Clooney in a locked and upright position

Reviews I wrote for the Herald this week.

Up in the Air. “Veers off nicely just as you think you’ve got things figured out.”

Everybody’s Fine. “Festive it ain’t.”

The Maid. “An unusual combination of amusement and anxiety.”

La Danse. “The greatest concentration is on dancers dancing, and this is superb.”

Brothers. “An extra air of lost youth to the story.”

The Strip. “Warmed-over jokes and offkey timing.”

Shockproof (Douglas Sirk, 1949). A Sam Fuller script, given an architectural treatment by Sirk – it’s a real Jim Thompsonesque storyline, too, about a parole officer (Cornel Wilde) falling for his newest charge (Patricia Knight, actually Mrs. Wilde in real life at the time).

Serious Moonlight (Cheryl Hines, 2009). A script by the late Adrienne Shelley, but maybe, under ordinary circumstances, the kind of script that never gets past the writing stage. Still, a reminder that Tim Hutton is an actor. (full review 12/11)

The Strip (Jameel Khan, 2009). Guys at an electronics store; decent music score. (full review 12/4)

Brothers (Jim Sheridan, 2009). Remake of Suzanne Bier’s 2004 film, with some admirable moments in acting and a curious shift in emphasis in a couple of spots. (full review 12/4)

That Hamilton Woman (Alexander Korda, 1940). Olivier and Leigh, in liaison and war, timed to reverberate with WWII. If you’re going to do historical romance, this is the way to do it.

The Strip (2009) brings together a great group of improvisers headed by the master, Dave Foley. Hilarity and friendship power this creative and realistic story that many will relate to. Mundane jobs, office pranks, dating, cheating, family, and dreams are all intertwined into an uplifting and funny tale of life and its… http://www.dainsmoviereviews.com/2009/11/strip-movie-review.html

Here is a new Indie, Folk Style music groups for you to enjoy.

Diana Catherine sent me a note on myspace, so I googled them on youtube and found a few cool performances with Sarah Burton.

I’ve included the information for their next concert.

diana the great catastrophe of the sixth sign

Diana Catherine- Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica, etc.
Nic DiSanto- Bass
Matt Blackie- Drums and backing vocals
Kevin Robinson- Guitar

Diana Catherine and the Thrusty Tweeters Band Pic Idea Girl Consulting

BlackieStuff on youtube.

diana

Diana Catherine Dec 11, 2009

The Merchant Tap House – With Sarah Burton w/ Sarah Burton

6 Princess St, Kingston, Ontario

sarah_burton i hate you - idea girl consulting

yakkingwithfaze on youtube

sarah burton - idea girl consulting

Hi I’m strawberryeve, I live in Las Vegas Nevada.  I sell tours to the Grand Canyon on the Strip and I spend my days answering questions about the city, dining, the sights, shows, the weather and of course the Grand Canyon.   I worked as a tour guide on the Colorado river in the Hualapai reservation for two years so I know a great deal about visiting the Grand Canyon.  I’ve also found that people are really interesting in hearing the insider information I have about visiting Las Vegas in general.    I also dine, check out the casinos, go to shows and well, live in the world’s favorite adult playground.  I’m starting this blog to share all the info I can, my insights and my reviews of  shows, restaurants and resorts.  I will offer information on the best of Las Vegas, the must-sees and the must avoids, the best way to get around the Strip, the amazing things you can find off the Strip, my random experiences and occasionally a little history.   I am open to any questions or suggestions.  Thanks for checking out my new blog

เริ่มกันเลยกับโปสเตอร์ของ Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel ภาพยนตร์แอนิเมชั่นบวกคนแสดงจริงที่สานต่อจากภาคแรกที่ฮิตถล่มทลายทำรายได้กว่า 200 ล้านเหรียญ ของเจ้าชิปมังส์ 3 สหายเสียงทอง ที่คราวนี้พวกเขาต้องหนาว ๆ ร้อน ๆ เมื่อต้องมาเจอคู่แข่งอย่าง The Chipettes วงดนตรีสาวสวยรวยเสน่ห์ ที่ทั้งสามคนแอบหลงรัก และต้องมาเป็นศัตรูควบคู่กัน เพื่อชิงเงินรางวัลในการแข่งดนตรี ได้ผู้กำกับใหม่อย่าง Betty Thomas ที่มารับช่วงต่อจาก Tim Hill สร้างสรรเรื่องราวความสนุกโดยนักเขียนบทจาก Kung Fu Panda,Monsters vs Aliens ได้ดารามาร่วมแสดงทั้งเก่า-ใหม่และทีมพากย์ชุดเดิมที่มากันมากมาย!!

Creation ภาพยนตร์อัตชีวประวัติของนักธรณีวิทยาบันลือโลก Charles Darwin ที่เดินทางทั่วโลกเพื่อศึกษาสิ่งมีชีวิตสปีชีส์ต่าง ๆ อย่างเป็นระบบ จนสามารถสร้างทฤษฎีวิวัฒนาการได้สำเร็จ โดยเฉพาะ การถือกำเนิดของปะการัง ซึ่งยังเป็นความรู้พื้นฐานที่สำคัญให้นักปะการังวิทยาได้ร่ำเรียนกันจนทุกวันนี้ จากผู้กำกับ Jon Amiel จาก The Core ได้ผู้แสดงนำ Paul Bettany จาก Region มารับบทเป็น Charles Darwin นักธรณีวิทยาผู้ยิ่งใหญ่ ควงคุ่ดาราสาวสวยลูกสาวปู่ฌอน Jennifer Connelly มารับบทหญิงคนรักของเขา และดาราร่วมแสดงอีกเพียบ โดยภาพยนตร์มีกำหนดฉายในอเมริกา 22 มกราคม 2010 นี้ ใบปิดเป็นภาพ Charles Darwin และครอบครัวกำลังเพลิดเพลินอยู่ด้วยกัน บนชายทะเลอันสวยงามที่เป็นทั้งทำงานของเขาอีกแห่งหนึ่งด้วย!!

มีผลงานไล่ติด ๆ กันในปีนี้ กับการรับบทบาทได้ทุกสถานะการณ์ทีเดียวสำหรับ Woody Harrelson ไม่ว่าจะเป็นนักผจญซอบบี้ใน Zombieland ที่ฮิตถล่มทลาย รับบทเป็นนายทหารในหนังดราม่า The Messenger แม้แต่เข้าร่วมชะตากรรมของโลกใน 2012 ที่กำลังเริ่มเก็บรายได้ที่คาดว่าจะถล่มทลายคู่แข่ง Avatar ในปีนี้ และไม่เว้นแม้แต่หนังฮีโร่แนว ๆ ต๊อง อย่าง Defendor ฮีโร่ปุถชนคนธรรมอย่างแบทแมน แต่ต่างกันตรงไมได้ใช้อุปกรณ์ไฮเทคแต่อย่างใด แต่เป็นอุปกรณ์ที่หาง่าย ๆ ตามท้องตลาด ใช้เทปกาวมาแปะเป็นรูปโลโก้บนอกเสื้อ ใช้มะนาวเป็นอาวุธโดยการบีบใส่ตาผู้ร้าย(แสบแน่ๆ) ใช้สีดำมาป้ายตาเพื่ออำพรางใบหน้าและออกปฏิบัติการช่วยเหลือผู้เคราะห์ร้าย จากผู้กำกับ Peter Stebbings

Planet 51 เป็นภาพยนตร์แอนิเมชั่นจาก Sony Pictures โดยผู้กำกับ Jorge Blanco กับเรื่องราวของนักบินอวกาศจากโลกมาเยือนที่ดาวที่มีชื่อว่า Planet 51 ซึ่งเป็นดาวที่อยู่ด้วยความหวาดกลัว จนนักบินอวกาศต้องหาทางหลบหนีจากดาวให้ได้เพราะชาวดาว Planet 51 จะจับเขาในข้อหาบุกรุก เขาต้องหาทางยึดยานของตัวเองกลับคืนมาเพื่อจะได้กลับมายังโลก ใบปิดใบนี้บอกได้คำเดียวธรรมดาถึงขึ้นห่วย!! ที่ผิดกับโปสเตอร์ที่ออกมาก่อนหน้านี้!!

และอีกหนึ่งใบปิดของภาพยนตร์แอนิเมชั่นแบบ 2D ของ Walt Disney เรื่อง The Princess and the Frog กับการดัดแปลงจากนิยายสุดคลาดสิค เจ้าชายกบ เป็นเรื่องราวของเจ้าหญิงงาม ได้พานพบกับเจ้าชายในร่างกบเพราะถูกสาปให้เป็นกบโดยนักมายากลเจ้าเล่ห์ โดยคิดว่าการถอนคำสาปโดยการจุมพิตนั่นคือวิธีการ แต่มันกลับกลายเป็นว่าทำให้ทั้งคู่กลายเป็นกบไปด้วยกัน อันเป็นเริ่มการผจญภัยของการตามหาผู้ที่จะต้องมาล้างคำสาปของคนทั้งคู่ให้กลับกลายร่างเป็นเหมือนเดิมให้ได้ ใบปิดแต่ละใบสวยงามมากครับ และล่าสุดเป็นภาพของเจ้าชาย เจ้าหญิงและมีจระเข้ออกมาโพสท่างาม ๆ ต้อนรับท่านผู้ชมอยู่!!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus ภาพยนตร์แฟนตาซีเหนือจินตนาการล้ำโลกของแนวถนัดของผู้กำกับ Terry Gilliam ที่เกือบจะล่มเพราะมีอุปสรรคหลาย ๆ ด้าน โดยเฉพาะการจากไปก่อนเวลาอันควรของ Heath Ledger แต่แล้วก็แก้ปัญหาได้สำเร็จโดยการได้พระเอกมาแสดงแทนกันถึง 3 คน อันได้แก่ Johnny Depp,Colin Farrell และ Jude Law และแน่นอนนี่ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้ถือว่าเป็นภาพยนตร์ฟอร์มยักษ์ที่คาดว่าน่าจะทำรายได้แบบถล่มทลายเช่นกัน เพราะการเป็นเหนังที่โด่งดังในเรื่องของอุปสรรคต่าง ๆ และการรวมตัวของสุดยอดพระเอกแถวหน้าทั้ง 3 คน จะเรียกคนดูให้เข้าโรงเพื่อชมความเหนือชั้นของผู้กำกับคนนี้อย่างแน่นอน ใบปิดก็ทำออกมาได้เหนือจินตนาการเช่นกันที่ใช้ภาพผสมการใช้กราฟิคอันเหมือนจริงหลอมรวมเข้าด้วยกันได้เป็นอย่างดี!!

The Strip ภาพยนตร์ตลกเบาสมองเรื่องราวของกลุ่มพนักงานขายเครื่องไฟฟ้าแห่งหนึ่งที่มีกลยุทธให้การบริการลูกค้าแบบฮาป่วน จากการกำกับของ Jameel Khan ผู้กำกับหน้าใหม่ที่ประเดิมภาพยนตร์เรื่องแรกที่เขาการันตีมาว่ามันต้องฮาแน่ ๆ ใบปิดทำได้จ๊าบโดนใจ ด้วยการจับกลุ่มพนักงานขายมาแพ๊คขายเป็นอุปกรณ์ไฟฟ้าซะนี่!!

A Town Called Panic หนึ่งในภาพยนตร์แอนิเมชั่นที่ถูกเสนอชื่อเข้าชิงรางวัลออสการ์ที่มีทั้งหมด 20 เรื่อง จากผู้กำกับฝรั่งเศส Stéphane Aubier และVincent Patar เป็นแอนิเมชั่นแบบ Stop-Motion โดยใช้ของเล่นชินเล็กๆ ชนิดต่าง ๆ มาสร้างเรื่องราวให้น่าสนใจ กับการผจญภัยของม้าของอินเดียแดงที่แปลกแหวกแนวที่ยากจะหาชมได้ในหนังแนว Stop-Moiton ใบปิดก็ดูสดใส กับตัวการ์ตุนต่าง ๆ ในภาพยนตร์ที่มีสีสันที่ดูสบายตายิ่งนัก!!

มาเรื่องสุดท้ายกับ Women in trouble ภาพยนตร์ที่ปล่อยใบปิดมาทีไรก็โดนใจบรรดาหนุ่ม ๆ ทุกคน กับเรื่องราวที่เสียดสีชีวิตจริงของหญิงสาวในอาชีพต่าง ๆ ที่สังคมภายนอกมองงานที่พวกเธอทำเป็นงานต้องห้ามและดูถูกเหยียดหยาม ของผู้กำกับ Sebastian Gutierrez ที่รวบรวมดาราสาวดาวรุ่งไว้มากมาย รายชื่อก็อยู่ในใบปิดนั่นแหล่ะ ที่โชว์ภาพของสาว ๆ ในท่ายั่วยวนให้บรรดาชายชาตรีต้องใจละลาย ๆๆๆๆๆๆๆๆ!!!

Times are tough, and even us diehard globetrotters are finding ourselves grounded these days. But there ARE ways to travel the world without leaving the borders of the United States. In a recent post for my “TCW Travel Connection” blog, which I write for a great local monthly magazine called Today’s Chicago Woman, I’ve written about “going global” by sampling fare at ethnic cafes and restaurants, checking out foreign films, soaking up the sounds from other lands, etc.

But surprisingly, you can ALSO take a trip around much of the world by visiting Vegas. YES, Las Vegas. Even this most American of cities offers something for the global traveler in you.

I remember some years ago my sister—a brilliant young entrepreneur who has traveled to Europe several times, but never quite as eagerly as me—once made this remark (and I’m paraphrasing here): Why bother getting a passport and traveling overseas when you can visit Egypt, Italy, and France just by going to Las Vegas?

Of course, I was HORRIFIED, and hope she said it in jest. But the truth is, if money is tight and you can’t go abroad, Las Vegas offers some pretty cool glimpses into foreign cultures, if only by way of some of its star hotels and their restaurants and attractions.

So go with me here. Say you want to experience a bit of the magic found in my favorite city in the world, Paris. The Paris Las Vegas Hotel really is a gem, even for someone like me who’s visited the real thing countless times and loves the city as much as life itself. Not only is there an amazingly life-like replica of the Eiffel Tower facing “The Strip”—half the size of the original one in Paris—but you can soar 460 feet to the top via elevator, giving you an incredible view of the Vegas skyline.  A few years ago, I remember going with my mom to the 11^th floor Eiffel Tower Restaurant, not for a meal but for an amazing flute of champagne. I hadn’t taken a flight, but the elegant, classy feel made me forget I was in the States and transported me for a few minutes to La France.

And then there’s bella Italia, experienced by way of two truly neat hotels, The Bellagio and The Venetian Las Vegas. I stayed with my family at the Bellagio a few years ago, and not only were the rooms plush and comfy, but many of its restaurants and cafes—not to mention its gelateria—give hotel guests and visitors alike a literal taste of Italian cuisine. And while I haven’t stayed at The Venetian, I must admit I’m a sucker for its Venice replicas. I’ve been to the REAL Venice, Italy, three times—on journalist press trips and to visit a friend who lives in the city—and I must say, this hotel’s reproduction of the city’s Grand Canal and its gondola rides, complete with black-and-white-striped shirt-wearing gondoliers, trip me out every time I see them. And with 19 restaurants on the property—including the very authentic Canaletto, where I insisted my family dine with me on the faux “outdoor” terrazza—you really can pretend you’re somewhere in Italy.

Then there’s the Luxor Las Vegas, with its pyramid-shaped hotel complex and a large, looming Sphinx outside. Of course, you’re not in Egypt—and sadly, you won’t find any cuisine from this amazing country inside the hotel. But a visit to the luxurious Luxor spa some years ago is as close as this UrbanTravelGirl has gotten so far. Still, it inspires me to get to the real Nile River in Africa sometime soon.

And isn’t that the point of any trip, to encourage you to take another?

This is a TravelingMom dedicated post.

The Strip is a character-driven comedy dissecting the lives of five employees of a low-end electronics chain, Electri-City. The ensemble of colorful, yet grounded, characters takes us deeper into the monotonous world of working at a strip mall. Bound by the constraints of suburban life and a ¼ mile of strip mall, they, like everybody else, dream of something more.

Glenn worked his way to manager by the age of 33 and in turn takes his job a little too seriously. He motivates his disinterested employees with childish team building exercises, content with his life until he becomes intoxicated with the new manager of Sheila’s Fabric. Torn between his urges and his stagnant relationship with his wife, Glenn’s life quickly starts to unravel. His wife cheats on him with an employee and he loses the only job he has ever known, sending him to rock bottom.

Kyle’s career path has been well planned by his father. He is being groomed to run Electri-City. Kyle struggles with his father arranging his life, but he desperately wants to make him proud. It is these conflicting mentalities that keep Kyle moving in circles and prevent him from growing up. He begins to see how stagnant and arranged his life is when he is captivated by Melissa.

Rick, a former high school basketball star, temporarily works at the store, while he is pursing a career in acting. Becoming an actor is his sad attempt at reclaiming his glory days. The harder he tries to make people love him, the lonelier he becomes. Ricks continuing failures as an actor help him accept his place at Electri-City.

Avi has come to the U.S. to execute his life plan. He has the job he desires and now he is preparing for his arranged marriage. When he discovers how beautiful his fiancée is he begins to fill himself with self-doubt. He then goes through great lengths to make a good impression on his future wife that he has never met.

Jeff coasts through life by doing as little as possible. Having recently been dumped by his girlfriend he has taken up residence in his van. He finds a sparkle of hope when Glenn takes him into his home. However a run in with his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend prove too much for him to handle and Jeff finds consolation in the arms of Glenn’s neglected wife.

As their stories interweave their friendships are tested. Ultimately they struggle together to find that some dreams are not worth chasing.

Starring Dave Foley, Rodney Scott, Billy Aaron Brown and out on 4th December.

And all I got was the stupid flu. Seriously. It’s been years since I got the flu, but when I go to Vegas for my friend’s wedding and fucking Halloween, I go down.

Good news is that I had a solid day and a half of revelry before my illness took over. In fact, it was probably the hours of continued drinking that did me in, but here’s a quick look at my first (and likely last) trip to Sin City.

We originally had a reservation at the fabulous Blair House Suites, seen above. See it? The little sign in the corner? Shadowed by the golden towers? That one. I liked the name, it made me think of Linda Blair, which makes me think The Exorcist, which then leads to the idea of something good. It is not. Not good at all. The place was a joke, and beyond that a dirty, smelly, lumpy pillows and no cable kind of joke. Bye bye Blair House. We got out of there and joined our friends at the Hilton, a real hotel.

The first night out we kept it old school, visiting the classic strip casinos like the Sahara and the Riviera. We passed by an ominous looking Circus Circus, complete with giant clown and crazy calliope music, but some in our group were against it. So it’ll have to wait .

The next day was Halloween, and I was still feeling good at this point. We had a great wedding ceremony for Ben and Nicole, who was given away by Elvis. Then we hit the strip. We travelled down to Paris, MGM Grand, New York, New York. All that crap. It’s the fancy new Disneyland-esque part of Vegas, where every casino is another part of the world. They also have Cesar’s Palace, Excalibur, and any number of other theme parks, I mean casinos, to take your money. What a town. It’s seriously just a giant amusement park for degenerates. Weird.

Lots of costumes. Mostly among the order of Sexy Cop or Sexy Prisoner. Vegas ain’t really the most original town for that. I must have seen two dozen ghostbusters, three dozen batman and robins, and God knows how many of these two guys…

It was at this point I stopped asking people for their picture. All I was getting was gangsta poses and other ridiculous shit, so I gave up. What I went after instead was the coolest Vegas Slot machines I could find. Ladies and gentlemen, I offer you the nerd centric slots of Vegas…

There were Star Wars slots in every casino I ventured through. Most of them had only to do with the prequels, which hurt me to no end. But these beauties looked about as classic as I was going to get. Meaning they were from the original trilogy re-release editions. You can’t see it here, but the artwork on the side was such. Good enough for me.

Fuck yes, an Alien slot machine. This little baby is maybe my favorite. I especially like the Alien Hunt and Egg mini games you can pretend you’re playing as you press the “repeat bet” button over and over and over .

This one is hard to see, but it is a Star Trek slot machine, complete with artwork of the original crew that almost looks like the actual actors. Ryan likes it anyways. There was actually a whole Star Trek Experience installation at this casino, or so I heard, but they tore it out recently. Still there were remnants like doorways and wall panels that I was too stupid to photograph. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Ummmmmmmmmmmm… No comment.

The next day was the day I caught this bug. I laid in bed all day and watched TV as my friends and Annie went out and lived it up. The next morning it was an early flight home and a welcomed return to Portland, the town that doesn’t need a gimmick to get dirty. God bless ya.

That was my weekend. Now it’s back to whining about movies and such. See ya real soon!

American Graffiti | George Lucas, 1973

Many uneducated film-lovers may believe that the bearded writer/director came to fame with the groundbreaking release of Star Wars in 1977 but he had become a big name years before this, mainly due to the release of American Graffiti, which pulled in five Oscar nominations and placed his name firmly on the map. With much the same theatrical entry into fame as Richard Linklater had in 1993 with Dazed and Confused – at least similar when considering the nostalgic values behind their respective efforts – Lucas littered his film with young and unheard-of actors/actresses, many of who would go on to greatness, including a cameo from a bright-faced Harrison Ford (an actor who would go on to star under Lucas so memorably, four years later). Just as with Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti takes place during one long and exciting summer night, and really helps invoke a spirit of a young and carefree time for America. Curt Henderson (played by Richard Dreyfuss) is an intellectually-charged individual who is, like most of his peers, worrying about the future. We open on a conversation between him and fellow graduate Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard), who seems, unlike Curt, to be looking for some kind of preamble to college life. He has a steady relationship with his girlfriend Laurie and can’t quite justify throwing this away, whereas Curt in comparison wants nothing more than to escape the home life he has since grown tired of.

This initial introductory exchange sets the tone for American Graffiti and helps construct an arc upon which the story can then weave. We are very much observing a coming-of-age tale here; as the night melts away our two characters swap their respective viewpoints, showing exactly how confusing and daunting such a time can be. Much of the film is split between the varying fares of the young gang: from meeting at the roadside diner, they go off into the night seeking differing fortunes. Curt looks to relive the life he has witnessed thus far by visiting his favourite haunts, whereas Steve attempts to go out with one last bang – and not lose his girlfriend in the process. John Miller, the jock of the piece, cruises the “strip” looking for a means to vent his anger, while his good friend Toad attempts to wow passing fillies with a stunning new set of wheels. American Graffiti presents all these characters as specific personalities with which we can relate to a certain degree. Lucas is clearly intent on simply emulating this feeling of dawning independence, impending adulthood and the loss of youth: his film paints a nostalgically fun and insightful portrait upon such a life, one that is less concerned with messages and more with creating this feeling of adolescent wilderness. All of this is complemented by the pleasing sixties’ aesthetic, making American Graffiti a rewarding seventies homage to sixties America.

Our Rating:

Finally I am posting video footage from the 3 October event 60×60 Dance held at Wall Street Night Club. Enjoy:

Jennifer Armintrout’s Queene of Light

Part 1 of 3
The beginning of a trilogy of a story told of the Lightworld: home to faeries, dragons and dwarves. The Darkworld: the place where vampires, werewolves, angels and demons reside. And finally, the Upworld where the humans live and prosper.

Alya is stuck between two worlds of existence; half human, half faery. Taught by Garret, wholly Fae and mentor. Thrown into the mix is Malachi, a Death Angel who falls from his powerful existence and becomes mortal… Alya and Malachi tell a tale of forbidden love between two worlds not permitted to co-exist or, for that matter, be in the same world. Turns out, Alya, is part of a destiny-layden plan but finds out about her future and is in way over her head before she realizes her mistakes and weakness by trusting another with too much power.

She has done it again! Writing a truly gripping story in a totally made up world with completely real situations and feelings. Some parallels were easily seen…the forbidden love, the idea of loyalty to a mentor (aka: the blood tie of a sire), and the ultimate battle at the conclusion of the story with a soft touch in the last few sentences. Just 15 days until J.A.’s next installment of the Lightworld/Darkworld trilogy!

Excerpts:
Pg. 21 – ‘Sticky red oozed slowly across the stone, feathering into the thirsty pores to create a dark, wet stain.’

Pg. 43- ‘Rage burned his veins. Now this was an emotion he could grow to enjoy.’

Pg. 109- ‘He could not release her, and he could not stop the sudden racing of his blood, the pounding of his pulse in his ears as her hungry mouth fought back against his.’

Pg. 236- ‘The ones (gypsies) up there will take your money, down here they’ll take your parts, if not all of you.’

Pg. 289- ‘Child? The word struck him like the fall of the spectral lash that had cleaved his wings from him.’

Meghan and I will be flying across the country, yet again, for Chris Cornell in Las Vegas !  We want to eternally thank Vicky Cornell for giving us the chance to win our way in via her Twitter contest (@vickycornell).  We’ll be flying out early Thursday, and returning Friday morning [in time for work].   We’ll be at the MGM Grand and will post photos of the day on our iJeff.tv pages and photos of the show on our Jeffgarden.com pages (all on the right navigation bar).

For more information about the historic performance, read this Blabbemouth.net article (portion of it is copy and pasted…for her pleasure):

Hard Rock International’s global Ambassadors of Rock Tour is heading to “Sin City” for the grand opening of the new Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas.
On Thursday, October 15, rock icon Chris Cornell will perform at Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas, located on The Strip, as part of Hard Rock’s Ambassadors of Rock Tour, a global concert series featuring top artists and bands. Grammy Award-winning Native American musicianMicki Free will kick off the event with a performance, followed by Chris Cornell, who will rock the stage with some of his greatest hits, as well as songs from his latest solo album, ”Scream”.

60×60 is now over. I hope you were able to make it. It was an amazing show full of diverse talent and good energy. I felt that both of my pieces were successful in executing their intentions. The first was an improvisation intending to utilize Forsythian Improvisational technologies to which I was introduced last year, as well as ways of moving that I associate with those technologies. It was one minute long and explored material both standing and on the floor.

The second was dual purposed and highly conceptual. It was an homage to “The Strip” section of David Gordon and Valda Setterfield’s Random Breakfast. It was also intended to deconstruct the relationship between the socially presentable body and the actual body (or corporeal morphology) of the individual. It was something of a temporal palindrome, starting upstage, walking directly downstage while undressing, then moving back upstage while re-dressing. All in one minute. A friend said to me afterwards that the piece could have gone on for much, much longer. I agree. I have a sense that I will re-stage the piece at some point. I am interested in how the fully clothed body that is viewed at the end of the piece is different from the fully clothed body at the beginning because of what has transpired in-between. It is always all about the in-between. The piece also commented a bit on gender and sexuality: I wore heels, women’s slacks, and a large black lambs wool coat. During the performance (the images below are from the dress rehearsal) I wore a t-shirt that says “Legalize Gay: repeal prop. 8 now!” It also had an oddly intimate feeling beyond just the exposed body; there was something about the action of undressing and re-dressing, the clumsiness, the un-sexy-ness.

CoCo Loupe graciously photographed the dress rehearsal. I share those photos now with you as documentation of the piece. Video footage may be posted in the next few weeks or so. Additional footage/images/commentary may appear at http://60×60.blogspot.com/ in the weeks to come so stay tuned there.

Also, I just received this by email today from the directors of 60×60:
“Mark your calendars now. We will be coming back to Columbus to
do this again during the first weekend in October, 2010. Tell your
friends and colleagues. Let’s make the next one bigger and better. More
details will come as things are confirmed…. stay tuned.” Very exciting.

Here are the images from the two pieces:

Every city has an “impressive” view… New York has the top of the Empire State Building looking downtown, San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin County side and Las Vegas has the Strip from the top of THEhotel.  This was taken from the 64th floor Mix Lounge as the sun raced West.

Shot with a 24-70mm, f2.8 for 6 seconds at f16. I wanted to blur the cars on I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard. At this duration they become red and white streaks of light and make the roads a river of light (not that Vegas really needs more light, I cringe at the Light Pollution generated by this city, especially the Luxor’s Intergalactic laser Beam… but hey it’s Vegas, and it wouldn’t be Vegas without the lights).  I actually shot for about an hour from this spot~ was neat sipping a bombay sapphire and tonic while watching this scene unfold, I sorta wished that there had been some low hanging clouds to add a bit more drama over the buildings, but I enjoyed the wash of color from the setting sun, and the myriad of colors from below.

Vegas really does make an impressive sight at night… Enjoy!

Luxor adalah sebuah hotel dan kasino yang terletak di Las Vegas Strip di Paradise, Nevada. Merupakan salah satu megaresor pertama yang bertema secara menyeluruh. Tanah dibuka untuk Luxor tahun 1991, pembangunan di tahun itu juga dilakukan pada Treasure Island dan MGM Grand. Memiliki motif Mesir Kuno dan berisi 4.407 kamar mengikuti dinding interior piramida dan terletak di antara dua menara ziggurat yang dibangun sebagai tambahan. Hotel ini dinamai setelah kota Luxor (Thebes kuno) di Mesir, situs Lembah Para Raja, Karnak dan Kuil Luxor dan menampilkan monumen Mesir lainya, tapi tanpa piramida.

Luxor salah satu hotel yang paling dikenal di the Strip karena bentuknya yang mencolok. Dirancang oleh arsitek hotel terkenal Veldon Simpson, bagian utama hotel adalah piramida kaca hitam setinggi 350 kaki (110 m) dan bertingkat 30 (bila dibandingkan, Piramida Besar Giza dengan puncak aslinya setinggi 481 kaki). Hotel ini ditandai oleh sebuah obelisk besar dengan nama properti bercahaya, sementara porte-cochere membentang di bawah replika Sphinx Besar Giza.

Yang paling menarik adalah cahaya lampu yang bersinar dari puncak Hotel Luxor di Las Vegas, Nevada, Amerika Serikat, adalah cahaya buatan yang paling kuat di seluruh dunia.  Puncak piramida memiliki lampu sorot yang mengarah ke atas merupakan cahaya tercerah di dunia dan terlihat dari manapun di lembah Las Vegas. Dari daratan, pada malam cerah, cahaya dapat dilihat sejauh Laughlin di selatan dan utara di Mesquite atau Beatty. Terletak lurus di US-93 di Arizona, utara Kingman, sebelum mencapai Bendungan Hoover.

Pada musim semi, cahaya terang ini menarik ribuan kupu-kupu ke puncaknya, membuat fenomena yang terlihat seperti salju. Kekuatan cahaya ini adalah 41,5 gigacandela, sehingga sorotan cahayanya dapat dilihat dari pesawat terbang dari jarak 440 km! Cahaya ini dihasilkan oleh 39 lampu Xenon yang masing-masing menggunakan daya 7 kilowatt dengan biaya per jamnya $53 (untuk lampu, perbaikan, dan biaya listrik). ^Wikipedia

Coming 3 October, 60×60, an evening of new, original choreography to Wall Street Nightclub!

You can read a bit more about this event here.

For a longer post about this event by my friend and colleague CoCo Loupe, click here.

“Over 30 choreographers from around Ohio (including me!) have been commissioned to make an evening of 60 1-minute dances to 60 1-minute original music compositions . . .”

I am creating two new one-minute dances for this event, although I would be lying if I said that I knew exactly what I am going to do. The two track to which I am choreographing are extremely different. As of now, it looks as if the two pieces will be two solos, choreographed and performed by myself. I was hoping to create a duet for one of the tracks, but with the show so quickly approaching, I think time necessitates that I get into a studio with myself and figure out what these dances are going to be. These are my thoughts/ideas/questions thus far:

I’m thinking about nudity. Wall Street is an 18-an-older venue, and it’s unique that I perform in venues like that. I’m interested in what possibilities might be presented by the venue/audience restrictions. I have long been interested in deconstructing the disparity between the “social body” and the “actual body.” To be clear, by the “social body,” I mean something like the clothed body, the body as it is perceived through its social frames of clothing and make-up and hair product, etc., as opposed to the actual body that constitutes the individual. While there are absolutely socially constructed aspects to the body/individual itself (such as mannerism, posture, stance, gait, spatial organization, etc., all as ongoing performance of socially driven perceptions and expectations), those are aspects that are inseparable in each moment from the corporeal identity of the individual. It makes me think of something Judith Butler wrote in an article entitled “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” She wrote:

“Gender is in no way a stable identity or a locus of agency from which various acts proceed; rather, it is an identity tenuously constituted in time–an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts. Further, gender is instituted through the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gesture, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self.”

Certainly their is social generated and driven content in the bodily identity, even at the naked level. And I am fascinated by this to no end. But what I am more interested in as potential source material for these pieces is the distinction between the regularly perceived social body (the body as we present it to one another on a daily basis), and the irregularly perceived actual body. Both have fabricated elements, but they are not the same. I am interested in how a one minute dance at an 18-and-older venue might potentially contribute to the deconstruction of the “illusion” of the former.

The question for me is immediately: how would this be different from stripping? how is it different from “nudity for nudity’s sake”? will this deconstructive process be successful in the span of one minute, or is our culture so at odds with nudity that it will simply be either shocking, or easily classified as something recognizable?

I’m thinking about runway shows using the body as a support for the display of clothing, and inverting that to make the clothing (or the removal of clothing) a support for the display of the body. Wall Street has a stage and go-go platforms, and countertops. I’m not sure how any of these might come into the work.

I’m thinking about the Judson Dance piece Random Breakfast, the first section called “The Strip,” performed by Valda Setterfield, choreographed by David Gordon. Sally Banes writes about it in Democracy’s Body:

“The first section, “The Strip,” was a dance for Setterfield. Dressed in a long blue velvet gown that belonged to Waring and had numerous small buttons down the front, long gloves with more buttons, a hat, pearls, and a fur stole, she performed a strip tease to “authentically brassy strip music.” Gordon says that, “She looked like Queen Mary taking her clothes off in public. She walked in a circle forever, taking one thing of at a time, all those buttons to open, the dress, the petticoat, a long-line brassiere, garter belt, stockings, bloomers, limping along in one high-heeled shoe, never breaking the rhythm of the circular walk. She was somehow extraordinarily genteel parading in that circle and dropping her clothing. She discarded all the clothing in a neat pile so that when she was done she could stoop down and gather it all up together in a huge bundle. The dowager empress had become a naked rag lady.”"

I’m thinking about the difference between dressing and undressing, or undressing and then dressing. Both create a palindrome in time, but how might where you end up be different than where you began because of what has transpired? How is a clothed body different after undressing and redressing than it is before that process? 

I’m also thinking about the slow, sustained quality that my work can sometimes have, and how that might find unique expression in the course of one minute.

I’m thinking about Love Art Lab because I am always thinking about Love Art Lab.

I’m thinking about Clara’s solo from Sketches of Shame, because I just notated a part of it last week, and how that is still some of my favorite movement I’ve ever generated. I don’t know if those gestures/ideas will come into this work or not.

I know SO MANY PEOPLE who are involved in this show. It should be a truly exciting event populated by great artists. I hope you can see it if you re in the area. From CoCo:

“Please SAVE THE DATE for this incredible event! Original contemporary dance and music works …..60 of each….all performed in 60-minutes……at Wall Street Nightclub…..Details below!

WHAT? 60×60 Ohio

DATE? Saturday, October 3, 2009

TIME? two shows: 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm

COST? $5 at the door

WHERE?
Wall Street Nightclub
144 N Wall St
Columbus, OH 43215-2800
(614) 464-2800

EXTRA STUFF? 18+ only (as per Wallstreet Nightclub) “

I’ve been lucky enough to visit the vibrant city of Las Vegas, Nevada four times, three of which were before I turned 21 and I still had a fantastic time. So whether you are a gambler, are there to sample the talent in a live performance, taste some delicious cuisine, appreciate the architecture of the city or people watch, you can see sites from out of this world absolutely free. Yup, I said it, FREE!

Outside? Nope, inside The Wynn.

Pretty much everything I mentioned above you can do without being 21 (minus the bars), for free or at a very low cost. If you do have some extra time I would definitely take a tour of The Grand Canyon and The Hoover Dam, they are magnificent and are not too far from the strip. If you have the resources, or are lucky enough to gain some resources while you are in Sin City (woo-hoo!) I would look into taking a helicopter ride over The Grand Canyon, it is truly breathtaking.

Suited up and waiting for The Blue Man Group to start! Very interactive.

(Really my computer crashed and I had a hard time back-tracking to find all of my photos sorry, I guess you will have to take my tips and run to Vegas yourself!)

The photograph below was taken in late December. 2006 in Las Vegas. The lovely subject is my middle daughter, Brandi. Ain’t she a cutie? The photo was shot with a Kodak 3 megapixel point-and-shoot camera. This was the last day the camera would ever work but that’s a whole other story.

I simply adore this photograph of Brandi because she was so happy and spunky this day. Not that she’s not normally happy and spunky but she’d asked for a trip to Las Vegas for Christmas that year and much to her surprise that’s what she got. You know how dads are… what the baby girl wants the baby girl gets.

My problem with this photograph I think is obvious… that awful metal retaining cage behind her. Taken on a foot bridge over Las Vegas Boulevard it couldn’t be helped and as luck would have it this is my favorite picture of Brandi from our trip. The traffic on The Strip in the lower left of the photo doesn’t help matters and she’s slightly off center.

Like I said, I really like this shot and decided to use it as a sample of a quick fix using Adobe Photoshop – version CS2 in this case. Below the photo is the simple process I used to fix this all too busy picture.

Original Image

• Open the original image.
• Duplicate the background (Never work with your original file).
• Use the SPOT HEALING BRUSH to dab out any skin blemishes or wrinkles. (Notice under her eyes)
• Click on FILTER and select OTHER and HIGH PASS. Set the radius to 4.0 and click OK.
• Change the layer setting to VIVID LIGHT.
• CTRL + E to flatten the image.
• Duplicate the layer again.
• Click on FILTER and select BLUR then GAUSSIAN BLUR and set the radius to 30.0.
• Leave the layer setting at NORMAL.
• Add a layer mask.
• Select the BRUSH tool and set the MODE to Normal, OPACITY to 50% and FLOW to 70%.
• Apply the brush to the area of the image you wish to clear up.
• Change the BRUSH tool’s OPACITY to 100% and brush away the blur in the eyes and mouth only.
• Create a new adjustment layer of CURVES and add contrast to your liking.
• Click SELECT then ALL. Then select Edit, choose COPY MERGED. Select Edit again and choose PASTE.
• Crop to your liking.

My final result can be seen below. Notice the background has been left blurred leaving Brandi as the clear subject of the photograph. I cropped to a bust shot and thereby eliminated the camera in her hand, the Coke tucked under her right arm and a lot of the background clutter.

The retaining cage is still visible but far less noticeable and the eye doesn’t roam the image nearly as much as in the original.

My finished product is below.

Manipulated Image

You can, of course, experiment with the filter settings to achieve the effect that best suites your tastes. This is a basic guideline to help fix a picture that maybe wasn’t shot where you really wanted it to be or cropped to your liking and turn it into something that… well, makes you look pretty good!

The final image is much more photographically pleasing and compositionally correct and is what a photograph aims to be – pleasing to the eye. Hey, I told you she was a cutie!

That’s it… now you try one. Good luck and happy shooting!

I infiltrated the Brat Pack. Not really, but that makes for an awesome beginning, dunnit?

After gorging ourselves on seafood, our troupe thought it might be fun to detox by traversing a desert. There’s not much to say about traversing a desert en voiture, except that the trip is much quicker than if one were to attempt it on foot. At first, I found the rolling yellow hills to be mesmerizing.  It’s easy to see what drew Christo and Jeanne-Claude to this landscape.  But then it gets old pretty quick.  Occasionally the barren view is interrupted with a cluster of vegetation, or a passing train (one trailed us for a good hour), but for the most part, it looks like this:

They're so compelling, I had to take a photo.

Just in case you don’t believe me, here’s some evidence of the trees and trains I mentioned above.

We saw trees, and signs protesting government sanctioned water rationing posted by the tree farmers.

Anybody else start humming songs from Rent whenever 'Santa Fe' is mentioned?

Aaaaand eventually, we made it to our destination: Las Vegas.

Venturi, eat your heart out.

Dino managed to reserve us a room in The Bellagio. The lobby was incredibly extravagant, and getting a chance to see some more Chihuly sculptures in person was fantastic! We were upgraded to a Strip-facing suite, whose bathroom was equal in size to my bedroom at home. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make use of the enormous bathtub, though we did all take turns wearing the slippers and flicking the electrically-controlled curtains open and closed.

It sure was a nice view, Danny.

Chi-who?

In what turned out to be thematic of our road trip, we arrived at the check-in counter 15 minutes before we were supposed to be seated at Penn & Teller’s show at the Rio. But we hastened.  Having a super-speed elevator up to our room certainly helped, but I’m not sure what exactly got me out of jeans and into a dress, leggings and full make-up in less than 10 minutes. Magic.

Which was what we saw at Penn & Teller’s show.  Wasn’t that a brilliant transition? I’d heard of them before – seen glimpses, even, while flipping channels, but when Dino, Jr. first suggested their show, I had no idea what he was talking about. This is probably due to the way his (adorable) southwest Virginian accent morphs ‘Penn and Teller’ to ‘Pay-en aynd Taylor.’ Luckily, he wasn’t instructing the cab driver, and we got to the show with seconds to spare.

The show itself was a good balance of magic and satire. I’m not going to post any spoilers, but let’s just say you can’t ever really de-mystify magic.

We grabbed dinner at a noodles place in the Bellagio, dropped some dough at the casino, wandered the streets (stomping on scantily clad women – or their images, at least) and ended the night with a celebration in our suite.

Now, I’m a CSI fan (it’s a guilty pleasure that I suppose I have just opened up to public ridicule), so I couldn’t help but compare my experience of the city to the city portrayed on the show.  The tourist portions of Vegas take a smaller role on the set, and I regret not being able to explore the non-gimicky aspects of the city. The glamorous parts of the city, however, are equally flashy in person, if not more so.  Granted, we don’t get the bird’s-eye panoramas that punctuate the episodes on screen, but the worm’s-eye view is quite blinding.

While I have been known to tote the anti-Venturian architectural perspective of Vegas as an abysmal waste of dollars and design intent, there is some value to an opportunity presented in a ‘designer’s playground.’ In some ways, Vegas is America’s Dubai, and perhaps the millions clients are willing to spend can be used to experiment with innovative ’sustainable’ solutions that are as attractive, or more attractive, than their ‘old school’ counterparts…

Ok, no soap box. All in all, Las Vegas was fun, as it should be.  My favorite new city? Probably not. I’m a Paris girl at heart, and the wannabe Eiffel doesn’t do the real thing justice.

It's too bad the fake tower doesn't have the snazzy flickering light show every night.

Sin City. Old home. Ghostbar. Transparent floor. CineVegas.