Madonna the Otaku?

Okay, so, everyone knows of Madonna, fan or not of her music. The news is a bit old, and I've speculated over it for quite some time, but I just felt like finally posting a little random blurb on this.

There's been quite a few rumors about Madonna being an otaku-of course, an anime fan-particularly about Death Note. While there hasn't been any picture of her reading the manga or watching the anime or anything like that (at least to my knowledge), nor do I think that she has she confirmed or denied the rumors, she did come out with this music video called "Jump." I don't listen to her music a whole lot, but regardless of the rumors, I do find this song to be rather catchy, and the whole layout of the video overall is pretty sweet (freerunners for the win!) I think the song at least came out in 2005-2006...too lazy to do the research right now, but yeah. Here it is.



Set in Japan with signs all around written in hirigana, katakana, and kanji? And the outfit. The hair. All I can say is...'nuff said.

Looks pretty similar to another particular blond from the Death Note novels that lives on in the hearts of fans worldwide, ne? -_^ Now all she needs is a chocolate bar. XD There's even speculation that the car at 1:21 is a blue version of the red muscle car that Mello's partner Matt drives in his short but touching death scene towards the end of the anime, during the whole Takada kidnapping scene.

(And please excuse the posting of an entire video [no matter how short it is...believe it or not though, this and another clip that lasts for only a few seconds are the only times that Matt is seen in the anime, yet he has one of the biggest character fanbases...probably because gamers win XP] for something so minute, but I couldn't find the shot of where the whole car is shown right before he dies.)



But anywho! All of this being just a coincidence?

I think not. XD

I rest my case.

Sooo far behind! But Hetalia ftw and...PASTAAA!

Wow! I haven't posted in like...forever. I've got a lot of stuff to cover, so bear with me and I'll probably get things out gradually (if I'm not too distracted by World of Warcraft, NaNoWriMo, or just being plain lazy.)

Alright, first off! I'll start with the blog's usual dosage of anime. It would seem that Puppet-chan (among others) has gotten me into this new anime. It's kind of on the cute side, the episodes (with my experience) can only be found online, they're only an estimated five minutes long or so, and they're not dubbed yet. But it's pretty humorous and a fun way of seeing history and culture with countries of the world being literally personified, somewhat through history and culture and somewhat through stereotype. And along with friendships and rivals and siblings and such between countries, I believe there are even characters that are 'divorced' due to the countries having a history of dividing with each other.

This anime I speak of is called Hetalia.

I'll be honest, I haven't really gotten too far into it-only the first several episodes-but that's more so due to time constraints and such more than anything. I have seen amusing clips of later episodes. The series starts off with Italy and the Holy Roman Empire, and then sort of breezes through the first world war in the first few episodes and moves on to focus on the second (which I think is actually much longer than the first world war, partially due to so many different new countries [America! XD And Russia and Japan...] making their debut.

So anyway, I can give a link to the site that I've been watching them on, but I think I'll actually do that a bit later. For now (and at least as long as it's on before youtube takes it down -.-;; ), here is episode one!

Vocaloid-Crackish much?

So my Finnish friend Pain-chan introduced me to this thing called 'Vocaloid' this morning. While...I'm not entirely sure what this is, this is the gist of what I got from her:

"Vocaloid is basically just a computer program that allows you to make songs with with different voices but the Japanese thought, 'Hey lets make each voice a character.'...and so the fanbase went wild xD"

And what I got from Wikipedia...

"Vocaloid is a singing synthesizer application software developed by the Yamaha Corporation that enables users to synthesize singing by just typing in lyrics and melody."

So while I'm a little unsure of what I'm posting here, it seemed to give the feel of something so crackish that I just had to put it up. ^^; Or maybe I'm just loopy from a lack of sleep (it's 8:21 in the morning and I still have to get some rest. ^^; ) I dunno. But anywho, without further ado...Vocaloid. (And I gotta admit, I am finding the music to this rather catchy. XD)

Happy Birthday to Me~

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted in this blog. So, yesterday was my birthday-I turned twenty-one (yay for the ability to purchase alcohol...not so much yay for mojitos. ^^; ) And of course, it involved trying some new things.

Kiki, Kathi, Roxanne, Brandon, Deion, my younger sister Elena and I all went to the Japanese Steakhouse called Eka. Normally people would do the hibachi grill, but we all did the sushi bar instead. We got the Eka rolls (eel...yum... ^^) and shrimp tempura (deep fried shrimp sushi), and the other group got some California rolls, too (we had split the group to mainly share off each other; Kiki, Brandon, Elena were on my group), but I think we accidentally ended up purchasing some spider rolls. ^^; While those sounded delicious, it seemed that they had added a new ingredient to the mix. I totally wish I had taken a picture.

They were like tiny orange beads that didn't seem to have much flavor, but more so served as decoration. We spent about twenty minutes debating on what it was, because we thought that they were fish eggs like what had been mentioned as the 'new ingredient.' Elena was freaking out about it because of simply what it was and that she had already eaten it. Finally we noticed the chef laughing at us and someone gained the nerve to ask him. XD He held up a huge carton of them and said, "Oh, these? They're fish eggs."

...And then Elena went to the bathroom to try and throw up, but couldn't get up the nerve. ^^; We all did get a pretty good laugh out of it though. XD

When we got home, after singing cake and gift-opening, we did some cosplay shots and overall general photography. We're hoping to maybe get some more done today, so...wish us luck! Hopefully we'll soon have more pictures to put up on this blog. ^^

Yay for New Projects~ (Occupation for over the Summer? Hm...)

...On an incredibly random note, chocolate Hello Panda cookies are awesome. XD

But oh. Right. Okay, so man, oh man. My friend over the internet (Puppet-chan) has recently started watching one of my favorite animes and drew me right back into watching it again. XD The series is called Higurashi (or at least, that's what I'm calling it right now since I'm too lazy to look up the full name of it), and it is sooo screwed up, but oh, so good. ^^ It's a really cute but suspenseful and even violent series, involving murder and plenty of paranoia. It will really mess with the mind...

But anyway, right. The project. There's a lot of flash parodies to the two openings, and while Puppet and I have never made a flash movie before (hell, I still have yet to make a movie period ^^; ), we want to make an attempt at this by using Death Note. We're hashing out the details of the casting and all that at the moment, but we're pretty sure we've come to all of our decisions. ^^

If anyone knows how to use flash that could give us a few pointers or suggestions to good flash programs and so on, that would be a huge help! As for the original...here it is.

The Last of the Cultural Events (Acrylics and DBZ-Odd Combination Much?)

Alrighty, I suppose I've procrastinated enough with the cultural events I actually turned in tickets and stuff to. For my first cultural event, I already have it posted here, where I did a two-in-one combo with my photo ops at Momocon. As for the other two...

The second cultural event I did was this acrylics lecture I went to at West Georgia, mentioned and suggested by the teacher. This was actually a pretty cool lecture. I've experimented with acrylics before, though without professional training. I suspect my stuff will turn out even better now, what with all the interesting new things I learned. Particularly some of the most interesting things I found in the lecture were the things on ingredients for old acrylic paints, all the different types, and storage/shipping/care need-to-knows on acrylic works. For instance, did you know that if an acrylic painting gets too cold, you can shatter it? Or if it gets too warm and/or placed on an odd texture such as bubble wrap, you'll be able to see the permanent imprint in the painting?

While we didn't get to do any real painting ourselves, there were plenty of examples and stuff passed around. My only issue with it is that not all the stuff got circulated to our side of the room, so we didn't get to see everything...but still a good deal of stuff. ^^; And best of all, we got our own set of free acrylic paints afterward! (A picture of this shall be coming soon.)

The third cultural event! The Dragonball Evolution movie-the horror!

...Okay, so I'll admit. It wasn't that bad. If a person that had never seen the series for it, it would probably be fairly decent (if not seeming vaguely reminiscent to...Power Rangers for some reason... o.O;; ). My dad went to see it with me, and not being a fan he mentioned that while it wasn't horrible, he wouldn't pay full movie price to go see it. Being a former fan of the series Dragonball/DragonballZ (yes, yes, I will admit to that...), again, I had to confess that it wasn't 'bullet-to-the-brain' bad like I'd heard another fan describe it, but...I just had to wonder where they got their ideas from, since not a whole lot of it seemed accurate with the series...at all. I'll rank it at maybe thirty percent accuracy (drop that to twenty-nine, because at the very least they could've given Piccolo antennae.)

Even so, it ranks with otaku culture and shows a bit of Japanese culture, what with their continuous references back to ki (which also tends to be known otherwise as chi, chakra, ect., and coincides with martial arts and Zen practices.) I don't quite have a picture of me at the movie to go with this on-hand at the moment, but...I'll see about getting one soon. It was taken with another camera, so yeah...

So those are my top three cultural events. *nodnod*

Yet Another Cultural Event! Renfest FTW~

I went to Renfest (or the renaissance festival) today... Good god it is overpriced. x.o;; Even more so-I heard they jacked up the prices this year, although I'm not certain. But even so, I tend to love it. I may have an anime/manga/Japan/gaming addiction, but medieval stuff and all that would probably be next in line. XD And of course, I dressed up as my SOLAR character Hoshi-a long, velvet black robe with flowing sleeves and a hood, and gold/red heart trim. I would've worn one of my cloaks too, but...meh, too hot, even now.

I went with my boyfriend Brandon and for the most part we browsed the shops; we're considering returning next weekend to fit in some shows, too. I'm quite happy with what I ended up getting too, and even got an ocarina as an early b-day present~ (I turn twenty-one on June twenty-second.) For those who wonder what an ocarina is...it's a clay flute, so to speak. Apparently it's used a lot in Legend of Zelda. And I got a basic four-hole one...I'll have a picture of it up towards the bottom, probably.

If anyone's ever noticed, I'm almost always wearing two necklaces that I got at Renfest a couple years ago, each on different years... One is a pewter rectangle hanging on a white string, the Celtic trinity engraved on it (I tend to call this as my 'good luck charm', if I ever had one), and the other is a pewter rectangle hanging on a black string with the Norse rune for 'strength' engraved on it. Well, the design wasn't quite the same this year-the pendant is circular rather than rectangular-but I ended up getting a new one all the same. This one has the Norse rune for 'knowledge' engraved on it...although I must say that I was quite tempted by the runes for 'destiny' and 'power'-they looked neat. XD

And finally, probably one of my favorite things~ (what I always look forward to when going to Renfest, in fact)... I'm working at putting together a blade collection so to speak-mainly swords and daggers-because honestly, who can deny that swords and stuff like that are pretty badass? But unfortunately, I normally can't afford the really pricy swords and stuff (like the $169 Exocath [I think that's what it was called] sword that Brandon got), so normally I go to the room next to the main sword shop where they have everything priced for a good ten bucks-probably particularly for the art. I was tempted by the Pharaoh blade but...heh, maybe next time. I'm just glad we went fairly early this year; last year we went on the last day and there wasn't much left in the selection. But anyway, right! Onto pictures.

I don't quite have a picture of me actually there yet-Brandon has those pictures on his phone, so I'll have to get them from him a bit later. And also, some of the pictures of the stuff I got are kinda sucky quality since they were taken on the cell... Bear with me on that. ^^;

My new (now-named) dagger Raine...and yes, that is a water droplet design on the sheath.

My new dagger unsheathed~

My three rune necklaces-the Celtic trinity (luck), knowledge, and strength from left to right. The one in the center is my new one.

Pictures of myself and the new ocarina are soon to come~

Death Note-L: Change the World (Fourth Cultural Event/Extra Credit)

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(Not with the awesome Alessandro Juliani voice-over for L that I watched it with, but still really good all the same.)

Okay, so I went to see the third Death Note movie, L: Change the World.

Oh. My. God. *-*

And here I suspected that it would be...just bad overall, because it's a side-story that doesn't have much to do with the original plot to Death Note. The series consists of twelve manga (thirteen, if you count the How to Read), and thirty-seven episodes, so they had to chop the series in half when a particular character died to fit it into two movies. In doing so, they had to alter the ending a bit by taking advantage of other rules of the Death Note notebook...

Gah, I don't want to spoil too much. But in my overall opinion, the first movie was good. Second movie was...okay, but a little disappointing, since I found it didn't quite hold up to the quality of the second. Maybe it was just because they seemed to have more deviation from the original series with the ending in the second movie than with the first movie overall. But anyway, because of this, the major lack of relation to the original plot, and because some of the things I had seen in the trailers...Near/Nate River being played by a Thai boy when he's actually an albino, lack of Mello with a seeming-replacement of him by use of a Japanese girl named Maki, ect.), I thought it would turn out to be crap. But, being the major L fan that I am, I couldn't pass up going to see this.

How incredibly glad I did go to see it, too.

While the movie is based on the anime/manga Death Note, the movies are actually live action, and there isn't anyone better they could've chosen to play the role of L than Kenichi Matsuyama. And of course, once again he has managed to dominate the screen with a stunning performance. The movie plot-wise could possibly be accused of being a little cliche in plot (although I haven't seen other movies with the plot), where a group of hardcore ecoterrorists try to unleash a deadly virus upon the world that's about as deadly as ebola and at least ten times more infectious than influenza. Trust me, it's not pretty. And the case needs to be solved in less than twenty-three days, due to certain circumstances of L. But the elements of L just...being L make it all worth seeing.

For instance, his hot pink getaway van 'Angel Crepe' with all the latest up-to-date technology as well as a crepe-making machine and plenty of sweet condiments. The Batmobile has got nothing on this thing. And then him babysitting the kids... XD I don't think a better portrayal could've been pulled off to emphasize L's social awkwardness than Matsuyama/L's completely lost expression and desperate shifty eyes for a nonexistent person to take over the babysitting when the kids start crying, as well has his offers of skewered sweets and manhandling of the kids whenever trouble appeared (aka practically carrying Maki under one arm at one point and putting Near in a closet.) And since L normally tends to be a detective that works behind a desk more than on the field (although he does get out a bit and even plays some tennis and fight using capoeira in the anime/manga), there were the movement scenes that couldn't be denied of a good cackle-such as the hunched-over figure of L attempting to run into the boatyard, trying to stand up straight (and walk that way), riding a bike, and sitting on the train/swinging around on the hand bars on the ceiling like a monkey while people just stared with total 'Wtf?!' expressions. And the epic action scenes of plane-jumping and so on are just awesome.

It's also great getting to see more Whammy kids (genius orphans raised to be L's successors at a place called Whammy's House) like F and K, even if they are just movie incarnations. The babysitting scenes earn their cuteness and the scenes portraying L's relationship with his late surrogate father Watari earn its drama, but to keep it from being too much sap it swings into action scenes with the terrorists and a tad bit of gore with virus victims, so it all balances out in the end. You also get to see some of Japanese culture, such as cosplay cafes, Japanese sweets (green tea flavored bean paste?!), and some of Thai culture (even though the scenes of it at the beginning of the movie are brief.) Making it even better, you get to see some behind-the-scenes clips when you stick around after the movie.

And of course, there was candy throughout the movie. Plenty and plenty of candy.

For those that aren't familiar with the series or even the other movies, I definitely recommend this movie. For those that are fans of the series and/or movies, and especially for those that are fans of L/Kenichi Matsuyama...go see it. That's all I have to say. Just go see the movie-you will not be sorry. Even though the hardcore fans might be slightly disappointed at the lack of mind games the series is known for, it's packed with action and plenty of L scenes. The masterful acting skills of the actors (Kenichi Matsuyama especially), the unique quirks and twists thrown into it, all of that makes this movie a definite work of art.

   

Kenichi Matsuyama as L in Death Note-L: Change the World (above), the second picture (below) of him with Mayako Fukuda as Maki and Narushi Fukuda as Near.

The actual L from the Death Note series.

The actual Near from the Death Note series (albino! Not...Thai... o.O;; )

Oh! And my proof for being there... They didn't have a poster at the Tinseltown theater in Fayette, however, I'll have a picture of my ticket up soon. In the meantime, here's a picture of the title screen I took with the cell while waiting for the movie to start.

Trip to the High~ Pictures shall be soon to come.

Over the weekend I went to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. So, for the questions that need to be answered, let's see...

A work that reminded me of something or someone in my life: the photograph by Thomas Struth titled 'Paradise.' It's a forest shot that reminds me greatly of the forests back in my home state, Washington. I couldn't help but to pass by intentionally while wandering through the museum.

A historic work: the Terracotta army excavated from China, which dates back to 210 BC. I particularly like this exhibit, simply because it's so old and shows a window into not just a different time, but a different culture, as well. Not to mention the expert craftsmanship and original details on each of the statues...

Liked but not for home: Gerhard Richter-11-Scheiben (11-Panels). It was an interesting piece, with eleven glass panels stacked against each other that gave a sort of blurred, distorted look. However, it would be a bit bigger than practical to keep in the home.

Shocked! Shocked, I tell you! And this is what it was: Two works, actually. The first thing was Jimmy Lee Sudduth's work 'Woman with Glasses.' It looked odd, yes, but what caused more surprise for me was the list of materials used. Mud, sugar or syrup, and paint on plywood. I can barely even imagine how one gets that to work. The other thing was Thorton Dial's 'Heckyll and Jeckyll: Pleasure for the People. The red and white colors really jumped out, and the work itself seemed to jump out literally. It was sort of a mess of stuff, but really cool. Both of these works were found in the folk art gallery, by the way.

Woman with Glasses by Jimmy Lee Sudduth

Something that felt sad: Robert Henri's 'Lady in Black Velvet.' Honestly, I don't see how this work couldn't feel at least somewhat sad. The woman is dressed in all black, like in mourning or preparing to go to a funeral. It makes you think and wonder.

Something I liked: Edward Ruscha's contemporary piece 'Home Power.' It looks like a photograph, but apparently it was done with acrylics. I liked this piece because when I first saw it from a distance, it looked like a spooky haunted house. Even though when you come closer and see the title of it, it looses some of the creepiness, but the first impression is awesome. The darkness that surrounds it gives off the eerie feeling of the unknown.

A work that taught me something I don't know: Soon to come...

What I noticed about the contemporary and folk arts: Okay, here goes. From what I happened to notice, there seemed to be a lot more materials used in folk art that one could get easily, like at a department store. Howard Finster's work 'MyFather's House are Many Mansions #4,392' uses a bunch of plastic toys, for instance. There was another work that seemed to use a lot of rhinstones and beads glued to make a person (will put up the name and artist to this if I can find it, by the way.) The folk art also seemed to indulge heavily in religious themes and surges of abstract and uncontained inspiration, such as Hallelujah Gate (another artist I can't remember) and Dial's 'Heckyll and Jeckyll: Pleasure for the People.' The contemporary art on the other hand seemed a lot more refined, some using oils that would be bought at an art shop that would be specifically more for that. Using mirrors like in Richter's '11-Scheiben' and other such materials also seemed to relate more to the industrial world rather than the world at home.

The most meaningful part of the trip: Soon to come~

I'm Having Another Catharsis

Night

In the velvety darkness

The stars twinkle and shine

Like hundreds of diamonds

Around a gold crescent moon

Magic fills the air

Mystery tingles every nerve in the body

Unlike

The bustling day

Some people sleep

Some people do not

Admiring the night

And the quietness

Within

Behold the magic

Of the night

And listen

To its song

I'm having a Catharsis

Color of Autumn

Color in the trees

On every single leaf

Red, gold, orange

Fluttering by

Soaring like faeries

In the wind

Young

But ancient

Like the sunset and sunrise

Glowing like fire in every heart

Signaling to every ghostly spirit of nature

To a new beginning

Art and Human Psyche

While not a visual art, I do dub this as a literary art that plays well on the human psyche. This book is called 'Death Note-Another Note: LABB Murder Cases.' With its twists and turns, it causes a person to question their own mind and their sense of semiotics, and gives some insight into a rather dangerous mind...

Art and Human Nature

For art and human nature, I chose a painting of an infant. If human nature is the basic makeup of a human being, how much closer could one be than to a newborn child?

The painting was found here, done by Jennifer Branch.

Art and Human Behavior

This is a ceremony over in Japan known as the tea ceremony. As well as being a ceremony, it is also practiced as a sort of art form. I believe this works well in explaining how human behavior can correlate with art, as the tea ceremony upholds the elements that tend to influence the culture of everyday life in Japan: politeness, courtesy, grace, and humbleness.

Art and the Human Condition

This movie is Baraka, a meditative movie that reveals the world, cultures, and people to music. With the scenes throughout, it moves the emotions and creates a powerful piece of art overall. Showing the people from various countries doing the rituals and participating in every day life, I believe that this portrays the human condition very well.

Art and the Human Struggle

This is a song by the Cranberries that I particularly like called 'Zombie', and I think it suits the theme of the human struggle very well. Not only the song emphasizes it, but the video as well, with pieces of symbolism and powerful scenes throughout. It is an anti-war song primarily about the revolution over in Ireland.

Hey! Meet this Artist I Know.

The artist I decided to interview was my dad, Tom Thomason. He's very artistic with his photography, and while it isn't my own primary form of art, I've always looked up to him and tried to follow in his footsteps when it comes to that field. So here is the interview I had with him.

Me: So, starting off with a somewhat general question... What is photography to you?

Tom: It's a way to keep my memories alive and to share my experiences with others.

Me: When did you take up an interest in photography?

Tom: When I began traveling a lot in my job (1986) and seeing more of the world.

Me: Was there anyone or anything that got you interested in photography?

Tom: As I stated earlier, traveling to new places and seeing new sights gave me a desire to capture these images and to begin experimenting with different techniques to bring these images to life.

Me: Did you get any professional training in photography, like a class, or is it something self-learned and self-trained?

Tom: I got some assistance from my brother who is a professional photographer. He taught me the basics of 35mm camera usage such as usage of f-stops, shutter speeds, film speeds and the general use of lighting along with some creative tips such as the use of filters. Then I basically self taught myself the creative aspects of using various filters and different camera settings to enhance the visual effects of the shot.

Me: What inspires your photography?

Tom: Mostly the beauty in nature; waterfalls, flowers, mountain vistas ( I once shot nearly 200 pictures of nothing but tulips, trying to capture their beauty). Also, I enjoy making scenic memories of my travels, especially the historic sites in Europe. As you can see, most of my work is scenic photography with little emphasis on people.

Me: Do you have any particularly favorite photographers or influences for your work?

Tom: As with most people who have an interest in photography, Ansel Adams did inspired work with scenic photography.

Me: What materials do you use?

Tom: I use my old manual Minolta 35mm camera and various Cokin filters. I prefer to try to create my images in the field rather than photoshop digital images.

Me: Have you ever tried making money off of your art? Were you successful?

Tom: Mostly my photography is for myself but I have had minimal success selling some work at craft fairs and to friends.

Me: Have you ever entered (or won) any contests with your art?

Tom: I entered a contest once at a photography store but I didn't win anything.

Me: What are some of your favorite subjects for your photography?

Tom: Scenic views - waterfalls, flowers, mountain vistas, seascapes. Architecture - historic buildings, bridges, lighthouses.

Me: Where are some of your favorite places for your photography?

Tom: The outdoors - National Parks, mountains, coasts (especially the Pacific Northwest), flower gardens, historic sites.

And following that are a few of the favorite pictures he's taken:

Dreamscape, Keukenhof Gardens, Netherlands















Grand Canal, Venice















Mirror Lake, Mt. Rainier, Washington















Tulips, Keukenhof Gardens, Netherlands















Sol Duc Falls, Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Poetry Slam! (Ouch?)

Alright, so...this isn't how I normally write poetry, but we're learning a new form of writing poems in Professor Fraser's English class. So I finally decided to take a shot.

Evil dust! Are my first thoughts as I

step outside. Cringing

at the sheet of pale yellow

covering anywhere and everywhere it can

reach. Hesitant and reluctant to touch-

like sentencing one's flesh to acid-I

pull open the dusty door and hide in

the shelter of the car.

Welcome to spring, my precursor to hell.

Sorry if it seems so negative, but these are the thoughts I tend to have every year when spring and summer comes around. I don't like summer here in Georgia. It's hot, and I can't stand heat, and spring is when it begins to warm up. Plus, I have a mild allergy to the pollen that happens to be everywhere...and well, let's just say that these two particular seasons tend to be downright miserable for me. Since spring signals the coming of summer (practically hell on earth temperature-wise for me), I tend to label it a precursor to hell.

Fall and winter-rock on.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

Right brain vs. left brain-supposedly the left side of the brain is the more analytical and logical side, while the right side of the brain is more random and artistic. I wasn't entirely sure what to do for assignment, but while I was searching, I found a quiz to test out which side is more dominant. It's a little iffy for me, since the options for every question are yes and no with no 'maybe' or 'sometimes.' But I can't say I disagree with the results. 

Right side of the brain for the win.

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (9) Right Brain Dominance: (12) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Free Post

A free post? Oh boy... What to write about?

Meh, I suppose I could do some shameless self-advertising. Since I just put something new up, it's the first thing that comes to mind, and I've been desiring some feedback and constructive criticism on my stuff for a while...

I'll be honest: I draw a lot.  In class, at home...everywhere. Not only is it something that I love to do, it helps my ADD mind pay attention to whatever is going on when my hands are moving. So here are some of the finished products of my work at my deviantart account, Bridget-McTavish.

And I suppose I'll put my latest work up on here for a preview. ^^; Hope you pay me a visit!

Fashion as Art

For the fashion I chose, I decided on one of my personal favorites, the kimono. The kimono is a traditional form of clothing from Japan, and while it used to be worn daily, it's now mainly reserved for special occasions and festivals. There are particular details about various sorts of kimonos, and if worn the wrong way, well...you could certainly be sending the wrong signals. For instance, the kimono itself is like a robe. However, it is important to put the kimono on left over right. Putting a kimono on right over left is how one would dress a corpse. Also, the sleeves are another detail. Kimonos with long, flowing sleeves-as seen in the right picture-are often worn by children and unmarried women. Men and married women usually wear sleeves that are much shorter, such as the sleeves shown in the left picture. The large sash worn with the female kimono is known as the 'obi' and can tend to consist of three separate pieces. It is also extremely long, however, it can can be tied artistically in various different ways-a rose knot, a butterfly knot, ect. As seen on the left, men's kimonos tend to be a bit lighter, often known as yukatas, and often are worn with a haori (a type of jacket.)

One of the main reasons I love the kimono fashion however is how artistic the designs often are. From elegant landscapes to animals to flowers and fans, these are normally decorating the kimono in very lovely styles. The rich colors often used adds to the overall design further, creating a masterpiece of fabric.

I personally love the design of the yukata on the left, since it has the pieces of the ancient strategical game of shougi as decoration.

Diorama Drama Commentary

The diorama I gravitated to was Beth's. The message sent in this diorama is the importance of recycling, and shows a good comparison to what we should strive for and what could possibly be our doom. It's an issue that I've always tended to feel strongly about, as I've been more or less raised as an environmentalist.

This Film is Art

This is Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal, a movie by Nobuhiro Watsuki. While it is fiction, it is also historical, educating the viewers on the Meiji Revolution of the 1860's in Japan, which is also known as the Bakumatsu. Even detailed elements such as the Shinsengumi and some of the characters-such as Hajime Saitou and Souji Okita-added in this piece are historically accurate to the point of being almost eerie.

I believe that this movie is art in more ways than one. To start out, the animation and design is stunning, with some points being so realistically detailed that I wonder if actual video footage had been slipped in. The scenes of action-while a bit bloody-are well-animated. The symbolism throughout the work is well-placed, and it seems that nothing in the piece goes unused. The characters are also well-developed, making it easy for the viewer to sympathize with their own individual positions.

As for the storyline itself, most of the history it follows is-again-extremely accurate. It follows the life of a teenage assassin for the Inshin Shishi-the revolutionaries of the Bakumatsu-named Kenshin Himura, and how the bloodshed and his own profession takes a toll on his mind and tears his life asunder. It is a dramatic and psychological work, reflecting the horrors of war and its psychological effects. At the same time, it also has a romantic side of forbidden love. In short, this is definitely a movie that I would recommend-otaku or not.

This is Me (For Forever)

Well, this is me. Er...this is me dressed up in my Cissnei cosplay to Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core after the first day of Momocon. But I find it a fitting enough picture. I'm an otaku/gamer that loves to cosplay, roleplay, and write and draw what I love. Therefore, this self-portrait I believe sums up what makes up me.

Graffiti Beat

Here's a little piece of graffiti that my friends and I found when searching for a place for dinner after Momocon. I can't remember the exact address to the area, but it was only a few blocks away from the convention, which happened to be at the Georgia Tech student center. I thought it was an interesting piece of art. Yes, art. While I'm not entirely sure of the message being sent by this (although the caricature's expression seems to almost convey a sense of rebellion), it does probably mean something to the artist. Sure, it's on a wall and probably violating one's property, but it's still an expression of the artist's self. And that's what makes it art.

The Art of this Culture

The culture I chose is otaku culture. Otaku culture-especially in the west-mainly surrounds the hobbies of anime, manga, and video games, and along with it, a branched fascination with Asian (primarily Japanese) culture. So of course, this culture wouldn't even exist without the art it praises.

Anime and manga itself are Japanese animation and graphic novels, dating back to 1917. They cover a wide variety of interests, from fighting to gardening to history, fiction and nonfiction. Storyline-wise, many tend to be fairly mature, dealing with murder, ghosts, romance, war, and so on, though some are directed towards children. Animated and drawn, the style is commonly associated with an emphasis placed on the eyes-partially because of the Japanese belief that emotion and character lie in the eyes themselves. Larger eyes often used are also attribute to the Japanese culture it spawns from, partially in relation to their 'kawaii' aspects in culture.

Here is a video of some of the art from this culture. Some of my own personal favorites in the video are from Naruto, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, Yu Yu Hakusho, Trigun, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

I Love this Piece of Architecture

Okay. I'll admit-I have a bit of a weakness for the Ludwig castles. Apparently I've been to this place, but I can't remember-I was only a couple years old at the time.

Right. About the castle.

This is Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, close to the town of Hohenschwangau. Its name translates to 'New Swan Stone Palace.' It was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat for his muse Richard Wagner, with construction starting on September 5th, 1869. The castle's lead architects were Christian Jank, Eduard Riedel, and Georg Dollmann in the Neo-Romanticism style. However, it was never fully completed as Ludwig II was arrested and declared insane, then soon after found dead from drowning along with the psychiatrist that certified him.

Since then, this castle is one of the most frequently-visited buildings in Germany by tourists, and has been shown in several movies along with being the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle in both Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. Personally, along with the architecture itself, I believe it beautifully fits into the nature of the mountain and the landscape overall.

Favorite Artist-Edgar Degas

Alright, so it was a tie between Cassat and Degas, and eventually I decided on Degas. Edgar Degas was an impressionist painter who was born in Paris, France on July 19th, 1834. By his early life, he had begun painting seriously, though under his father's wishes he attended law school. Without much motivation at law school, he eagerly accepted admission into Ecole des Beaux-Arts and flourished while studying drawing with Louis Lamothe. He traveled to Italy in July 1856 for three years, drawing and painting copies of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and other artists if the Renissance, usually selecting an individual head for a portrait. During this time, he studied and became accomplished with techiniques involving high, academic, and classical art.

Upon return to France in 1859, he began copying paintings at the Louvre, and presented exhibits anually in the Salon for the next five years. His art began to incline more towards contemporary subject matter, which was especially influenced by Edouard Manet, whom he had met in the Louvre. In 1870, he joined the National Guard during the time of the Franco-Prussian War. After the war in 1872, he began an extended stay in New Orleans, Louisiana and produced more art, many of them consisting of family members and daily life for subject matter. When he returned to Paris in 1873 and became dependant on his artwork for income, he joined a new independent group of artists whom had been labeled the Impressionists. However, he had little in common with the others-not being a landscape painter and not painting outside, for instance-and eventually contributed to the break-up of the group.

Taking up photography and pastel, he is well-known for his works involving dancers and nudes. During his last years of life, which were sad and lonley, he was forced to stop his art due to near-blindness. He outlived many of his friends at an age of 83, eventually dying on September 27th, 1917.

Second Bit of Art on Youtube

Being a cosplayer (for those who are unfamiliar with the term, see the Momocon post below), I can honestly say that for those that make their own costumes, the whole thing is an art project in itself. All of the sewing and makeup and prop-building...it tends to be very similar to costume design in theater. This girl gives a look into that with this makeup tutorial for the Kingdom Hearts character, Axel. All of the detail, varying colors and shades-it's like a painting on a facial canvas.

First Bit of Art on Youtube

This is a video that one of my friends recommended to me after it inspired her to do some pieces of her own. Using some spray paint and some pieces of newspaper (and maybe an extra prop or two), you can get some amazing results in a short amount of time. So long as you can handle the fumes from the paint, I've been told that this is definitely a good form of art for one to look into if they're interested in creating something while on a tight schedule.

Dance

This is a traditional form of Japanese dance, which is derived from the dance 'Bon Odori.' It is a dance created to welcome the spirits of the dead. They tend to vary with every region in Japan with different music, but usually involves gathering around a yagura (a high wooden building made for for a Japanese festival. Sometimes the dance describes the region's history, using certain movements together that represent the past, such as a mining or weaving. Sometimes fans, small towels, and/or small wooden clappers are used as props.

This dance is typically performed during the Odon festival every summer, which is a Buddhist festival that commemorates one's ancestors.

Momocon and Cosplay Photography Pictures

So! Over the course of spring break, I managed to kill two birds with one stone. As well as going to a cultural event, I also managed to complete the photography assignment. The event that I went to was Momocon '09 during March 14th-15th at the Georgia Tech student center, which is primarily a convention focused on anime, manga and games, and more even more generally, an embracing of Asian (particularly Japanese) and otaku culture.

A group of friends and I went-two of us on both Saturday and Sunday. We made some bentos (which is basically a box lunch in Japan, usually arranged in an artistic or kawaii [cute] theme) and dressed up in our cosplay outfits (aka costume playing...this is normally the dressing up of a character from a book, show, ect.) The majority of our visit consisted of browsing the dealer rooms (where we ended up finding plushies, manga, soundtracks of animes and CDs of Japanese bands, Chinese garb, costume supplies, ect.), artist alley (the rooms where people sell prints and commissions of their fanart), karaoke (both of American and Japanese songs), and hanging out with various other cosplayers. At the end of the last day, we went to a Chinese restaurant in Atlanta called Mandarin Palace.

So, as for the photography, my theme for this is cosplay. These are only a few of some of the pictures that we got, but also some of the best.




















This is Sai from Naruto Shippuden.




















From left to right, Akasuna no Sasori and Uchiha Sasuke, also from Naruto Shippuden.















From left to right...Uchiha Sasuke, Subaku no Temari, Subaku no Gaara, Subaku no Kankuro, and Uzumaki Naruto from Naruto original and Naruto Shippuden.




















From left to right, Yagami Light and L from Death Note.




















Teru Mikami from Death Note.




















And finally, a picture of a couple of Turks. Me as Cissnei from the games Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, and Reno from the Final Fantasy VII games overall.

This Music Video is Art

Alright, I'll begin by saying that this is my first time keeping a blog. It's for my Intro to Art class, so I suppose I couldn't hold off from doing it forever. Anyway, one of the assignments is to find a music video that's art. I found two that I really like, and while they're fanvideos and not official videos by the band itself, these two videos I always see as works of art.

Being an anime/manga otaku (otherwise known as an anime/manga geek), one of my favorite anime/manga is the thriller detective series known as Death Note. The series itself is a work of art, but I'll try and focus mainly on the novel to give a little explanation to the video. The series has a novel known as Another Note: LA BB Murder Cases. It's a sort of extra story before the series to it and it's very good, but unfortunately it has no manga or anime to go with it. One of the characters known as B is never actually shown, and therefore most music videos to the novel consists of slideshows of fanart. Well...the original creator of the video (Redustrial) managed to manipulate scenes of the actual anime (as well as a few other animes, such as Higurashi) to make it appear as if there was really an anime for LABB Murder Cases. Note that when you see two of the same character on the screen, it's actually the same person (L), but manipulated to look like L and B (as the two characters look almost identical.)I find the skill used in this video and how well the scenes correspond to scenes in the book (which is already a work of art in itself) a work of art. A word of warning though...this novel is a murder mystery, so if you're squeamish at blood (as fake as it is)...erm...watch at your own peril? So without further explanation (unless requested) here is the video.



The second video is one that I found a while ago that goes to one song I particularly like. I have yet to see the film that was put to it, but I hear that it's quite a work of art and a very humbling and meditative experience. The images shown are very powerful and go well with the music. Unfortunately I can't get the video up on the blog, but I've provided the link. The film is known as Baraka (not a political film ^^; ) and the song is by Imogen Heap.