A GO GO

I usually do a snippets, but I think this video by Shishi Yamazaki just takes the cake - and my breath! She has more little animations, too!

SNIPPETS NO.4

1. Filly Designs has a beautiful Spring 2012 line, including a delectable lookbook.

2. You can always count on Obama's design team to have stunning work for his campaign. They never disappoint. The Life of Julia is not only an example of fine design craftsmanship, but it explains the differences a woman's life will experience with Obama in office vs. Mitt Romney.

3. En Pointe is a short film documenting ballerinas and their process to break in their pointe shoes. I never knew how much actually went into breaking in their shoes. I also learned later that their shoes can only be worn once after all the tear and breaking of the shoe just so they can wear it. Can you imagine wearing a new pair of shoes everyday?

4. There has been a new wind sweeping the blogger prairies called "Things I'm Afraid To Tell You". It was originally started by Jess Constable as a way to be more honest with her readers. Then Ez turned it into a viral campaign, challenging herself and others to address the transparency, fear, and anxiety that sometimes comes with being the blogger behind the curtain. Several bloggers have participated and it is really wonderful to see the honestly floating around. I have to agree, it is easy to be concealed behind beautiful images. It's so much easier to put up something attractive than talk about a bad day. I don't always want to talk about it - this space is my happy place, and also, I don't like being overly personal here. But I will say this: I don't live as glamorously as some of the photos I post. But I do live an exciting life in a beautiful, charming city. I am not always cheerful, but I am happy and I am grateful for what I do have.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

disposables

Happy Friday, folks!

For the last few months Tim and I have been using some disposable cameras to enjoy and counteract our big SLRs. They're always so goofy and random. :D That's what makes them great.

get it, gallos!

A beautiful video from Andrew and Carissa Gallo. These are the same folks who directed and produced this wonderful Kinfolk Magazine video. Check out their other work and blog while you're at it!

(Right now Andrew and Carissa are in Uganda trying their very hardest to adopt a precious little girl named Rinah. They've been trying for a while and tomorrow is hopefully their last court date!)

weekend: flux and dinosaurs.

scenes of flux 2011 by artrelish.


This weekend was a lot of fun. It was just what I needed - a little bit of fun, a lot of rest and relaxation. The video above is a collection of scenes taken from Flux, the art event/public art happening that I mentioned in the last post. The majority of the stuff in the video I witnessed first hand, and it was all amazing.

The opening and closing scenes show the dance, "Livers" by gloATL. The smoke and music made the whole experience just bewildering. You felt as if you were in another realm seeing something you weren't supposed to.

One of my favorite art demonstrations of the night wasn't shown in the video. It was an iron pour - which I had never seen before. It was commenting on the similarities in the way that humans and bees work. They heated the iron, pour the molten metal into molds, and out came a still glowing, very hot, bee. The molds were quickly reset and more bees were made. Poles were inserted into the bees and they were paraded around in a bee dance. Beautiful and fascinating to see molten iron in a modern and very removed society.



In other highlights, Tim & I tried a new restaurant, HD1 (Haute Dog One) that just opened up. When in doubt, pinkies out for gourmet haute dogs. (and maple glazed waffles fries, OMG, I KNOW!) Delishhhhh. And for brunch on Sunday we went to the Flying Biscuit where I got a salmon and cream cheese egg scramble with creamy dreamy grits. My fav. There was also a in-store show at Criminal Records, where Young Rapscallions played. AKA the drummer is McLovin' from Super Bad. (But don't call him that!) I didn't want to pester him for a picture or anything, but I did stare at him for a while. haha. We also stopped by our favorite vintage shop, Highland Row antiques. They were having their monthly market sale, so we got to see a bunch of new stuff. yay!



We also watched another episode of Pan Am, which I might dedicate a whole post to. It's just that bad. SNL with Melissa McCarthy was better than I hoped. Goodness, she is just hilarious. Side splittingly hilarious. And I watched another Woody Allen film, Zelig, which I'll talk about later also. My mother told me that she had seen the first episode of Terra Nova and loved it, so we gave it a shot. Honestly, it wasn't so bad. The dinosaurs could look a whole lot more realistic, but hey, it was the pilot. Hopefully it will get better.

Here's some homework: Go watch the Melissa McCarthy SNL Hidden Valley Ranch clip and get back with me. You will never see ranch the same way again - and it's a good thing. :)


instagram photos by tim lampe @knowsurprises

birthday happies!

Things that make me happy on my birthday:


1. That video above.
2. My mom texting me multiple times saying "Happy Birthday to you!".
3. Tim's wall post on Facebook, "Happy Birthday to my lovely Ciara Sames! It's sad she's sharing her birthday with Google because obviously Ciara is much cooler."
4. Wearing a beautiful dress that my friend Alana gave me on Saturday.
5. Free tickets to tomorrow night's Wilco show from my friend, Fray, who is a DJ at WRAS 88.5.
6. Dinner plans at The Vortex tonight!
7. The Reese's peanut butter cup I'm about to eat.

movie recap: annie hall.

I saw Annie Hall for the first time last night. Its so funny and perfectly shows the way Woody Allen's brain works. If you haven't seen this, you really should. It's incredibly smart and Allen and Diane Keaton are so likable. I was especially encouraged to watch this after Tim's mix called Diane Keaton's Vest after the vest she wears in the movie. The shots are beautiful and the film is great all around - hence all the awards it won.

Here's some pros if you watch with friends: You'll have a million amazing quotes to throw around back and forth. Trust me, since I saw it last night, that's all Tim & I have been doing.

For example:
"Annie, there's a big lobster behind the refrigerator. I can't get it out. This thing's heavy. Maybe if I put a little dish of butter sauce here with a nutcracker, it will run out the other side."

"Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F's."

"Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat... college."


A fun fact for all you fashion people - everything Diane Keaton wore in the movie is her own wardrobe. "'She came in,' he recalled in 1992, 'and the costume lady on Annie Hall said, "Tell her not to wear that. She can't wear that. It's so crazy." And I said, 'Leave her. She's a genius. Let's just leave her alone, let her wear what she wants.'" -Woody Allen. Isn't that cute?

photo found here.

full out flame.

Some really rad travel videos from Rick Mereki. Doesn't it make you want to go? The videos were shot during a 44 day trip for Mereki and two friends that went through 11 countries and 38,000 miles. That is so amazing.

mark is at it again.

video by joe lumbroso.

mmhm.

movie recap: rubber.

Tim told me about this horror film parody (directed by Quentin Dupieux) a little while ago. He said it was supposed to be interesting and thought provoking. So yeah, of course I want to see it! But wait, what is it about?

Rubber is the story of a tire that rolls to life, killing animals and people with its "mind". I'm sure you're asking me how long this movie is. As in, "How long do I have to sit here and watch this tire roll?!" Trust me, I was asking Tim the very same thing.

Besides being shockingly gruesome of head explosions, the film did have some ponderous points. We are asked if a movie continues even after no one is watching. Does the existence of a serial killing tire end as soon as the credits roll, or does it continue regardless of our attention?

If you don't like experimental and off-beat films, skip Rubber. But if you like beautifully shot mind bending films, you'll love this.


Design by me. Desert photo found here.

movie recap: midnight in paris.

Ah, Midnight in Paris. This was seriously one of the best films I have ever seen. Form your own opinions, but I'm pretty sure you'll be agreeing with me after you see it.

Gil Pender, (Owen Wilson) a successful but disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter, and his fiance, Inez (Rachel McAdams) travel to Paris with her parents on a business trip. It doesn't take them long to run into friends of Inez, a rude know it all who takes every chance to prove everyone wrong. Inez's parents clearly disaprove of Gil and everyone seems to laugh at his idea of writing a novel. Gil takes a stroll alone one night, gets lost and finds hims in a car with complete strangers... and complete legendary writers and artists. Every night at midnight Gil is able to sneak away into the 1920's, a time period he not only worships, but is writing about in his novel. In his travels, he comes across people like Ernest Hemingway, Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill), Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali (Adrian Brody) and others. Not only do they help shape his book, but help him figure out his own life and what is important to him.

For all you history and art buffs out there, you will love this. It's funny, romantic, adventurous and totally believable. Owen Wilson did a remarkable job, hands down. Don't even get me started on Earnest Hemingway or Dali! So it was really great and I can't stop thinking about it. So go out there, see it, and report back! How did you like it?!

movie recap: when harry met sally.

Ok I have a big confession. Before last night, I had never seen When Harry Met Sally. I really thought I had...but when the credits started, I realized I hadn't. Let's say that watching it has changed my life. Haha! Not quite, but I was certainly deprived all this time.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet - WATCH IT ASAP! It's another romantic comedy featuring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan circa 1980s. They meet in the 70's on a long road trip from their university to New York City, and don't make a very good impression on each other. After several years, running into each other every now and then, and their bad breakups, Harry & Sally finally become friends. They keeping asking, "Can a man and woman be friends without sex getting in the way?" They date around a little but both of them begin to realize that their feelings for the other are not merely platonic.

This movie made me laugh and sob and smile from ear to ear. It definitely is a classic romance film, and a pure delight to watch. This still confirms my belief that Meg Ryan is the cutest young romance actress of the 80s & 90s. She is so adorable. I'm sure you can agree.

Have you seen this movie? Did you totally love it? Let me know.

symmetry.

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

This is a truly fantastic video. Thanks to swissmiss for the vid. Inspirational. I swear I watched it like 5 times in a row and rewinded a zillion times.

movie recap: high fidelity.

I saw High Fidelity for the first time earlier this week. The more time that has passed, the more I realize that I love it. The film is about a man, Rob (played by John Cusack), whose girlfriend has just left him. He then revisits his five worst breakups to find out the reason why women leave him. It is through these humorous glimpses of his past and scenes of his everyday life owning a record store, we find that Rob really loves Laura. What initially seemed like a typical male comedy turned into a really warm centered romantic comedy. And while most of the recent romantic comedies are forgotten within the hour of leaving the theatre, this one really sticks. There are genuine sentiments and a grasp on what comic reality and love is like. It was based on a book by Nick Hornby. I really enjoyed this one, and definitely recommend it. You get a free lesson on how to make the perfect mixtape too! What a deal!




Thank you, Tim for sharing this movie with me!


Record sleeve from the Polish record label, Tonpress, circa 1980's. See Wanken article on the sleeves here.

fly buzz. buzz fly.

Clip from "Eyeblink" (1966) - Yoko Ono

Last night I was fortunate to be at The Contemporary for a film screening night. Andy Ditzler screened several short films by Yoko Ono and collaborations with several artists from the 1960's avant-garde group, FLUXUS. We watched a small handful of incredibly interesting and sometimes terribly enduring films, including Ono's well known "Fly". It is in this 25 minute short film that a fly is seen walk across the landscape of a very drugged, naked woman. Voiced over in the background is Yoko Ono creating startling creature sounds.

Before the film viewing even began, Ditzler gave a brief overview of Ono and her transition from a Japanese classical pianist to the avant-garde artist we know her as. He talked about the change from standard musical compositions to compositions that told the musician to "do" things, instead of notes to play. Take for example "Voice Piece for Soprano":

Scream.
1. against the wind.
2. against the wall.
3. against the sky.


Some of these compositions would have by the score one word, such as "touch". Soon this transitioned to film scripts. Ono wrote several film scripts, with one consisting of Yoko simply lighting a match.

After the film screening, we took part in a film that Yoko Ono wrote, using the "Film Scrip #3" to advise us. The instructions are are for the audience members to cut away a piece of the image projected on the screen. The Contemporary set up a nice white sheet where a short film was projected. By the end, there was hardly any material left and the image was gracefully cast against the industrial support beams of the ceiling. So what part of the image did I cut? An open window.

The neat thing about the film script that we did is that Yoko Ono had been contacted to request permission for the project. Not only did she know, but it was uncertain whether this specific piece had ever been done before. Ono advised the audience to keep forever the piece that we cut off the screen. And so I shall.

This was a truly great experience. It brought forth many interesting reactions from the audience, including myself. I laughed, I yawned, I even thought about my mother's face at one point. I'm sure Yoko Ono would have been happy with the imagination that we used while experiencing her work.


If you would like to see the main feature, "Fly", please go here to see it. Enjoy!

aquamarine scales.

the world's largest aquarium // ATL.GA from stillmotion on Vimeo.

Hello everyone! As I typed this with my tail between my legs (for not finishing my November project), I would like to apologize with a beautiful video taken here in Atlanta. Another reminder of why I love marine life, Atlanta, and talented film artists.

if it makes any difference, i didn't finish because my parents were in town... and the good news is that we had a great time for thanksgiving! i hope your thanksgiving was awesome too!