goes to the same page.)
2. Scroll down to the comment box and introduce yourself. Write a few words about anything you’d like. How did you first hear our music? What city are you from? What are your favorite movies? Pretend we just met at a coffee shop. If you’d like share your blog address, Twitter ID or someplace where we and other people can learn more about you that would be great too!
3. Check the box that says Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

Please don’t do this for us, do this for yourself and for everyone. It takes a certain amount of bravery to put yourself out there; but it’s worth it. We love to get to know people with similar interests, ideas, and opinions. And it’s really cool when group discussions are started. If you have something in common with someone who posts, let him or her know! It makes me feel great to see people responding to my comments, and I love to chime back in to share my thoughts.

Looking forward to meeting you!

-Mason

I have nothing to narrate, describe, rant, or write to go along with these photos. So there.

—

I have a strong urge to write about a lot of things. My brain is over-infested with mundane thoughts to care about writing long-winded flowery-sentence posts. Say hello to my twisted mind.

Eine gefühlte Ewigkeit ist mein letzter Blogeintrag her, und selbst dieses Konzert hier war genau vor einer Woche. Doch aktuell fehlt mir Zeit und Kraft um hier regelmäßig zu texten. Daher ganz schön verspätet, und in kürzerer Form: Mein Review zum Muse-Konzert in der Kölnarena am vergangenen Montag.

2001 hatte ich erstmals eine Muse-CD in der Hand. “Origin of Symmetry“. Es war Liebe auf den ersten Ton (von New Born). [Übrigens noch heute meine Lieblingsplatte von Muse - und auch sonst eine der besten überhaupt!]

2006, Düsseldorf: Mein erstes Live-Konzert von Muse. 2 Stunden Live-Perfomance der absoluten Extraklasse. 2 Stunden pures Adrenalin in der Philipshalle. Sprachlos, atemlos, perfekt.

Da war es schon selbstverständlich, dass ich auch bei der aktuellen “Resistance-Tour” mit dabei war. Mittlerweile ist die Band bekannter, die Hallen größer. Aber von Widerstand kaum eine Spur, spätestens nach der eher unerwartet guten Vorband freute man sich auf die 3 Jungs von der Insel, und die legten dann auch mal direkt ordentlich los. Ich lasse das Video sprechen, für die riesen LED-Türme kann man fast keine Worte finden, das musste man schon gesehen haben:

Optisch ging das dann nahezu so weiter. Videos auf den gigantischen Türmen, Laser und vieles mehr sorgten mal wieder für einen Augenschmaus der besonderen Art und eine auch diesmal wieder atemberaubende Show. Teilweise nah dran am Overkill. Musekonzerte haben was von einer riesigen inszenierten Oper.

© regioactive.de

Musikalisch bieten die 3 Jungs das, was man von ihnen nach zahlreichen “Best Liveact”-Preisen erwartet:  Spitzenklasse durchweg. Gespielt wird einiges von der durchaus respektablen neuen Platte, vermischt mit den Hits der bisherigen Alben von “Feeling good” (richtig klasse mit dem Flügel!)  bis “Starlight“.

Die Setlist war durchweg erfreulich, die neuen Songs live besser als erwartet und mit “Bliss” und “Take a Bow” fehlten wir mir nur 2 Stücke, die ich wirklich sehr gerne gehört hätte. Sonst war alles beim Alten: Keine Ansagen und knapp 1 3/4 Stunden volle Kraft voraus. Muse wie man sie kennt – und liebt.

© regioactive.de

Matthew Bellamy hatte zudem sichtlich Spaß beim Singen, Spielen, Spass machen und entertainen. Enttäuschenderweise spielte er an diesem Abend kaum selbst Piano, bis auf 2 Stücke. Das machte er dafür mit tollen Gitarren-Soli wieder wett. Vor allem die fast 10-minütige (!)  Live-Version von “Stockholm Syndrome” war unglaublich gut. Zwischendurch gabs ein tolles gemeinsames Drum – und Bass-solo von Dominic Howard und Christopher Wolstenhome.

Am Ende wars dann die Musik von Ennio Morricone, die als Intro für den letzten Akt herhielt: “Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod” auf Mundharmonika.

Fazit: Ein absolut großartiges Konzert – wiedermal. Auch wenn es nicht an das Düsseldorfer Konzert heranreicht, aber wenn ich ehrlich bin, lag das wohl eher nicht an Muse, sondern an der unglaublichen Stimmung damals in der Philipshalle. Muse ist und bleibt live eine wirklich tolle Band und ist jedem Rock-Fan zu empfehlen.

Save your Rubbish

How many times have you crumbled that piece of paper and aimed it to the waste basket?  How about deleting that file?  Hopefully, not that many times.  Think twice before deleting or throwing away content that is not passing your approval at a particular moment.  Save it.  Yes, save that Rubbish!  It may not be useful now, but it may become inspirational material for future writings.

We are not in the same emotional wave all the time.  Our emotions shift from day-to-day, or moment to moment.  What may not appeal to you today, may become useful material later – inspiration for an idea for a story, for a character, an article, or even a poem.  Right now, it may seem horrible to you, but it may contain the roots for a good piece.

So before you throw away your rubbish, give it a second chance – in the future.

Not much has been said about automatic writing/dictation.  The same goes for Angel speak.  For many spiritual leaders and authors they go hand in hand.  A practice that has been in existence and available to our race for many centuries is not being used to its greatest potential.  Read on.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2413692/talking_to_your_angels.html

The latest can to be kicked around the jazz blogosphere (and beyond) is what records make the cut as the best of the decade.

As much as we enjoy the opportunity to reminisce about our first seven-plus years in business, and the 135 recordings we promoted for our clients in that span, we’re not quite ready to dip a toe in that nearly bottomless pool just yet.

But, we’re more than happy to shine a light on the recordings we promoted for our clients in 2009 (in order of their release).

Hopefully at least a few of these will end up on your year’s best list or at least your list for Santa.

David S. Ware
Shakti (AUM Fidelity)

Gerald Cleaver/William Parker/Craig Taborn
Farmers By Nature (AUM Fidelity)

The Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra
Muse (Creative Nation Music)

Garrison Fewell
Variable Density Sound Orchestra (Creative Nation Music)

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society
Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records)

Michael Musillami Trio + 3
From Seeds (Playscape Recordings)

The Fully Celebrated
Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)

John Hébert
Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12 Records)

Carl Maguire’s Floriculture
Sided Silver Solid (Firehouse 12 Records)

Joe Morris/Petr Cancura/Luther Gray
Wildlife (AUM Fidelity)

KLANG
Tea Music (Allos Documents)

Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings
Madeleine Dreams (Firehouse 12 Records)

Fay Victor Ensemble
The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)

Fonda/Stevens Group
Memphis (Playscape Recordings)

Harris Eisenstadt
Canada Day (Clean Feed)

Darius Jones Trio
Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity)

Joe Morris Quartet
Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity)

Jessica Pavone
Songs Of Synastry And Solitude (Tzadik)

Bill Dixon
Tapestries For Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records)

I’ve made a new playing list. Do you have a special music list at your iPod/MP3/etc?

1. Lykke Li – Possibility
2. M.I.A – Paper Planes
3. Oh Laura – Release Me
4. Tori Amos – Winter
5. Antsy Pants – Vampire
6. Muse – Time is running out
7. Muse – Starlight
8. Muse – New Born

9. Katie Melua – If the Lights go Out
10. R.E.M – the Great Beyond
11. Velvet Underground – I’m sticking with you
12. Kimya Dawson – Tire Swing

13. Arctic Monkeys – Mardy Bum
14. Bloc Party – Two More Years
15. Bloc Party – This Modern Love
16. The Cranberries – Zombie
17. The Cranberries – Salvation

I am kinda into that alternative music sound these days. Not that these artists are too alternative. But still, they make really great music.

A long overdue review of Biffy Clyro, Cardiff University Great Hall, October 25, 2009…

After a long, long weekend of (Sŵn) festival fun I was more than ready to call it a day and go to bed, with the intention of completing an impending deadline the next morning. However, I had booked my Biffy Clyro tickets months and months in advance and there was no way I was going to miss it. So with a can of Red Bull in tow I headed off to the front of the SU only to be unexpectedly met by a crowd of snogging neon-clad 14 year-olds queuing for Chase & Status, before making my way to the back, and correct entrance…

The first incarnation of Biffy Clyro was formed in 1995. The band hail from Kilmarnock, just outside of Glasgow, and is made up of childhood friends Simon Neil (vocals/guitar) and twins James (bass/vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums/vocals). United by a love of underground, experimental rock and post-hardcore bands such as Braid and Karate, along with the more famous Guns N’Roses and Metallica, the band soon sharpened their own unique sound, a strangely beautiful mixture of off-kilter tempos, impulsive guitars, untamed choruses and raw screams, all jumbled together to create a sound that sat far apart from anything else being recorded at the time, both in character and – thanks to their bold refusal to uproot from their hometown for the wider music community of London – geographically too.

The band’s first three albums – Blackened Sky (2002), The Vertigo Of Bliss (2003) and Infinity Land (2004) – arrived in an onslaught of creativity, a record released every year and relentless touring assembled a small but devoted legion of followers. Biffy Clyro’s ranks grew even more when their more commercial album Puzzle (2007) was released, stunning listeners with its achingly personal, rich and complex take on rock anthems. The band soon found themselves playing Wembley Stadium with Muse, headlining the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury and performing with The Rolling Stones. U2 even supported them at a special Little Noise session at London’s Union Chapel, although the band claim their biggest musical highlight came when they headlined in front of a hometown crowd at Glasgow’s SECC.

Cardiff University’s misleadingly named Great Hall is not exactly the SECC. Having seen Biffy Clyro twice before in 2003 and 2007, and at much bigger venues, it seemed ironic that the band has never been bigger, yet this venue was the smallest I’ve seen them in.

Disappointingly main support Manchester Orchestra were unable to play the first batch of Biffy shows due to previous touring commitments, which meant that Pulled Apart By Horses were the only support. Having seen them at (Sŵn) only two days before it was easy to make comparisons between the two performances. Although the band played the same set list they as their (Sŵn) gig, the performance was completely different. Although they definitely have the presence to fill a large stage, I much preferred their set at Clwb Ifor Bach as their songs sounded much louder, and the closer proximity of the band and audience helped to create most of the energy at the gig. That said, the audience responded well to their songs and on-stage banter and the Leeds four-piece certainly fired up the crowd for the main act.

Kicking off with That Golden Rule- the first single from the band’s latest album Only Revolutions- along with an epic display of lights, set the bar for the high-paced energy of the rest of the gig. Due to the band being invited to support Muse once more on their UK and European tour, Biffy Clyro had the bring forward the dates of their own tour. However, with their Only Revolutions album due for release halfway through the rescheduled tour dates, a lot of their set was brand new to the audience. Although hearing songs for the first time live is an amazing experience, it was also one of the gig’s weaker points, as fans were expecting more of Biffy Clyro’s more familiar back catalogue. This, combined with the fact that the band only played four songs from their first three, and infinitely better albums, meant that most of my favourite Biffy Clyro songs, and old live favourites such as Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave, Toys Toys Toys Choke Toys Toys Toys, Convex Concave, Eradicate The Doubt and My Recovery Injection were discarded in exchange for almost the entirety of Puzzle.

A less-hairy Simon Neil showcasing beautiful melodies and his even more beautiful tattoos...

Although the band played an amazing set to a packed venue, it was probably the least enjoyable gig I’ve seen them play, partly due to the overwhelming presence of new, unknown material, and partly due to the band’s lack of interaction with the audience. Although I realise that the main reason for touring is to promote new releases, the fact that aside from the two singles, The Captain and TGR, no one knew the songs, and the titles were not even introduced, meant that there was a slight air of confusion from the audience. Only two words were uttered the whole hour and 45 minutes the band were on stage, with Simon Neil saying “Awesome” and then “Beautiful” after the crowd had finished singing the melodic endings of Machines and All The Way Down. There was rightly a lot of love in the room for the band, so luckily this lack of interaction did not detract away from the incredible music they were playing.

Whether playing their metal epics, or exposing the more vulnerable side of their music with softer personal ballads, Biffy Clyro never fail to disappoint musically. Although the set list seemed to be aimed at the newer legions of Biffy fans, with the last song of the encore being their most commercially successful single Mountains, the band were still on top form, and demonstrating how they have managed to remain on top of their game for nearly 15 years. With the release of Only Revolutions and their support slot with Muse this winter, Biffy Clyro look set to increase their fan following even more over the next year. Only time will tell whether, which such an enormous back catalogue of amazing songs, the band will ever decide to unleash many of their earlier songs live again…

As ever, WordPress is not letting me upload any of the videos I took… these will be up soon, promise!

Dolce&Gabbana The One official website

“This new era in the story of the one is once again captured by revered fashion photographer Jean Baptiste Mondino. His muse, and the unforgettable embodiment of l’eau the one, is Scarlett Johansson. A global icon, Scarlett fascinates audiences with her unique blend of beauty, charm and palpable intelligence.

The original soundtrack for the advertisements was composed by the illustrious Italian composer Ennio Morricone: a haunting tribute to the enduring impression made by l’eau the one woman.”

Much as I hate to admit it, I’m suspiciously drawn to some songs on the recent Muse album, The Resistance. I get that it’s totally counter-intuitive to philosophise about pretentious music all day and then go home to a loud, outré, sloganeering chunk of symphonic rock, complete with time-signature changes, wholly self-indulgent guitar solos, and violently operatic vocals. But I really am beginning to love bits of it, at least.

Slap bang in the middle of the album lies the seven-minute long, multi-part leviathan that is “Unnatural Selection”. It opens with Bellamy phoning in a drawl over the kind of church organ that hasn’t been acceptable since Origin of Symmetry. From this innocuous opening emerges a slithering beast of a riff that recalls “New Born”. This somewhat pummelling passage eventually morphs into a rather baroque chorus that invokes memories of Bach, albeit interwoven with some background chanting resembling a football-terrace chant. Eventually, the song collapses into a gloriously decadent waltz, replete with woozy guitar licks and a Hammond organ that has somehow escaped out of a 50s horror film. When that passage is fully spent (and my, Bellamy has a lot of nonspecific wailing to get through), the baroque riff breaks through once more for a final showdown, this time with ten times more multi-tracked vocal harmonies and half a dozen more guitar overdubs.

And you know what? It’s marvellous.

Sometimes, Muse play up their theatricality until it just sounds ridiculous, but when they get it right, every disparate element of their schtick can fall into place perfectly, with a careless swagger than ploughs through any idea you may have had of decency. The lyrics may be meaningless nonsense, but when Bellamy is busy waking up the residents of Lake Como with his pair of bellows, it’s hard not to admit that he sounds like he’s having a good time. And, more to the p0int, that you’d be a bit of a killjoy not to have a good time yourself.

Ya queda menos de una semana para el ansiado concierto de MUSE. El sábado que viene, sobre esta hora (15,00) estaré llegando a Madrid para hacer cola durante unas cinco horas, esperando impaciente a que se abran las puertas.

Esta semana se me hará larga, pero por suerte —o por desgracia— la tengo plagada de exámenes y trabajitos en la facultad, así que estaré entretenido y se hará menos ardua la espera.

È uno di quei successi annunciati, New Moon, uno di quei film da record di incassi prima ancora che siano usciti. È così ogni volta che intorno a un’opera si crea un alone che lo rende qualcosa di più di un semplice film. Così è il caso di soffermarsi sulle ragioni di un successo annunciato.

La prima è quella che in termini commerciali si definirebbe “fidelizzazione”. Tra la saga di Twilight e il suo pubblico si è creato un legame solido e inscindibile che nasce già dai libri. Come Harry Potter,  quella di Twilight è una saga, una serie di libri, che racconta una storia che non si esaurisce, ma prosegue attraverso i vari volumi. I lettori così si sposteranno da un libro all’altro, in modo che ogni libro verrà letto probabilmente più di quello precedente. Come per la saga del maghetto, i libri di Stephanie Meyer creano un mondo, che i lettori vogliono continuare a vivere andando al cinema, per vedere come prenderà forma sullo schermo quello che fino a quel momento era vissuto nella propria immaginazione. Così probabilmente i lettori del libro saranno i più appassionati spettatori del film. E a loro se ne aggiungeranno altri. Rispetto ai titoli della saga di Harry Potter, quella di Twilight potrebbe essere svantaggiata dal fatto che i libri non hanno un nome come comune denominatore (i titoli non iniziano ad esempio con Harry Potter e…), ma dei titoli diversi. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn (e ne arriverà prima o poi un quinto). Così al cinema i titoli sono stati raccolti sotto il nome The Twilight Saga.

Ma perché una saga abbia successo devono esserci dei contenuti. In questo senso la chiave vincente è stata travestire da horror quello che in fondo è un perfetto romanzo sentimentale. Non a caso in New Moon assistiamo a una serie di battute sul cinema, con Bella che dice di detestare i film romantici, e vorrebbe andare a vedere film d’azione, quasi che il regista volesse prendersi un po’ in giro. Perché New Moon, come Twilight, di horror ha ben poco. Non punta certo a spaventare: pensiamo che uno degli stilemi più spaventosi e spettacolari dei film di licantropi, le transizioni da uomo a uomo-lupo, qui avvengono all’istante, e il “mostro” altri non è che un lupo più grande. Invece il modello della storia di New Moon è uno degli archetipi delle sofferenza amorose, quel Giulietta e Romeo scritto qualche secolo fa da uno dei migliori “sceneggiatori” di tutti i tempi, Sir William Shakespeare, e citato in una delle prime scene del film. Anche qui ci sono due amanti divisi, non dal fatto di appartenere a due famiglie rivali, ma a due “razze” diverse, umani e vampiri (in questo il racconto potrebbe diventare una metafora della difficoltà delle coppie miste di oggi, ma non sembra mai andare in quella direzione). E il finale, in cui Edward, come Romeo, cerca la morte perché crede che la sua Bella, come Giulietta, sia morta, richiama proprio la trama di Shakespeare.

Ispirazioni celebri a parte, la saga di Twilight piace perché spinge all’identificazione. È narrata da un punto di vista prettamente femminile, quello di Bella, e riesce a cogliere molti degli aspetti tipici dell’adolescenza: il non sentirsi capiti, il non avere amici, la tentazione e il rischio di prendere una cattiva strada e di perdersi, il sentirsi diversi da chi ci sta intorno, unici, e il bisogno di ribadire, anche con rabbia, la propria unicità e la propria personalità. Bella, in New Moon, è diversa da tutti. Tra i vampiri della famiglia Cullen è l’unica umana, accettata ma mai fino in fondo, in costante pericolo. Ma è diversa anche tra i suoi simili, avendo varcato ormai una soglia dalla quale non può tornare indietro. E poi in New Moon, dopo l’innamoramento di Twilight, c’è la scoperta del sesso, del corpo, e di quel confine sottile tra amicizia a amore, come si vede nell’avvicinamento di Bella a Jacob. Per questo i film della saga Twilight sono dei film rivolti soprattutto a un pubblico giovane e femminile (e sono piuttosto odiati da quello maschile, vedi la guerra dei sessi scoppiata in rete). Lo dimostra la grande attenzione per pettorali e bicipiti che c’è in New Moon. In questo senso la cornice horror data alla storia (perché di cornice, e niente di più, si tratta) serve ad astrarre sentimenti e situazioni dell’adolescenza dalla realtà, a isolarli e renderli così più evidenti, assoluti. Le storie di Stephanie Meyer riescono, in parte, in quello in cui non riesce Moccia.

Cosa resta dunque dell’horror nella saga di Twilight? Non molto, diciamo una serie di suggestioni che servono a creare un’atmosfera intorno a una storia d’amore e di crescita. Stephanie Meyer prende una serie di figure archetipiche del cinema horror, il vampiro e il licantropo, e le svuota, interessandosi ai sentimenti e ai rapporti tra i personaggi, più che alle peculiarità dei tipi in questione. Succede il contrario di quello che capita spesso al cinema horror, dove le figure mostruose sono il cuore del film, e sono di volta in volta inserite in cornici storiche, sociali o culturali diverse, per tornare comunque prepotentemente al centro. Qui i personaggi sono il centro della storia, e sono essenzialmente caratteri con problemi e reazioni umane: il loro essere mostri è solo un contesto, un contorno, un colore. Ma al centro ci sono sempre le caratteristiche umane del personaggio. Così i vampiri non hanno il problema di non potere vedere la luce, o di uccidere gli umani a tutti i costi. E i licantropi non si trasformano con la luna piena, ma in seguito a emozioni rabbiose. Entrambi non diventano tali perché “non morti”, o morsi da altre creature, ma fanno parte di famiglie in cui tutti sono così. Quanto ai vampiri, assistiamo a una “normalizzazione” estrema della figura del vampiro. I Cullen sono persone normalissime, lontanissime dalla figura agghiacciante del Nosferatu di Murnau o di Herzog, ma anche dal Dracula di Bram Stoker di Coppola, e dai vampiri affascinanti ed eleganti anni Ottanta di Myriam si sveglia a mezzanotte, o dei dandy d’altri tempi di Intervista col vampiro, tratta dai libri di Anne Rice, e portata sullo schermo da Neil Jordan. Per andare incontro al suo pubblico, la saga di Twilight si avvicina a certi prodotti televisivi ai cui codici espressivi è abituato, cioè a serie che hanno sdoganato l’horror come prodotto per tutti, cioè Buffy, Angel e il recente True Blood.

La saga di Twilight è un perfetto esempio di film a target. Il che è interessante anche dal punto di vista commerciale, visto che permette di investire su un pubblico ben preciso. Ne è un esempio l’accattivante colonna sonora assemblando pezzi di gruppi rock, tra l’indie, l’emo e il dark, perfetti per accattivarsi il pubblico giovanile e costruire un’atmosfera oscura attorno al film. Ma, si sa, il rock è universale, e il risultato in questo caso è apprezzabile anche dai non giovanissimi. Tra canzoni dei Death Cab For Cutie, Killers e i nipotini dei Joy Division, The Editors, le cose più interessanti vengono da Thom Yorke, che, senza i suoi Radiohead, canta la sua Hearing Damage su un tappeto elettronico e cupo, che fa risaltare la sua inconfondibile voce, e dai Muse, con I Belong To You, che ripropongono il loro tipico sound con un tocco leggermente retro, vicino alle atmosfere di Feeling Good, la loro cover del pezzo reso famoso da Nina Simone.  

Prendete tutte queste premesse e metteteci quella enorme arma in più che ha il cinema: quella di creare icone e fissarle nell’immaginario in maniera indelebile. Certo, è presto, e probabilmente ingeneroso di parlare di icona, viste le vere icone che ha creato il cinema, per Edward Cullen. Ma rispetto all’aura di culto creata tra le adolescenti dai libri della Meyer, il grande schermo ha aggiunto il volto e il corpo di Robert Pattinson, diventato un vero idolo delle ragazze di tutto il mondo. La saga di Twilight lo mette in scena con un’aria alla James Dean, dimostrando di non volersi togliere nulla in fatto di esempi di ribellione giovanile. Il suo aspetto fisico, unito all’aura romantica del suo personaggio, ha fatto centro nel cuore di molte ragazze. L’attore londinese ha scatenato una mania che, restando nel mondo del cinema, non si vedeva dai tempi del primo Leonardo Di Caprio. In rete e nei negozi si trova qualunque cosa con il volto o il nome di Robert Pattinson, o del suo personaggio, Edward Cullen: magliette, tazzine, ombrelli, cappelli, borse, tende per la doccia e persino le mutande vanno a ruba. Robsessed (cioè obsessed by Rob, ossessionate da Rob) è il titolo di un documentario sull’attore (il dvd si trova in vendita su Amazon). La mania è totale. E come se non bastasse, Pattinson è anche un cantante rock, e tra qualche anno vorrebbe incidere un disco. Chissà come prenderanno le sue ammiratrici la notizia della sua love story. Chi poteva conquistare il cuore del bel Pattinson? Ma ovviamente la sua Bella, l’attrice Kristen Stewart. Dal set l’amore si sarebbe trasferito nella realtà, Edward e Bella si sarebbero impadroniti di Pattinson e la Stewart, facendo innamorare i due. Negli ultimi due mesi i due sono stati spesso fotografati insieme, e i giornali inglesi e americani stanno cavalcando la notizia. Che, diversamente dal solito, non sembra la solita trovata pubblicitaria. Speriamo che il loro amore sia meno tormentato di quello dei due personaggi. E che magari questo riesca a portare nei prossimi film un po’ più di chimica, di passione, di pathos. Cioè un tocco in più di realtà.

(Pubblicato su Movie Sushi)

So I asked her, ‘Don’t you feel jealous that your siblings are all well-to-do, but not you?’

She looked at me, before saying, ‘Why should I be? To only make myself unhappy?’

Posted by Guest Contributor Will Johnston from Mind Muse

Time for a quick civics lesson! Countless news agencies are misreporting that yesterday’s Senate vote on the health care bill is a vote to begin debating the bill.

From the Washington Post:

After days of indecision, the last two Democratic holdouts — Sens. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (La.) — joined their caucus in supporting a motion to begin debate.

From the New York Times:

The Senate voted on Saturday to begin full debate on major health care legislation

From CNN:

the Senate voted to move ahead with a floor debate

These are just a few examples, but you can find countless others on Google News.

The problem?

They’re all wrong. The Senate voted to invoke cloture, a motion to limit debate on a bill or other matter (i.e. nomination) pending before the Senate.

In olden days, you couldn’t actually ever stop debate on a bill if any Senator wanted to keep talking about it. As you can imagine, this meant that if a couple of Senators were really opposed to something, they could just take turns talking about it until the rest of the Senators caved and moved on to the other things they needed to vote on. In an effort to help move things along, the Senate changed its rules so that if two-thirds of the Senators wanted to end debate, they could do so by invoking cloture. Yes, it sounds a lot like closure, and the two words have very similar meanings. They’re about bringing something to an end.

The bar for invoking cloture was still so high that it was nearly impossible to do. Getting two-thirds of the Senate to agree on everything is like getting two three-year-olds to eat all of their vegetables. In fact, cloture was only invoked five times during the next 46 years. Consequently, the Senate changed its rules to require only three-fifths of the Senators to vote for a cloture motion in order for it to pass.

I hope this little history and civics lesson has helped you understand what the Senate voted on last night. The fact is that the news agencies weren’t reporting what really happened. Cloture takes a bit more to explain well than can be put in a news article about another topic, so they took a shortcut. The party in control of Congress (currently the Democratic Party) sets the agenda and can debate whatever they want. They didn’t have to win a Senate vote to debate health care reform, they had to win a Senate vote to put an end to debating health care reform so they can actually vote on passing the bill.

How do I know so much about cloture? Well, I used to work for a Senator, so I learned a lot about what it was and how it worked. I didn’t really know the history part, so I looked it up on Wikipedia, and Wikipedia pointed me to two articles on the Senate website that give the history of cloture.

Cloture Rule~March 8, 1917
Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate