That's Entertainment!

In case those of you who spend your time online reading my blog (and are very dear to do so I might add) have decided that you do not dedicate quite enough hours of the day to the internet, here is a link to a site which I found very entertaining:
Vidlit
It promises to distract you from your work for at least another hour with its short promo animations of books and plays. I especially enjoyed the one on "Yiddish with Dick and Jane." Incidentally, there's also one about Marc Acito's How I paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater. My review of this novel will appear in Thursday's edition of Whim; I'll be sure to link it.

DJ Interview

Here's an interview that I did last week for Whim:
Gregory Malcolm
My editor has given me permission to rework and add to it and then submit it to the magazine Citizen Culture. Feel free to give feedback on what parts could be better, stronger, etc.

Purpose of Cinema?

I have finally seen Citizen Kane. It was enlightening to finally see this film that is considered such a critical part of American film history and has inspired so many directorial careers. To be honest, I was beginning to feel a bit behind in my cultural education because I had not seen it. So, at long last, I jumped on the bandwagon of 'significant film' and watched.

Of course, the cinematography was brilliant. And the social commentary was also insightful. Its very relevant to the time period we live in now where our culture is permeated with images of the ostentatiously wealthy making fools of themselves.

Nonetheless, I must admit that I really did not enjoy the film. Perhaps I was somehow expecting to be more impressed since it is such a monument in filmmaking. But frankly, I got pretty bored. So there's this rich guy hellbent on self-destruction through obsession with wealth. He can have any material possession that he desires and at the end of his life all he wants is the sled he had as a boy, which is no doubt symbolic of his desire for family and his simple childhood home. I get it already. Don't know that I need to watch it for two more hours.

Perhaps what bothered me about the film was that the cinematography was almost too calculated. Is it possible that the light, the camera angles, the distances between characters all considered brilliant, actually took away some of its humanity?

Which led me to the question, "what is the purpose of film?" Is it to educate, to entertain, to make so sort of comment? As a cautionary tale of the dangers of wealth, it surely excels. As an icon smashing of William Randolph Hearst, it was thorough and impactful. And as I said before, as a piece of cinematic art, its really quite stunning. But as entertainment, I found that it falls short. For the majority of the film I was both bored and disengaged.

I am assuming that this film originally held a large amount of entertainment value. Perhaps I find in unentertaining because I am not a part of the era in which it was made. Does entertainment value expire?

Dear readers, I hope you will opine a bit on your thoughts about film. I'm really interested to have some other input.

And on that note, I'd like to share a short film that I really enjoyed. Giant Steps
It held me in rapt attention the second, third, and fourth times I watched it. Which I suppose could say something about my attention span- the film is only about two and a half minutes long. But in any case, I loved how the animation perfectly depicts the flow of the music. This was a film I thoroughly enjoyed- and if I'm not enjoying it, why bother?

Runner's High

I usually refrain from posting about the day-to-day goings on in my life but today I absolutely cannot resist. For, this afternoon was one of, if not the, most glorious afternoons of my life. I will go so far as to say its right up there with jumping off the waterfall in Kauai. And that's saying a lot. This after I….drumroll please…I ran 10 miles! For the first time, ever, in my 22 years, I ran 10 miles! Altogether and without interruption (well, unless you count walk breaks)! Hours later, and the adrenaline rush is only beginning to fade. I feel initiated into the true brethren of runners having experienced runner's high so fully. I have been dashing around like a proverbial crack bunny, doing things at a positively frenetic pace ever since.

Now, it would be unfair for me to claim that I entirely enjoyed the actual running of the 10 miles. I actually hadn't even set out to do a long run today. But for some bizarre reason, perhaps it was the excellent tunes in my mp3 player or perhaps it was the energy shake I'd had from Freshens, I decided around mile 2 that today I would go all the way to 10. I began to regret this decision by mile 5. And again at miles 6, 7, and 8. Mile 9, forget it, I was not much more than a puddle on the treadmill at that point. But Mile 10, oh glorious 10, I was filled with glee and shaking from exhaustion.

Don't ask me why, but there's just something magical about 10.

April Fool's (a bit late)

Some April Fool's Fun:
Arms Smuggling Scandal

Though my dreams, it’s never quite as it seems

Earlier today I rather cavalierly referred to Throreau's famous words, "Go confidently into the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." As many times as I had previously read these words, I don't think I had ever been struck as hard by the weight of their meaning as I was today. I realized that I really have no idea what my dreams are. Naturally, I have some vague notions of being a writer, of traveling the world, of falling in love. But dreams. Dreams with meat on their bones and a headstrong desire to become real. These I fear that I lack.

In my life thus far, I have made mere plans for the future as far as what I would like to do. I have made decisions when it was required of me. But go in the direction of my dreams? No. That I definitely have not done- I don't even really know what my dreams are.

If I could have any life I chose- and essentially I can- what would it look like? What is the life I'd imagine for myself? Perhaps what Thoreau is really advising us to do in this quote is first to dream. How rare it is in my daily life that I really and truly do this. How is it that I am so disconnected from my essence, from my heart, that I don't even know what life I'd imagine for myself? And yet, I know I am not the only who finds herself on this path, head bent against the winds of the world.

Now I'm sure that there will be some conservative backlash to this post, asking where I see the will of God in all this talk of self-determination. Bring it on. But how much of that will really just be said (or thought) out of fear of exploring one's wildest dreams? If you could wake up tomorrow and your life could be anything that you wanted it to be, what would it be like? How would it be different? Or would it be different?