Strawberry Swing

Not only is Strawberry Swing a great song and peaceful to listen to, the music video alone in a piece of art. The video blends stop animation with chalk drawings and a constant camera angle that doesn't seem so constant in the video. It is absolutely breathe taking. The ending is the best when The animation stops and Chris Martin stands up and walks away from an explosive butterfly mural drawn in chalk on the pavement. Its pure genius.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9X5jMofEo

Zelda

For my 8th birthday my parents got me a Gamecube and a couple of games to go with it. One of them was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Ten years later I still love that game and the six other Zelda games I have acquired.

Now I've been thinking about this recently since my dad just got himself Black Ops 2 and I put Assassin's Creed 3 on my Christmas list. Why do we play video games? Yes its a form of entertainment, but why not just watch TV or even do something a little more productive like picking up a book or going on a walk with a friend?

Maybe its the escape from reality we feel. For as long as we play that game, THAT is our reality. We are alive in the game. We control our character and live vicariously through it. We move it and make it make choices. The more I think about this, the ore I find The Sims franchise really creepy. You're essentially playing god to this character or BEING this character in whatever game you're playing.

For me when I was in middle school I so badly wanted to go to sleep one night in Wenatchee and wake up the next in Hyrule. Its a fantasy I had like so many other people. I wanted to save the world like Link. Heck, I would have settled working at Lon Lon Ranch as Malon.

Whatever the game and whatever the reason, its interesting how obsessive this current generation is becoming with being someone or something else.

Side note: It pisses me off that the franchise is called "Legend of Zelda". It should be called "Legend of Link". Link is the hero, Zelda is the stupid princess that needs help all the time. Its like calling the "Mario" series "Peach".

Earth Vs. Humans

 

There is pleasure in the pathless woods;

There is a rapture on the lonely shore;

There is society, where none intrudes.

By the deep sea, and the music in its roar;

I love not man the less, but Nature more...

- Lord Byron

 

This poem so easily wraps up my general opinion of the world. I believe we don't need all our stuff and mundane socialization to be happy in our lives. We are so lucky to be on this beautiful earth and it is our home. But we continue to build our skyscrapers on the land and dump our waste into the rivers. I know that we have reasons for these things, and I'm not saying everything humans do is bad. I just think we could be wiser with our decisions and open our eyes to realize we are not the center of the universe. But why do we start that way? What makes us so superior to think we can just run everything and do whatever we want? There's a million billion universes out there, we are minuscule. We are not special. We are just a bunch of atoms thrown together. But we don't think about this. I prefer observing the natural wonders around us than worrying too much about my own puny life.

 

 

Its not that I don't love humans, I just love nature more...

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is probably the most artistic and unique musical and visual project I have ever witnessed.

Gorillaz was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.The project consists of Gorillaz itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters. This band has four animated members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard, and melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and drum machine), Noodle (guitar, keyboard, and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons. The music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of influences including alternative, rock, hip hop, electronica, dub and pop.

A virtual band. How freaking awesome is that? And real life Damon Albarn is the only permanent member. All of the music created by Gorillaz is a huge collarboration of hundreds of artists. Its magic. And the fictional universe of the virtual band just adds another amazing element.

Every album is different and has its own special vibe (I should know, I own every single one). Kind of like an artist's different periods or styles. I cannot fathom why they are not more mainstream here in the states. Also, Noodle is my favorite virtual band member :)

Why do we kiss?

I found this article interesting: http://scienceline.org/2006/10/ask-fiore-kiss/

Why DO humans kiss? I've actually thought about that before. I mean sure, its fun and feels good, but what's the real purpose of it? Its kind of odd when you think about it. You press your lips against another person's. You shove your toungues in each other's mouths. But WHY?

This article brings up a good point about it probably being learned or instinctual. Sure, some animal mommies mouth feed their young and continue pressing their lips on the young one, but that's the mom. How often do you enjoy kissing your mom? Its more duty than anything. And human mommies don't mouth feed babies, at least I would hope not haha.

I guess for now I'll take the theory that we kiss to find a mate. It kind of makes sense. No one really wants to date a person really horrible at making out. But why did we choose kissing? Why not judge our mates on their hand shake? I judge people (not necessarily mates) on their hand shakes haha. C'mon science! I want anwsers!

Pole Vault

This crazy crazy sport. I'm still not sure why I do it. There are SO many things that could go wrong. Your pole snaps. You swing up too early. You swing up too late. You don't swing up at all. You crash into the standard. You crash into the bar. You fly off the pit. Let's just say don't ever YouTube pole vaulting accidents.

But what about me, or anyone else who vaults or does a dangerous sport, wants to do this?

That adrenaline rush. That accomplishment of clearing the bar and PRing. If I get hurt, then I get hurt. It happens every day to people, I'm not special. I'm not invincible. But shouldn't my survival instincts stop me from putting myself in danger? Who knows. Maybe the human race has evolved beyond that now, and that's why we are able to do all these extreme sports now. The only thing I know for sure is that nothing beats that rush.

 

Hehe watch at your own risk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VjjdkRrNgZ0

 

Anthem and The Island

I watched The Island for the first time with my parents when it came out in 2005. Then in 2010 I read Ayn Rand's Anthem for the first time for my Honors English class.

SO many similarities! Its funny though because I haven't read anywhere that The Island makes references to Anthem. There are other films its said to infringe like Parts: The Clonus Horror and The Penultimate Truth, but nothing about Anthem.

• Both have a male lead who takes fancy in a blonde.
• The society is closed off and carefully governed.
• The inhabitants are assigned jobs.
• The male starts wondering about what's outside the community
• He explores places he shouldn't.
• All people are given weird names that take away from personal uniqueness.
• Both male leads escape the society with their hot blondes!

I love the book and I love the film. Comparing Anthem to The Island defintiely made reading it more fun. I also went out and bought the movie to watch it again.

Me Vs. My Brain

One thing that bothered me about our art unit was: WHY CAN'T I BE AN ARTIST DAMMIT??

I have such cool and beautiful stuff going on in my head, but once I put the pencil to paper I get shit. I've always secretly wanted to be an artist. Just create really cool stuff to look at. I know art is so much more than that, but that was my simple dream. Its just really frustrating that my brain won't connect with my hands and make it happen. I think it would be so awesome to convey my emotions in soemthing physical that other people could see and enjoy. I'm taking a drawing and painting class second semester at my high school so maybe then my wish will come true. Until then, I fight with my brain.

The Fault in Our Stars

First off: John Green = GENIUS.

I've never had a favorite author, but now I do.

His book, The Fault in Our Stars, is currently my favorite book.

Why is it my favorite? Because its relatable, much like all of John's books.

Stars follows Hazel, a sixteen-year-old cancer patient who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee.

Hazel has some similarities to that of our other cancer patient, Dr. Vivian Bearing.

Hazel, too, is very cold at first but her cancer transforms her into a much more compassionate person. Hazel doesn't die in the book, which I like because I don't like death.

Sadly *SPOILER ALERT* Augustus does. Boy did I cry. You know a book is good when it brings out your emotions.

The cancer thing hit home with me, and so did Hazel's depression. I've been there sister. The whole book just had a lot of elements that really made me think and I could relate to personally.

Alexander Supertramp

Its about time I explain the title for this blog. "Super Apple" is a reference to the movie Into The Wild. This just so happens to be my favorite moive (still need to read the book).
Chris McCandless is a badass, but kinda stupid too. I still look up to him though. I always thought it was awesome how he was basically like "fuck you society, I'm outta here." I wish I could do that sometimes haha. He taught me not to be so matieralistic, love nature, and enjoy the little things. I picked up Thoreau's Walden because of him. Some day I want to tramp too, although I'll do it with a little more cushion and not go all over the U.S. and into Canada haha.

LOVE this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTIibbq1xd4

The Phantom of the Opera

Recently in our valley, Wenatchee High School had a performance of The Phantom of the Opera. Personally, I've never been much for high school plays, since, well, they're high school plays. However, my grandma had a extra ticket so I said what the heck.
I don't have a lot of knowledge about the play, I watched the most recent hollywood movie of it in like sixth grade choir or something like that. But I did know most of the songs.
I totally thought it was going to suck. TOTALLY DIDN'T. Ohmygosh it was so good. I had no idea the amount of talent Wenatchee High School has. The stage decorations were fantastic (my friend Juliet did most of the lighting on the chandelier!) and the casting was perfect. I cannot believe the singing voices some of those high school students had. The biggest surprise to me was when I was looking through the program and saw who was playing Christine. It was a girl who I had history with that was very shy and I had never heard her speak. THE GIRL CAN SING. Like wow.

Ten Thousand Hours

Recently for my 18th birthday my parents got me Macklemore&Ryan Lewis' new album The Heist. YES! I had listened to some of it online, but mostly just the singles I already knew. The first song on the album is called Ten Thousand Hours. Its a perfect opening to the album because Ben (Macklemore) is rapping about how much work he put into the album and how he can't believe he got this far. Well at one point he makes an artistic reference which perked my ears since we were in our art unit. It goes like this:
See, I observed Escher, I love Basquiat
I watched Keith Harring, you see I study art, The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint
The greats were great cause they paint a lot.
I thought this verse carried a powerful message about how artists were not just born with talent; they worked very hard to improve their skills and their art was their passion. Why else would you keep painting (or other art making)?
This was also really cool to me because I knew Escher and his awesome impossible structures, but I didn't know who Basquiat or Keith Harring were. I'm glad I did my research (wikipedia haha) and learned about them and their art. Basquiat's graffiti is unlike any of have ever seen. Harring was pretty cool too, I feel like I have seen his art somewhere before but I can't put my finger on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEr5H4E4r3I