So here I am, after being gone for a few weeks for reasons I simply can’t be bothered to say. Now I’ve really got a sore throat comein on and god is it annoying. Now I said a while back that I was going to put some videos on here so here I am going to do it.

How to repeat you only live once(Easy Way):

There you go and if you already seen his grave, I’ve been told that if you click the kongerate logo at the beginning of the game then exit it out you can play it again. Dot ask me how.
Well I better go now, see ya!

I found this old demo over at The World Forgot a few weeks back, and have been playing it pretty heavily recently, especially given my recent obsession with all things Julian Casablancas. I absolutely adore Phrazes for the Young, but still prefer my Julian in Strokes form, especially on this absolutely stunning demo the band released on their myspace way way back. This stripped down demo, which mimics “You Only Live Once”, reveals the band in their simplest and most vulnerable form. I long for another Strokes album, but until then Julian’s new work, and this beautiful track, will have to do.

MP3: The Strokes – “I’ll Try Anything Once (You Only Live Once Demo)”

Love,
Zack

via

İşte size sıra dışı bir oyun; You Only Live Once. Geçen sene TGS’de, Bağımsız Oyun Festivalinde ve bir çok fuarda ödül almış çok enteresan bir flash oyun. Oyunun konusu kız arkadaşı kaçırılan bir çocuk ve bu çocuğun kızın peşinde düşmesi… Yapımda Türkçe altyazı desteği dahi var ve sıkı durun; Bu oyunu sadece bir kere oynayabiliyorsunuz! Muhtemelen IP numaranız değişince yeniden oynayabilirsiniz ama normal şartlar altında oyunun özelliği ve güzelliği tek sıkımlık bir kurşun olması… Herkese bu yaratıcı ve gülmekten altınıza işettirecek oyunu tavsiye ederim.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/raitendo/you-only-live-once

Not: Aziz‘e teşekkürler haberdar ettiği için…

Já que postei o primeiro CD deles, vamos com o clipe da música “carro-chefe” do último álbum deles, entitulado First Impressions of Earth.

A música é muito boa, com um riffzinho que fica na cabeça, a boa e velha bateria de Fabrizio Moretti e os vocais sempre exageradamente bons do Casablanca.

You Only Live Once tem um clipe tão simples e belo quanto sua letra, que não diz muito mais que seu título (Você só vive uma vez), e que você pode conferir clicando aqui.

Só pra constar, o link de download é da música, não do clipe!

Ganhei o dia depois desse clipe, muito show.

jk rowling harry potter author

One of the things I enjoyed doing last summer was reading all of the Harry Potter books!

I really admired JK Rowling’s Characterization, Imagination and Plots and Settings.

She was so creative in coming up with something entirely new that delighted the imagination of millions of people!

I was hoping to do the same.

It was my hearts desire to learn to write in such a way that my words will wrap about the hearts of men and women, touch their lives and put a smile on their face.

That would be the coolest thing to do in the whole world.

Now I’m faced with someone who will judge my work and tell me if I’m going to be concentrating on writing as a career move for myself.

I’m nervous about it, because for once I do not want to fail.

I still don’t have total confidence in my abilities to write a decent novel, but Harold does.

He keeps telling me I’m good at it, that I’ll do well and that I need to keep being persistent with it until I finally get something published.

I’ve actually been stalling with my manuscripts.

I didn’t want to face failure with this because I’ve worked so hard for the past year hoping that I was doing the right thing.

I simply followed my gut instinct.

People think I’m nuts because I’m not making any money doing this.

It’s all about educating yourself and believing in yourself.

Some days I don’t have a problem believing in myself, I feel positive.

But then I have my down days.

This week I’m feeling kind of down because I’m scared they’ll say I’m no good and then what will I do?

I did customer service for 10 years, I was comfortable at it and a pro!

Everything did turn out a success with that job and it didn’t take very much effort.

It was like I was a born sales person, leader and motivator!

Now if I can incorporate that kind of wisdom and energy into my writing sphere, I should do alright.

Then I started thinking about my “You only live once” motto.

Lately I’ve been pushing myself to do things that I thought I couldn’t do.

With success I’ve accomplished quite a few things on my goals list, in a short period of time.

I find if I focus entirely on something, do what needs to be done, then let it rest, it accumulates momentum and voila, success is reached!

I don’t know if it’s the Universe giving me a helping hand, or rewarding me for all my hard work?

I looked at JK Rowling for inspiration.

She plugged away on napkins at a cafe for about ten years working on her characters and making them interesting and different.

So maybe I should not worry about rushing things.

Maybe I just need to concentrate on making wonderful characters and they will naturally appeal to people?

Everytime I see a guy reading a book at Tim Hortons I want to ask them, “why do you read books?”

I want to know what draws them to read the book.

I’m too afraid to ask.

So instead I’ll ask you!

What draws you to read a book?

Give me some pointers on novel writing.

I need all the help I can get!

Also if you know anything about doing manuscripts in Microsoft Office 2007, Margins and stuff, I’ll take some pointers on that too!

If you yourself do not know the answers, then maybe ask a friend to visit here and post a note or two or a URL for the information.

I’m trying to make this post interactive for fun!

Canal Days Market 2009

The food is just great at these events.

The chicken gyros are pretty tasty without all the veggies and sauce, for $6 bucks you can’t go wrong!

The pizza pogolos with mariana sauce are very tasty!

There were all sorts of vendors there with jewelry, clothing (too small for me – bummer!)

There was a shop there that sold these wrap around dresses for the beach for about $45 bucks!

canal days 2009 vendors

They did have my size, but I didn’t feel like spending $45 on a beach item!

I usually get my dresses on sale for under $20 if I can.

I plan to go to Zellers sometime this week and see what’s on sale there.

I’ve also got a Chapters gift card because I returned a CD because I had the same one at home!

I would have gotten my money back but I returned it 30 days later and the policy is 15 days for cash returns!

Next time I’ll pay attention to what I buy!

There isn’t a big selection of meditation music at Chapters.

However if you go downtown St Catharines, there’s a little shop right beside the Income Tax Office, I forget the name of it, but they have all sorts of stuff, plus they do massages and reiki too!

My necks killing me now, must be from being on some rides today at Wonderland.

My feet are really sore from all the walking I did, but I’m proud of myself.

To walk all day, go on a few rides and have a good time, that’s what it’s all about.

Our motto is “you only live once!”

So now when we decide on what to do, I figure I get one chance in life to experience everything possible, so I’m going for it!

No matter what, or how hard it is to reach a goal, I’ll be persistent until I get what I want!

BE TENACIOUS WITH YOUR DREAMS AND GOALS!

canal days chicken gyros

This is definitely one of my favorites from The Cardigans, though I bought their first album “Life” immediately after it came out. I also got to see them as the opening band for Beck years ago.

I’ve always pondered about what music is “sexy”. I know for sure that this song is sexy. (No wonder it is one of my favorites.)

I like the video too. It reminds me of another band in an improbably but equally doomed situation, which G showed me the other day…

The Strokes – “You Only Live Once”

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Frou Frou
• Garbage
• Sara Bareilles

I also suggest the music genre:

• Pop Rock

Click here for more info on The Cardigans – Gran Turismo – “Erase/Rewind”.

The MP3 may be purchased here:

The Cardigans - Gran Turismo

♫ : The Strokes

I Can’t See The Sunshine. Oh, I’ll Be Waiting For You, Baby

…gör ont.

Peter LeMarc sammanfattar den smärtan bäst, i sin sång: Bara när jag blundar…

Kärlek är något som är en lyx förunnad oss människor.

Djur har visserligen också känslor, i alla fall enligt Fablernas Värld (barnprogram från 70-talet), men jag kan inte i min vildaste fantasi tro att de har utvecklat sin kärlek, till den nivå att den:

…får en människa att begå massmord, på grund av kärlek till sitt land,
men hat mot ett annat.
…får en människa att begå självmord,
hellre än att leva ensam utan den rätte i sitt liv.
…får en människa att resa till andra sidan jorden för att träffa den man älskar.
…får en människa att säga farväl.
…får en människa att säga hej.
…får en människa att gråta.
…får en människa att leva.

Man lever bara en gång, frågan är bara hur?

Här går man?

Yesterday was Cowboy’s birthday! Sucked I had to work, but my shift ended up being pretty good. I like it when I get to work without my manager giving me new information when I havent learned the first part. This woman came in though, and damn near broke my heart. She reminded me of me so much – before my surgery. I spent more than an hour with her, trying in bras in order to find a good fit, and it was so sad because she was just as upset as I used to get. :S  We finally got her size, and then spent even more time trying to find the style that would work for her. I felt so awful I helped her out with some free discounts and separated her transaction into 2 in order to get it cheaper. It made me happy that I could help her do something noone ever really helped me with, and satisfied that I had made someone so happy. Sara also came in to see me, tell me about the computer chair she had in her car for the new house, and grabbed me a drink, which was awesome. She’s pretty great!

I gave Cowboy his presents yesterday, both something material and then something physical. I can’t say he wasnt ecstatic about the latter. I remember shapeofagirl and I talking about it one day, and whether it was good or not, and that I was too timid to try. I decided that you only live once, and I cant knock it until I try it… so I went for it. He loved it. Im not sure how I was about it. It was really weird, but then good for a second, and then weird again… and then continued that way. I wasnt a big fan of dealing with afterwards though. Whatever, it was his birthday. 

Two more days, and then we’re moving!  I can’t wait! Cowboy’s sister and a friend of hers helped me bring a bunch of things up from the basement that we’re moving in order to make it a little easier. I dont like having things all over the house, it makes it more awkward for moving stuff out. So almost everything is up from the basement, except a couple smaller things, and then a microwave stand. The TV room upstairs is holding all of our upstairs packed stuff, so Im feeling pretty organized. Friday night we’re going to sleep in the spare bedroom in order to get our bed apart and out of the way.

I’m feeling pretty damn excited!

Por vezes esquecemo-nos que a vida é só uma e que deveria ser aproveitada da melhor forma!

Somos frequentemente arrastados por inúmeros condicionalismos da idade, do tempo, do local e das pessoas que nos rodeiam. Cabe-nos a nós sabermo-nos desembaraçar dos emaranhados onde caímos todos os dias e saber tirar proveito dos mesmos e do bom que nos rodeia.

You only live once é a mensagem que hoje quero deixar aqui para mim e para todos os que por aqui passam os olhos!

Curta a divertida música da banda The Strokes!

SO as some of you know I am currently going through a Into the Woods phase! And I am also in psychology class. According to my teacher child abuse can lead to multiplicity, dissociation, and other terrible traumatic effects. HOWEVER if you are in a fairy tail then child abuse almost always leads to marrying a prince.

Take Cinderella for example. Her parents went through a divorce, her stepmom abuses her and forces her to do extreme manual labor. But instead of being traumatized, running away, or fighting back, she learns how to accept it and be polite. Then she marries a prince? I seriously don’t think the prince knows what kind of drama prone girl he has gotten himself into.

And don’t even get me started on Rapunzel. She got taken at birth by a woman who believes she can perform magic. And as if that was not enough she was not allowed to meet other people and she lived in a tower. Her hygiene had to have been terrible; what kind of shower is inside of a tower? AND she let her hair dangle out the window onto the ground. In any other family she would have grown up to be the socially awkward stereotypical weird girl. But again she marries a prince. How come awesome things like that don’t happen to me!?

If you want to marry a prince, lock yourself in a tower, grow out your hair, put on some glass high heels (which HAVE to hurt), and forget about the shower. Ill get on that right away.

MAS

P.S.   Check out Stevie!  He is a recent addition to my youtube friends and subscribees! He is a member of 5 Awesome Gays and he has his own channel!  www.youtube.com/stevieproductions   Check this kid out!  Hes pretty cool stuff!

He used 42 different outfits in this video!!!

Many believe the most important part of a story is the end. Audiences often claim that a good ending encapsulated the characters’ true identities better than any other, individual part, or chapter, of the narrative. Yet, audiences divide into sub-groups by a concept best referred to as, “And they all lived happily ever after.” Despite how powerful happy endings can make the film feel, this concept often becomes, in fact, more restrictive—toward the writers and directors—than anything else. Still, audiences usually want to walk away from a film feeling good, unless that feeling is manifest in other ways. So then how do many of the world’s most popular and legendary films deliver such tragic endings?

Surprisingly, the answer can be discovered within the heart of one of the world’s great forgotten genres: love-on-the-run films. More so than horror films, this informal collection of movies boasts great conventionality and predictability, as well as powerful character development and emotional depth. Otherwise known as “killer couple” films, this revolutionary genre often requires, through various plot elements, that the two main characters die incredible deaths in the end. Although Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde may be the textbook example of the “killer couple” concept, countless other films throughout the 20th century reinforce this same idea of the inevitable “unhappy ending.” This dark genre, in fact, spread across the world, thus yielding the nihilistic, postmodern love tragedy Pierrot le Fou. With love-on-the-run films, a much more elusive element lets the audiences walk away satisfied.

Understanding how, or why, these types of films can be entertaining, as well as emotionally rewarding, is not something the filmmakers usually make very clear because it is not guaranteed to boost ticket sales. Although they are usually labeled or marketed as film noir or romance dramas, love-on-the-run films bear definite, unique qualities that are often what make them so attractive. For example, the two main characters are introduced as normal, everyday human beings; but they progressively evolve into instinctual, daringly independent fugitives. It is this deranged independence, both from the world and from each other, that determines just how far their love can run. So, by discerning the genre significance, as well as what is being said about our unconscious desires, these love-on-the-run films begin to reveal why no one ever feels sad or betrayed when Bonnie and Clyde do not “live happily ever after.”

"You Only Live Once" (1937)

Furthermore, through various social criticisms and gender stereotypes, these films often generate a sympathetic view of the supposed criminals. This aspect of the love-on-the-run film evolved as the genre adapted to changing audiences, trends, and social standards. Legendary film critic Pauline Kael once wrote, “Romanticism in American movies lies in the cynical tough guy’s independence” but that by the late 1960s, “this kind of sentimentality wouldn’t work for the audiences.” In one of the earliest examples of love-on-the-run, Fritz Lang’s You Only Live Once, Eddie and Joan operate under the “if they get you, they will get me too” mentality, only the couple is truly not the antagonist. Eddie and Joan are introduced as weak, innocent nobodies, shunned by society and desperate for money. Over time though, society forces them into a life of crime, but proclaims their innocence once it’s too late. As Kael once explained, “‘society’ has made [Eddie] what it thought he was all along,” and that “because the audience in the thirties shared this view of the indifference and cruelty of ‘society,’ there were no protests against the sympathetic way the outlaws were pictured.” Seventy years later, we can still understand how this form of social criticism alters our perception of right and wrong.

We also realize though, that like most of us, the killer couple acts instinctively on basic desires such as love and wealth. These, too, shape Bart and Laurie’s fortune in Gun Crazy. A type of empathy formed through a belief in common, human desires and weaknesses can be referred to as the “everyman syndrome.” It affects our ability to realize the irrationality of the killer couple’s decisions. Instead, we see a relatively normal, young, white, middle-class man and woman who are in love and happen to have found a way to make their lives more exciting. Everyman Syndrome extends well beyond love-on-the-run films and is one of the oldest conventions used to make highly implausible stories seem more real.

Bonnie and Clyde is an obvious exception, however. There is nothing normal about their goals, appearance, or demeanor and yet they use the same façade of two people who have found a way to make their lives more interesting. Bonnie and Clyde represent the implicit desire that people like Bart and Laurie hold within themselves, only personified as two country outlaws. Their attitude and unique situation in life are symbolic of a lifestyle that we inherently dream of and want to be a part of, but can only remotely experience by watching this movie. As scriptwriter David Newman wrote, Bonnie and Clyde embodies a time where “an entirely new culture was taking hold in America.” He continues that our desire to be like them comes as an unusual sort of retaliation against people whose “sense of propriety is offended by their flaunting of a freakish style.” They are the way they are because they feel trapped by Everyman Syndrome. The only goal then is to live life “off the handle,” without any real plan except to just “keep running.”

"True Romance" (1993)

Unfortunately, contemporary gender roles often affect the desire to become (or pretend to become) a part of this lifestyle. Viewers will obviously understand better and relate more to the character of the same gender. Despite this identification, what often creates distance between the viewer and the couple is when the couple is viewed as a single character with two interacting parts. In Tony Scott’s True Romance, Clarence and Alabama might seem like two versions of the same person, but each possesses an important character trait the other requires for their success. While Alabama’s swindling, Marilyn Monroe looks, and almost obsequious charisma help get them in the door; it is Clarence’s slick, Elvis Presley style and resounding, car salesman-like reliability that keep them alive. Through the character development, they are distinctly different people, yet through the plot, they become one person.

Another, yet slightly different, example is Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou, in which the two main characters are leading directly opposite lives. In Alan Williams’ essay on the film, he explains that “[Marianne] is an outlaw, while [Ferdinand/Pierrot] is an intellectual.” He goes so far as to argue that they actually represent different genres present within the film: Marianne, “a film noir,” and Ferdinand, “a minimalist, modernist narrative.” This is typical of love-on-the-run films in which the female hungers for adventure and excitement in her life as the male grows tired of running and just wants to settle down. Audiences understand these roles the characters adopt because they are intended to represent the implicit desires we all retain, yet never act upon.

So, why is it important the characters adopt these roles and stereotypes? Kael explained this as one way we can further our understanding of the motives inside “the criminals who do the terrible things that [the viewers] themselves don’t dare to do.” She then relates this to the inevitable unhappy ending by arguing that we inherently hunger for “the punishment after feasting on the crimes.” Although we might be able to rationalize the crimes, as an audience we are looking for the unadulterated freedom without the consequences. As previously mentioned, we may only remotely experience the forbidden lifestyle offered by the films, but that isn’t a bad thing. This experience creates a position of power for the viewer that, in fact, is largely why predictable death is so easily and commonly used in love-on-the-run films.

We may not realize while watching a film, but it is human nature for viewers to compare and contrast themselves to the fictional characters on stage and screen. Throughout the show, we unconsciously critique their decisions, but remain powerless to control them. This creates a relationship with the viewer that ultimately determines sympathy or empathy toward the characters. But as discussed, love-on-the-run films do not function or succeed on the basis of whether or not a viewer can identify with the killer couple. The couple’s overall rebellious attitude and rejection of law and ethics signifies their ability to offer us something more than a thrilling “shoot ‘em up” or heartfelt romance. Through examining the couple’s portrayal—or rejection—of social standards, trends, and stereotypes, we can better understand why they make us feel like we are actually a part of something. Ultimately, this leads to a better understanding of why audiences find the films entertaining or enjoyable. Yet in order to understand why we don’t feel betrayed when all of this fun comes to end, it must be taken into consideration how these films challenge our relationship to different narrative conventions. Various forms of popular culture and media, especially of this generation, instill vaguely flexible expectations in us that help form a controversial, yet convenient, system we know as “genre.” But what happens when a “genre,” such as love-on-the-run, emerges and challenges the basic concepts of narratology to which we have grown so attached? Through these unique films, we may find our expectations of narrative structure, discourse, and development to be greatly evolved.

"Pierrot le Fou" (1965)

To say that this genre challenges core narrative concepts and film expectations is not to say that viewers do not also have expectations of a love-on-the-run film itself. After Warren Beatty and Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, film historians began to look back and see a genre that had existed for 30 years, unrecognized. What it took was a radical film such as Penn’s to amplify and elaborate upon the unusual conventions that had made the films (e.g.: You Only Live Once, They Live By Night, Gun Crazy, and others) strangely popular but unnoticed. One convention is the aforementioned theory of fatalism, which has become an incredibly controversial narrative technique, nearly dividing audiences in half. Our main characters, whether the viewer has grown to sympathize with them or not, are almost certainly going to die before the narrative reaches its conclusion. This is not because of either subtle or explicit forms of foreshadowing, but because it is what audiences have grown to expect as a convention of these types of films. “And though what we’ve always been told will happen to them,” Kael writes, “does seem to happen, some part of us wants to believe in the tiny possibility that they can can get away with it.” Because fatalism is common in much more than just love-on-the-run films, it becomes a matter of whether the viewer, personally, minds knowing that their supposed hero is probably going to die. Films such as Gun Crazy and Terence Malick’s Badlands are so laden with fatalism though, that the audience essentially disregards it.

This isn’t to say that the conclusion of the film is no longer important. Death to the main characters must surely symbolize a resolution to whatever conflict is present in the narrative. But remember that as viewers we have now come to accept our killer couple as two, relatively normal people; therefore we must also realize that they make mistakes just like we do. One day our daring twosome will really slip up and then, as stated in Bonnie’s famous poem, “it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.” Although some killer couple films, such as They Live By Night and True Romance, toy with the idea of escaping to Mexico or some hidden beach paradise, our couple either gets caught or dies running nearly 100 percent of the time. In fact, the thought in most viewers’ minds is not “will they get caught?” but rather, how and when. In that sense, the conclusion or resolution of the story is not nearly as important as all the events that lead up to our climax. We focus our attention on the killer couple’s flaws and oversights, not their fates. This actually enhances our sense of power over the film and therefore makes the “unhappy ending” absolutely expected and much more entertaining.

For some viewers there is still no substitute for an old-fashioned happy ending, but film has grown to offer us countless other ways to get our “money’s worth.” Plot devices, character development, and narrative structure have evolved to the point where a naïve world of consistent happy endings is no longer necessary. Although love-on-the-run films are not found “Coming Soon to Theaters” much anymore, they once offered audiences an escape from reality where the characters might have seemed normal, yet none of the same rules applied. This extraordinarily unique genre taught us to look beyond our own expectations and realize the unparalleled freedom being offered to us, the viewers: an experience in which crime is often without consequence. Never before and never since has dying made us feel so alive.

Sources:
Kael, Pauline. “Bonnie and Clyde.” Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Newman, David. “What’s It Really All About?: Pictures At an Execution.” Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Williams, Alan. “Pierrot in Context.” Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.

Along with a recent website facelift, The Strokes have released an alternative video for ‘You Only Live Once’. The video is a 2001-style vision of a post apocalyptic space mission to another planet, and begins with the end of ‘Ize of the World’. It works really well as a thematic link between the two tracks and can be found here.