Passionate about arts/culture (music/film/TV), travel, food, global affairs, social justice & faith.
Any opinions expressed here are her own; they do not reflect the views of any organization that she is or has been a member of.
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So most of the “average-person” commentary I’ve read on this video is about (A) how “stupid” it is that we need celebrities to direct our attention to an issue, and (B) how the demands of the Demand a Plan petition make them look like they don’t actually know or understand gun regulations in the USA.
To respond briefly: To (A), celebrities are people too and in this case, I think they’re just voicing what so many of the rest of us think (American and not American), and their role here is just to be a signpost for the petition/organisation as one way you can take action.
To (B), whatever the regulations are, they’re not working.
Have influence? Use it for good.
How many more?
Enough.
As a human being.
No more lists of names.
It’s not too soon, it’s too late.
Now is the time.
It’s time.
Right now.
(Source: youtube.com)
23rd December 2012
Notes: 1
- Radnor: I think the word "earnest" kind of has a negative connotation on some level. I think one of the things that's happened is that being cynical is somehow conflated with being sophisticated. I think that's problematic, to say the least. I don't think evil people or negative people are inherently interesting all the time. People who are good people getting better at being themselves -- to me, that's something that's really interesting to watch. I went to college with really good people and had really excellent teachers and met some fascinating folks and I think those people are worthy of our attention. They're going through something. As they say, "Everyone's fighting a great battle." I think just attacking something with great sincerity feels kind of brave in this day and age, but I feel like that's what I want to do.
- Olsen: I also feel there has been a draw in the last five years to tell a story about "the little man" -- someone quirky and awkward who doesn't fit in. I think to be able to tell a story that's universal hits home more than "the little man." Like, "I'm so quirky! I'm awkward, but it's funny because it's weird!" That's the story being told.
- Radnor: There are certain films that studios used to make in the '70s and '80s that they've abandoned. They are films that I care about. I'm interested in real people going through things that feel vital and feel of their time. I want the film to have a timeless quality to it. When I go to movies and I love the movie, it's because it feels like it articulated something about how we're living now, and also gives me some insight into my own life. I feel actually altered after having seen it.
(via Small Steps)
I love, love, love that someone made this into a word video! I tell people about “what Ira said about the creative process” all the time, it’s become one of my broken-tape-recorder-on-repeat stories. Thank you for sharing, Charmaine!
I was having a conversation with my dad once, and he told me that I was definitely a right brained (artistic), rather then a left brained ( Logical), type of person. I told him that that’s impossible because I feel so insignificant in my art and my writing. He then told me, “That’s the mark of a true artist.” I’ll never forget that.
This explains a lot.
Reblogged From whimsicaldays
The most important thing for me about Oxford was not what I learnt there in terms of set texts and set books we had to read, but in terms of a respect for the best in human civilisation.
And the best in human civilisation comes from all parts of the world. It is not limited to Oxford; it is not limited to Burma; it is not limited to any other country. But the fact that in Oxford I had learned to respect all that is the best in human civilisation helped me to cope with what was not quite the best.
Because what is not yet quite the best may still, one day, become the best; it may be improved. It gave me a confidence in humankind. It gave me a confidence in the innate wisdom of human beings – not given to all of us, but given to enough of us for the rest of the world to share, and to make use of it for others.
[…]
And I think every Oxonian, or most every, knows that in Lost Horizon Shangri-La was described as “something a little like Oxford”.
Every Oxonian knows.
Perhaps this was why, after my year at Oxford, I had recovered enough distance from the “brutally practical” career options to re-discover my desire to pursue something in the arts, in the entertainment industries. Oxford re-convicted me that at its very best, culture and creativity can move, question, develop, change, decry the worst and celebrate the worthy in life and society. That it can and does remain through the centuries. I definitely needed this precious reminder.
(Thanks Bims, for sharing!)
Artist pays homage to L.A.’s unseen workers: Ramiro Gomez’s cardboard cutouts of nannies, gardeners, valets and housekeepers have appeared, in silent tribute, around the wealthy districts of the city.
Most pieces last a day or two if Gomez is lucky. Once, a valet parker he planted outside a lot near the Sunset Strip made it four days.
Gomez writes his contact information on the back of each piece so people can tell him where the art ended up. So far, no one has reached out.
At first it was tough to let go. He’d stand by for a while to see people’s reactions, then take the cutout down and lug it back home.
But then Gomez realized it was not his place to keep public art out of view.
So he learned to walk away.
Photo: Ramiro Gomez attaches his painting of a nanny against a cyclone fence in West Hollywood Park. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
Hollywood and Cahuenga. (Taken with instagram)
lots to love in february (by jcpenney)
I hope I’m not the only one who loves these ads.
The cast of The Office (US) reproduce George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884).
This makes me so happy.
I saw the original at the Art Institute in Chicago! Awesome museum.
