Event three, Straight No Chaser Concert ---- (5 of 5 event points)

As an early Christmas present to my dad, I took him to see one of his favorite accapella groups. Straight No Chaser started as a group of undergrads at the University of Indiana. In 1998 someone posted a video of them playing their most famous song, "The 12 Days of Christmas". The video was immediately a hit and in no time at all they had received over 10 million views. Shortly after they signed a 5 record deal with Atlantic Records and have been touring ever since. The show itself was decent, they try to break up their singing with a little bit of acting and comedy. They played at Harrah's Casino in Valley Center to a nearly sold out crowd. The crowd was definitely on the older side, being at a 21 and up casino probably attributed to this a bit, but the music in general was more geared around the middle aged adult. The crowd was rather involved in the music and seemed to be relatively entertained making the group sing 2 additional songs to an encore. I was a little disappointed that most of their music paled in comparison to their hit "The 12 Days of Christmas", but they did a good job. They won't be playing in San Diego until at least next year sometime (they have yet to post their 2011 tour dates), but if you get a chance to see them, I would recommend them although I probably wouldn't see them again unless someone else is buying!

Event two, 2 for 1; Music at Boar's Crossing in Carlsbad ---- (3 and 4 of 5 event points)

Originally I went to " It's A Grind" coffee shop on November 13th to see Mandobasso play, but that ended up being cancelled due to Gunnar Briggs being sick. Instead a couple of friends and I decided to grab some drinks instead of wasting the trip. So we ended up going to Hennessey's bar down the street. We had some conversations over some appetizer's and drinks. The following weekend on November 20th, I went to see a local band from Oceanside, California named Irieside at the Boar Cross'n bar in Carlsbad (definitely go here if you’re looking for a horrible girl to guy ratio as it was 90% marines. Lame).The band there was pretty good though. Irieside plays a mixture of Hip-Hop, Reggae Riddims, Rock and Funk music. They’ve been in the local music scene for the last 7 years or so. The band consists of five band members. Ben Blessing is the lead guitarist and vocals, Alex Earl plays the bass guitar, Sid Hilarides plays drums, Arjay Pantig plays trumpet, and Anthony Williams is the lead vocals and emcee. The croud was pretty pumped for the band and the bar was packed with fans. A quote from their site “With a mixture of Hip-Hop, Reggae Riddims, Rock and Funk… Irieside is known for making any crowd move… no matter age, race, sex, or creed. With an awesome stage presence and mood enhancing music, Irieside is sure to rock any crowd, anytime.”The music was pretty decent, might go and see them again sometime. You can check out their music at http://www.irieside.com/.

The Year of Living Dangerously

Mel Gibson has to decide between love and his career in the midst of a revolution in Jakarta, Indonesia. With the help of some locals, Guy Hamilton (Gibson) is able to to get into meetings with some the most powerful people in Indonesia. This makes Guy the center of attention in Indonesia as he reports for ABS news of Australia. During his stay though, he meets Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver) and they fall in love. Guy has to decide between his love for Jill and his love for his reporting as the country get's more dangerous everyday. The acting was poor, and the movie just average. I'd give it a B for being made in the early 80's. Otherwise a low C. 

Whale Rider

Yet another movie I would have never watched on my own if it wasn't for this class. The film is about a Maori  family living in New Zealand, but in particular the relationship between the grand daughter and grandfather. The granddaughter (Paikea) has only one wish, which is for her grandfather to love her. Her grandfather however, wanted Paikea to be born a boy and blames her for her twin brothers' death at birth. The Maori people have a deep bond and appreciation for whales and with the help of the whales, Paikea is able to gain her grandfather's love.

Manufactured Landscapes

Edward Burtynsky takes you through the world of industrialization and manufacturing from a viewpoint that is both awe inspiring and grotesque. The cover of the movie shows a giant manufacturing facility where ceiling fans are produced. The camera first focuses on the warehouse workers as whole but then zooms in on the tasks that the workers do day in and day out. The tasks are mundane and mind numbing. They ranged from rinsing small plastic pieces one at a time to wrapping a small piece of wire around an inch long tube. The film makes you realize that to have the things we 'need' or want we are destroying the world around us.

War Photographer

Christian Frei produced a stellar movie in War Photographer. James Nachtwey's photographs are truly heart/gut wrenching and although he doesn't care, this film proves that he is by far the best war photographer ever. He aims at taking photos that people here in the United States don't necessarily want to see because they make you feel terrible when you're out here having a good time spending money rather carelessly, while people all over the world are struggling. Not only struggling but being tortured, dying of starvation, and hoping that they will make it through tomorrow. A great quote from his website, "I attempt to become as totally responsible to the subject as I possibly can. The act of being an outsider aiming a camera can be a violation of humanity. The only way I can justify my role is to have respect for the other person's predicament. The extent to which I do that is the extent to which I become accepted by the other, and to that extent I can accept myself." -James Nachtwey

Shall We Dance, Japanese

This is the original Shall we Dance film title Shall We Dansu?. It is very similar to the American version with a few tweaks here and there. One being that in the Japanese version the family does not have a son where in the American version the family does. I enjoyed the American version more, I think mainly because I identified better with characters. It wasn't a bad movie though I could see why it won national recognition like it did. It's a lot harder to following along and appreciate foreign films when the language is not your own and the customs often don't make sense. Besides that, the acting was sub par actually probably about what you'd expect to see in a Japanese film. 

Viva la Revolucion: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape

The artwork I viewed at the Viva La Revolucion gallery was
different to say the least.

I would not have gone to the gallery on my own.
Although it wasn't exactly thought
provoking in my own opinion, it was still
an experience that I am glad I was able to
be apart of.

I now have a much greater appreciation for
graffiti art than I did before going. Which
I think is as much as can be expected when
doing things out of our personal 'comfort zone'.

When I first looked at these different pieces of art I was like "
What the F is this? Seriously a pile of newspapers is art?"
I still am not quite sure how the pile of newspapers is considered art because I am not the least bit artistic but I'm sure I could bundle and stack a giant pile of newspapers. However, when you look at the artwork above you have to realized someone is trying to get a point across to you. Someone spent the time to make this so that you will feel a certain way when viewing it. 

So what is trying to be portrayed to us here with a pile of cardboard in the midst of a bunch of sand? That's a great question. I have no idea.
But,you have to be open to understanding and learning. Somehow the cardboard represents something that alone would mean nothing. I see cardboard everyday and don't think of art. The artist here spent time turning each box a certain way looking for the perfect effect, even having one of the boxes collapsed and falling forward toward us. You have to ask yourself why. Why is the sand necessary here? Why is there sand on top of the collapsed box and not on the others? Why is the collapsed box out of the perfect square that the rest of the work is in? Why are some boxes stacked on top of one another?
Once you become apart of the work, you will appreciate it more.

Shall We Dance

I'm starting to think this is more of a Anthro class than an arts class based on the movies we've been watching. This movie is a remake of the Japanese version released in 1996. I think the main point of the film is really directed at us guys who have no intentions of signing up for dance lesson anytime soon (although I might think about if Jennifer Lopez was my instructor too!). It's really a romantic comedy of an accountant with a fairly lucrative job who seemingly has all that his heart could desire yet feels like he is missing something in his life. In attempt to fill this void he joins a local dance studio and begins taking lessons. There is quite a bit of drama that builds throughout the movie around him and his family leading towards an explosion of events near the end of the movie. But definitely the general concept of the movie = don't be afraid of trying new things no matter what your peers might think ie: guys don't be afraid to take dance lessons. Although it may have slightly softened my view of dance I'm still holding strong on not taking lessons, at least for the next 40 years or so.

Billy Elliot

Both a musical and a film, Billy Elliot is the story of a young boy fascinated with dancing, in particular ballet, and the struggles that he survived through with his family. Ballet is usually associated as being very feminine especially since it is often only woman performing ballet. This film tries to show us that ballet isn't only for girls as shown through the story of Billy Elliot. It's sad that we/I tend to think negatively toward male dancers even to the point where they may disliked or hated because of what they enjoy doing in their spare time. Billy Elliot succeeds in proving that dancing can be like any other sport and is for both boys and girls. It emphasizes that thinking otherwise is not only dense but also hypocritical.

Maya Lin, A Strong Clear Light

This film documents the many great achievements Maya Lin has made since her major piece of art back in 1980. "Maya" means courage and she uses every ounce of courage and determination in each of works. Her first major art piece was the Vietnam Memorial, she was 21 at the time and submitted her art piece into a competition of which she was later chosen as the winner. In each of her works she places an emphasis on contrasting her work with the environment surrounding the location. This in effect makes it more inviting and not as stark. Sometimes even before even seeing the location she might take several months to learn in detail about the monuments meaning.

The Buena Vista Social Club

When I think of musicians I tend to think of mega wealthy people singing in high class recording studios somewhere in Los Angeles, whether the artist is good at what he/she does is determined not only by talent but often by poplarity. (ie: every singer that has come through Disney's pipeline) The Buena Vista Social Club opened my eyes to a whole other side to the music industry. The side where there is little to no money received, the side where studios dont fix your errors in order to make you sound better, where looks don't matter; all that you have to be is the best at what you do. The individuals in this film started with really nothing at all, but what they had was a love for music and this love eventually transformed into talent which they showcased together in many small settings and eventually at Carnegie Hall. Their music was impressive enough for me to download every one of their songs.

Stomp Live

Throw the STOMP Crew together with the contents of your garage and you'll have an unbelievable musical demonstration. From trashcans, to tether balls, to even basketballs, it seems as if these guys can make a beat with just about anything. They prove that you don't need several thousand dollars for the latest and greatest drum set all you need to have is some rhythm and you can make music with anything. STOMP travels all over the world showcasing their talent always looking for new things to make music with. You can check out these percussion experts out at http://www.stomp.co.uk/ or at http://www.youtube.com, they'll be coming to San Diego from 4/19/11 to 4/24/11.

Songcatcher

Songcatcher, named after a recorder used to document the music of the Appalachians, was strange and unique film. The main focus of the movie is to increase appreciation for the hillbilly type banjo music and the people who both play and enjoy this type of music. They succeeded in increasing appreciation by creating a bond between the viewer and certain characters in the movie through Professor Lily Penleric. Like the viewers Professor Penleric is very skeptical of these 'strange' mountain people initially but builds bonds throughout the film; most notably that of her husband to be, Dean Pembroke. The film does do a good job of    tearing down the cultural barriers noted in the movie and the storyline is clear and concise, however, the lesbian scene and general lesbian agenda throughout the movie took away from the main focus of the film.

Event One, 2 for 1: Basket Weaving ---- (1 and 2 of 5 event points)

Lydia Vasser and Rose Ramirez, both basket weavers, provided information and examples of both basket weaving and natural foods/herbs indigenous to California. Weaving baskets seems like a mundane task that you won't find me doing anytime soon, however it is quite a bit more interesting and difficult than I had thought prior to this event. Gathering the materials can take up to up to several days, depending on where the best Juncus can be found. After gathered the material then needs to cured which takes about one year. The basket weaver then takes the Juncus and assembles her basket one step at a time while mentally she is five or six steps ahead. The basket weaving process can take days even months to complete. Many families make a living selling their baskets to collectors will often pay several thousand dollars per a basket.

One of their favorite plants is the Chia plant (aka: Chia pet) a super food found in our local mountains. Eating the seeds of this plant help in prevent the onset of Diabetes and also aid in water retention. You can buy a one pound bag of Chia online for $7 or spend an entire day harvesting the seeds from local plants. Elder Berry often used in tea acts as a blood thinner and is used by local Indians to break a fever.

Mi Familia

Rich in heritage this detailed depiction of a Hispanic family trying to adapt to the American culture accounts for both their struggles and victories throughout 3 generations. Although there were both up and downs, the general focus of the movie is much more focused on the struggles that the family endured. From a child nearly drowning at a young age, to the same son getting shot and killed in an alley as a young adult, to even the daughter in law dying during child-birth. The struggles were difficult and heartbreaking yet the family was always able to come together, be there for one another, and help each other overcome the circumstances. 'Mi Familia' reminds us how we often take our families for granite. We must appreciate every moment that we have to spend with them, because when others desert you and are no longer around; your family will always stick by your side.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

An inspiring film based upon a true story of the aboriginal people and the suffering that they endured during the early to mid 1900's. Molly, her sister, and cousin trek 1500 miles across the Australian outback back to their families. The courage and perseverance that Molly shows is remarkable, not only for a young girl, but an adult as well. Hiking even 375 miles, a quarter of what they traversed, in perfect conditions with water and food would be a trek in of itself, 1500 really seems almost unfathomable. Taking just an ounce of the perseverance that Molly showed in this movie would be a huge asset in our own lives that could be used in school, work, family, and numerous other areas.