So, the semester has had kind of a slow start so far, but I'm finally getting into the swing of things. I'm taking Principles of Design at Wentworth, which is great. I was just starting to get comfortable in 2D, so of course we are jumping right into building 3D stuff. I've been using SketchUp a lot for computer modelling, but I still have to put this together in real life. Should be pretty cool though. I really enjoy it.
I've been doing plenty of reading to begin working on the thesis. I'm thinking I'm going to start writing as soon as possible. I've heard from a few people that that is the way to go. I have done one other paper that was this length, so it's not the worst. I've been looking forward to it for quite awhile.
In other news, I finally switched to New Blogger. I kind of like the labelling thingy, but I'm not happy about having to have a Google ID. Whatever. This isn't really interesting. I just felt like writing. Yeah.
29.1.07
23.1.07
Oscar Time Again
J and I are pretty big film buffs. We see almost a movie every week or two most of the time. For the past three or four years, we've been trying to see all of the films that get major Oscar nominations before the awards, and typically, it seems like we've got a ton still to see once the nominations come out. As an aside, I know there are probably people out there that are rolling their eyes about the oscars... yes, I know that they are over commercialized, and that there are other good films out there. Personally, I see the commercial aspect of film making one of the artistic challenges that needs to be overcome. It's like architecture; there is an artist in there, but he has to wait for someone to foot the bill, and his work is always molded by commercial concerns. It's just part of the nature of the art.
Anyway, usually we've got a lot to see, but this year we did really well in advance. I think it helps that there were a lot of really good movies this year, while last year kinda sucked a little. The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Notes on a Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, Babel, Children of Men, Last King of Scotland and Blood Diamond were all really good. oh yeah, and Borat...
My personal favorites were Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth and Babel (all of which were Latino directors by the way). But really anyone of those ones I just named could probably be Best Picture in a less competitive year.
Letters From Iwo Jima was a little disappointing. I think I built it up too much. And Streep is always a good actress, but I didn't really feel that there was anything at all Oscar worthy about Devil Wears Prada. I would have liked to have seen the little girl from Pan's Labyrinth (Ivana Baquero) on that list.
We still need to see Volver, Little Children and the Queen for sure. I'd also like to see more of the foreign ones (especially the German one and the Canadian/Indian one) and the documentaries (although I don't think I can watch Jesus Camp, to close to home).
22.1.07
This is the Phoenix' recent article on the 27 worst things about Boston. Some I agree with, some I don't. My favorite on their list: DEEP-SEATED PAROCHIALISM! My favorite not on their list: 3 non-corporate coffee shops for a city of 600,000. And only one has free wireless. Grrr.
Read more...18.1.07
17.1.07
Though I suppose that there are probably very few people who read this who wouldn't know about this already, I just wanted to point out that my friend Luke just put up a new website featuring his work as a painter and that he has a show coming up in Mpls.
One of the things that I really love about being friends with so many really talented people is how much you can really understand about them from the type of work they do. I think that art, especially visual art, gives you a chance to see things from another persons perspective in a really interesting way. To put it another way, I think that every person sees and understands the world in a different way. Visual art gives you a chance to see the world that others see.
For example, Brother James sees nature in a way that I've never been able to. His landscape photos show something that I wouldn't have see even if I were there...
Likewise, J's photos capture people in ways that I never see them...
Luke's portraits, most of which are of people I know, show people in a very beautiful, very organic sort of light. When I spend time looking at them, I feel like I'm getting a very different view of people that I've know for a very long time, which isn't something you get to do every day.
Hopefully others enjoy them as much.
