My brain is hooked on music

I really learned a lot listening to "This is Your Brain on Music".  It was not the most entertaining thing I have ever heard, but it was definitely interesting!  I play the piano and guitar so I love music, but I learned a lot listening to this tape.  

I loved the part that talked about how the brain responds to music in a very real way.  When we hear music our brain is literally hearing it and responding in real time, and in a sense makes the music in our brain.  I looked up information on this and I found a really cool youtube video that has a man hooked up to a computer and then the computer is hooked up to a piano.  The man hooked up to the computer was told to think about a beethoven song in his head and the computer read the brainwaves that resulted from it, then it is able to separate those brainwaves and send them to the piano, and the piano played it!!!  I was amazed by this! Then the man was told to think of a Satie song, and the music on the piano switched to a song by Satie and played in the same style as Satie.  How amazing is that!  I don't know how to post the video on here, which is sad cause its amazing! But if you want to check it out, here is the link,

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx__8XmMiv0

It is amazing to me that our brains are that involved with music.  What is it about music that allows our brain to react that way? Why does it have that special connection with music but not with other things.  I think one reason why might be because we literally internalize music.  It is like food, the sound waves actually enter our body.  Whereas paintings and sculptures are just observed on the outside.   I know that I am most affected by music. More than anything else.  A song can bring me to tears, or can make me so happy.  And there is no better feeling than to hear a song you love for the first time, or to create music.  I am not good at writing my own songs, but I enjoy trying! 

 Music is also something that brings cultures together and people together.  I lived in Hawaii for a year and one of my favorite things to do was to go to the beach and just play the guitar with some friends.  And my most memorable night in Hawaii was when I was walking home from the beach with some friends one night and we saw a group of big polynesian men just sitting in a group playing the ukulele and singing some hawaiian songs.  they voices were just beautiful that night I truly felt privileged to have been able to just sit and listen to them.  

Modern Drama

For this week's class discussion we talked about modern drama and we were assigned to do a little research of our own and write a blog about it.  At first I typed in "Modern Theater" to the google search engine.  All that gave back was information about how the "modern theater" is built, or broadway plays.  So then I changed my search to Modern Drama and that returned more of what I wanted.  

I learned that to modernists the theater or drama is the best way to express their ideal's and beliefs, the web site i read said this, 

"It might seem an exaggeration to ascribe to the modern drama such an important rôle. But a study of the development of modern ideas in most countries will prove that the drama has succeeded in driving home great social truths, truths generally ignored when presented in other forms."

They talked about how the modern drama is what started the modern awakening in most countries like the US, England, and Germany.  However what I thought was interesting was that it said that the modern drama was not needed in France or Russia because these two places had already been awakened to the ideas and thoughts of Modernism because of their political turmoil.  

At one point the writer of the article I read talked about Socialism and how wonderful socialism is, but how uneducated people rarely understand the greatness of it. I found this to be very interesting!  The writer was trying to spread the ideas of Modernism around, but his idea was of socialism and fairness for all.  And he believed that through plays these same ideas can be understood and portrayed to those watching.  It was a very interesting read, and even though I don't agree with his own personal views, it is good to know other peoples ideas and beliefs.  

Reading of Dance

I really enjoyed reading about Dance this week.  I really liked learning about the history behind the more strict dance genres like Ballet and Ballroom.  It is interesting to me that these types of dance started as gentlemen's dance, that originally only the wealthy learned these types of dances because only the wealthy could afford to.  And then if your compare these types of strict dances to the folk dances of the day, they are completely different! I love this because folk dances are so different from the fancy wealthy dances and it was a way for the poor people to show their emotion and skill even thought they didn't have money.  When I think about dancing today, I don't think it is as separated by class level and wealth as it once was, but I still think there is a separation based on where you are raised.  Here is america there is a rising generation of break dancers, and street dancers.  These types of dancing I would compare to the folk dances of earlier times.  Street dancers many times start dancing as a way to express themselves even though they don't have enough money to take formal dance lessons.  They can do amazing things and this genre of dance is growing in popularity very fast! 

I have said this in class a couple times, but I watch So You Think You Can Dance, in fact is is one of my all time favorite shows!  Every week for the last 5 years my friends and I have gathered in front of the TV to watch the dancers dance their choreographed piece of work.  The show is a competition to see who "America's favorite dancer is" and every week people call into to vote for the favorite or the person who danced the best.  Every week the dancers are paired up with another dancer and they learn a specific genre of dance.  The genres are hip-hop, jazz, broadway, contemporary, balli-wood, tango, flamanco, swing, waltz, and many other types of ballroom dancing as well.  Then every week watchers vote for their favorite couple or their favorite dancer and the dancers with the lowest number of votes is voted off.  

I seriously love this show and as I was reading this week I was thinking about why this is so.  I'm not even a dancer, except for 5 years when I was very little.  I am musically inclined, but that is not what attaches me to this show.  And I decided that the reason that I love this show so much is because the dancers and choreographers create these dances to portray feelings and emotions.  And when i'm in the right frame of mind, and the dance is performed to its top ability, I can feel those feelings and emotions through the dance.  A couple times the dances have moved me to tears, and other times they leave me astounded and so happy!  I am really grateful for this show because I knew nothing about dance before it, and because of it I now know what to look for when I watch a ballroom dance, and I know how lines should look in contemporary dances.  It has opened my eyes to how amazing dance can be, and how much emotion it can have, and I love it now!  Here is a link to my one of my favorite dances on So You Think You Can Dance, and it has zombies in it so I figured Jasie would like it! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AohSzvBr4cA&feature=related

Pioneer Day Fair

This Friday (like any of you didn't know) was Pioneer Day.  I love that the state of Utah created it's own holiday to celebrate! I grew up in Las Vegas NV and never celebrated Pioneer Day, so this year was fun for me because I experienced it for the first time.  I went to the Pioneer Day celebration at North Park in Provo.  The park was very busy, I'm pretty sure it looked like what the farmers market would look like on the 4th of July, only with people running around in Pioneer outfits and playing Pioneer games.  There were many little booths set up with people selling hand made goods, pillow cases, and there was one stand up with indian made items.  This was my favorite stand because the two ladies there made all of the things that they sold, including purses, indian jewelry, wind pipes, and some animal skins.  There were also a few antique cars and old fire trucks that kids could run around and look at.  And there was lot's of food as well.  It was so much fun to just walk around and look at the crafts and listen to the music that was being played.  

There was an indian tee-pee set up with indian drums and artifacts around it, and my favorite part was the little pioneer village.  This village is put 

on by volunteers who teach people about how the pioneers at the time would have plowed their field, or created nails.  There was a blacksmith shop, a grainary, a kitchen, and a pioneer house.  All of the volunteers were very cheerful and informative and all the people that visited seemed very happy and impressed with the little town and its volunteer pioneer members.  This town reminded me a lot of Nauvoo Illinois and all the shops and stores that the church has restored there.   Here is a picture of me pushing a plow through the field at the little pioneer town, and it was a lot harder than it looked! 

Yesterday when I was thinking about the Pioneer's I couldn't help but think of what a different time that was, and how much they sacrificed for what they believed in.  I don't think that I could do what they did, that is, leave their homes and families in the east and travel west without any assurance that they would make it or even find the religious freedom they were searching for.  And then when they did make it into the Salt Lake Valley, they still had many hardships and trials.  But look at what their sacrifice has led to!  There are so many people here now!  and the church has grown so much and I'm sure that part of that is in response to the great sacrifice the pioneer's made.  I have a few pioneer ancestors and I am so grateful for the sacrifices they made, so that the church could grow and prosper in the West.  And even though I sometimes make fun of Utah and its different customs and celebrations, I am very glad that they have a day set aside where we can think of the Pioneer's and all that they did for us.  Pioneers are a part of Utah and LDS culture and it is so nice that we have a day that we can celebrate them and all that they accomplished for us!

Theater

I loved talking about theater this week in class.  To me, theater is such an amazing way to tell stories about human emotions and life!  I personally have been raised on theater, specifically musicals.  I have probably seen over 30 different musicals in my lifetime, and I've probably been to live performances of plays and musicals around 40 times.  I love love love theater! 

I specifically enjoyed talking about how important the scenery is to the overall performance and atmosphere.  I especially enjoy it when the staging is representative of the purpose of the performance.   We talked about his in class with how just the scenery alone can add psycological meaning to the performance.  My favorite example of this is from the musical Wicked.  Wicked is the story of the Wizard of Oz f

rom the viewpoint of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba.  Elphaba grows up her whole life thinking she is a failure and she just wants to prove herself to her father, sister, and peers.  She dreams her whole life of meeting and teeming up with the magical wizard of Oz so she can help make Oz a better place to live.  She eventually gets her chance to meet the Wizard, and when she does she realizes that he isn't magical at all!  He is a fraud who uses mechanics to create his magic.  Her whole world is crushed and crumbles around her.  But the thing i love is that scene is all mechanic looking and it symbolizes how nothing in Oz is magical, it is all a mechanical lie!  

Here is a picture of the stage of Wicked! 

There are so many other examples of amazing plays or musicals that have symbolic meanings in the props and sets.  And I love how theater can take you away from your everyday life.  You can go back to Oklahoma in the eighteen-hundreds, or to France during a revolution.  It is amazing that directors and writers can come up with so many stories, songs, and characters.  I love theater and I feel like I have learned many important lessons through the morals and messages they focus on.  

Musical Event

This week I chose to attend another cultural event so because on another week this semester I have a couple tests and a bridal shower to attend so that week will be very packed! 

So for my second cultural event I chose to attend Natachia Yung-Chiang Li's senior cello recital.  I did not know what to expect from the concert because I have never been to a cello solo performance.  However, I was thoroughly impressed by Natachia and her amazing talent! 

The concert was in the MOA which set the tone for the performance as an artistic event.  It was in a small little auditorium and when I arrived there were only 4 or 5 people seated throughout the seats.  I seated my self and quietly awaited the performance.  Over the next 10 minutes or so around 30 more people came in and soon the auditorium was comfortably full.   I looked over the BLANK and had a hard time understanding the musical language of the songs that she would perform.  Then I flipped the BLANK over and saw that Natachia had put a funny little cartoon and a sudoku puzzle on the back for those watching to solve while they were waiting.  I loved this! I thought it made the wait quite enjoyable and really gave me a small insight into who Natachia was as a person. 

Soon the lights dimmed and Natachia came out with her cello.  She started her first piece and I quickly fell in love with the deeper tone of the cello.  I was amazed at how many different wonderful sounds could come out of the 4 stringed instrument.  As she pulled the bow over the strings they would ring out loud and beautiful.  But my favorite sound that she made was when she plucked at the strings like a guitar.  This made a beautiful staccato like sound which added a fun tone to the music and it broke up the otherwise long notes.  

The music she played was very classical in sound.  It was full of fast scales and wonderful repetitions of tempo and sounds.  My favorite was a beautiful song that reminded me of the music for a fairy-tale movie! I literally closed my eyes and could picture a night rescuing a damsel in distress from a castle.  I pictured them meeting and then the night leading her down a staircase and fight off guards the whole way! In the end they had to escape by sliding from the wall of the castle on a rope to the ground far below! It was a fun game to play as I listened to the other songs.  

All in all, it was a wonderful concert! I left feeling uplifted and happy.  I learned what the cello sounds like, and it is so beautiful!  I just love the deep tones that can be created from the thick bottom string, and yet how high it could go when Natachia played way up high on the neck!  She had a piano accompanist as well and together they sounded amazing! I would rate this performance a 10 because she had half of the music memorized! This is very impressive considering that the first half was about 30 minutes long!  I used to play the piano and I could never memorize music and play it perfectly as she did!  I was very impressed with her skill and talent, and I loved it!

Art Can Express More Than Words

This week in class we talked a lot about art.  We discussed how certain elements in art can make us feel, what they represent.  For example, horizontal lines symbolize rest, or repose, Vertical Lines symbolize aspirations and dreams, and diagonal lines symbolize action.  We talked about how color's make us feel.  My favorite example of this was when we talked about van Gogh's painting of the room with the bar table in it.  That painting was made with very bright yellows, reds, and greens, however the combination of them together gave the picture a very depressing feeling, it was not very pleasant to look at.  Everyone in class agreed that this painting made us feel depressed, we did not want to go to that bar.  Some of the reasons I think it had this effect was first because of the weird perspective, the lines were not all lined up together, there were weird diagonal lines, and the table looked weird.  But I think that the major contributer was the overwhelming bright colors, that might be thought of as cheerful, but the way that van Gogh used them made them depressive.  

My favorite point of class this past week was when we looked at the last pointing Vincent van Gogh painted.   The scene was on a crossroad in the middle of a wheat field.  The color of the wheat was the same bright depressing yellow that he used in his pool table painting.  The sky was a dark blue on the left side which faded to a black black in the right corner.  There was a flock of black crows or ravens flying from the wheat field into the darkness in the right corner and when I first looked at the painting I got an ominous feeling that something bad was coming to the person at this crossroad.  

Then Jacie asked us how the painting was expressive and I couldn't really think of too much but when she told us that it was van Gogh's last painting, and that he committed suicide, the painting suddenly took on a whole new meaning!  It was a sudden insight into his mind! He was the one at the crossroad... he had three paths to choose, but in this painting he chose to focus on the one that ended.  The path in the middle of the painting went on for a little ways and then suddenly ended turning into yellow field and horizon.  Van Gogh chose his path, he knew what was coming, and so did the crows in the field.  They were flying into the darkness that van Gogh felt.  They were flying away from the field and away from life! 

This painting is amazing to me because of all the emotion that can be extracted from it.  But at the same time it is depressing and scary.  It is sad that a person can feel such sorrow and hopelessness that they feel as the person at this cross road felt.  That they could have two other paths choose that maybe took them to a beautiful place beyond the horizon, that could bring so much happiness and light, and instead they choose the path that leads into the darkness and then just ends.  But maybe that was the point of the art, to give people like me, who have never been at a point like this in my life, where I felt death was the only option, the understanding and ability to see how people who are depressed and suicidal see the world.  I think that words could not and cannot descripe how van Gogh felt, so he painted his feelings, and those feelings touched me. I loved it! 

Library Film Screenin

For this week's cultural experience I went to the Orem Library and watched their movie screening.  The movie they were playing this week was A League of Their Own.  I LOVED this movie! This movie tells the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL).  The AAGPBL was formed during WWII as a way to fill the gap in baseball parks while the men of the Major Leauge Baseball association were away in Europe fighting.  

This movie was amazing because it helped me understand how women were treated during the times of WWII.  In the begining of the movie the Recruiter travels around recruiting girls for the league.  However, he only takes the beautiful ones, the ones that will be nice for men to look at as they play baseball.  The recruiter, and the owners of the league, believe that the only way the league will be successful is if the girls are entertaining and nice to look at.  They do not care if the girls in the league are truly talented.   They make the girls play in mini skirts, which makes it almost impossible to slide into the bases without getting huge dirt burns!  However in the end the people of the nation learn to see the girls of the league for their talent, and they love them! That is probably what I like the most, is that in the beginning the girls are only seen as pretty, or fun to watch and in the end people realize how truly talented and good at baseball they are! 

The best character, in my opinion, was Tom Hanks who played the MLB washout Coach of the girls team.  At first he doesn't take them seriously, he just drinks and sleeps through the games.  He specifially says "GIRLS CAN'T PLAY BASEBALL!" haha!  Over time the girls change his mind. By the end of the first season he changes as a person.  At first he was a drunk who had no purpose in life and no respect for himself or others.  But in the end he is happy, and has a purpose, and he is a better person! He respects the girls and admits to their talent on the field.  

This movie came out in 1992, and has many talented actors including Tom Hanks, Madonna, Greena Davis and Rosie O'donell.  It is funny and touching.  The movie made me laugh out loud and it also made me cry a couple times! haha! My fiance laughed at me a lot because I just loved this movie!  Others in the auditorium enjoyed it as well.  There were kids and older people in the auditorium who were also laughing as well!  I loved the characters and I loved watching their story as they worked their way to the top and triumphed over those who said they would fail.  

Gianlorenzo Bernini

Out of all artistic works we have looked at in class the ones that have struck me as the most beautiful are those of Gianlorenzo Bernini.  Bernini was a sculpture and artist in Rome during the Counter-Reformation.  This artistic time period can be classified as Mantic focussing on the energetic, realistic, emotional, and religious.  All of these can be used to describe Bernini's work!  His sculptures are all so emotional!  The sculptures that we looked at in class were Apollo and Daphne, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, and The Damned Soul.  All of these pieces of art left an impression on my mind.  With all of them I wanted to know the stories behind them, and I wanted to learn more about the person who could create such beautiful works out of stone.  Bernini's father was a sculpture and Bernini grew up learning from him how to work with stone.  Because of his skill and his association with his father Bernini gained patrons early in his life.  He carved many sculptures throughout Rome and he was eventually chosen by Pope Urban VIII to design St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican. 

I have never visited the Vatican but when I look at pictures like these, it makes me want to hop on a plane right now and fly over to Rome!  there are so many statues surrounding the Square, and beautiful fountains and statues inside as well.  

I am just amazed by all that was able to accomplish during his life time.  He work still affects the world today!  Hundreds of thousands of people have traveled to Rome and walked in St. Peters Square.  His other monuments can be seen all throughout Rome.  My favorite that I saw was the Castle St. Angelo in Rome.  Here is a picture of it! 

How amazing it that! Its this big round castle and Bridge leading to it is lined with beautiful angel statues.  Bernini designed this and he personally carved 2 of the angles and then his students carved the others based off of his directions.  I just can't believe that one man could create this.  I mean, I know that he had help but it is so impressive that all of this came out of his head! 

Bernini lived to be 82.  He was described as an extremely hard worker often working 7 or 8 hours a day on a sculpture without stopping.  He was a religious man and his pieces of art were used by the Catholic church to draw people into the chapels and into Rome.  When I look at his works of art I feel uplifted.  I feel that a man could not do this without having some sort of inspiration from God.  Bernini was not a perfect man by any sense but he was able to do so much with his talents.  He and his works are an inspiration to me, and one day I will travel to Rome so I can view them in person!

3rd week in class...

One of the things that I love about our class recently is that we are learning things that I feel I can use in my daily life. The things that I have enjoyed most are learning the different symbols that are in works of art. These symbols are everywhere! And its so much fun to know that and to look at pictures now... because I feel I can understand their meaning so much easier! My favorite symbols have been the greek myths... the gods... and its also fun to learn the religious symbols as well.

Something that I have used a lot since we talked about it in class is identifying different pillars on buildings! haha I have been so surprised at how many times I have seen pillars that are styled after the greek or roman ones! For example, this last weekend I went to my best friends wedding in Salt Lake City and on the way down we saw a christian church that had Doric pillars on the outside! haha I made sure to point them out for the people that were riding with in the car and they were pretty impressed... it was fun to show off for them! Another place where I saw them was at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Those gardens are AMAZING and in one part they have a little hill that has 4 ionic pillars on the top of it. haha I made my fiance walk to that hill with me so I could get a picture of them! haha

here is a picture of those pillars... its not the one that I took... but as soon as I can get my picture loaded onto my computer I'll switch the pictures out!

I have also enjoyed our little quizzes in class... which sounds weird because who really likes quizzes... but these quizzes are things that we can use later! One day when I travel to Europe I will be able to look at different chapels and know when they were built, or why they were built. Its fascinating to learn the facts behind why a building is built the way that it is and what the people who built it were trying to do. I especially like how different chapels create a different affect in the worshiper, like how gothic chapels make the worshiper look up. That is so cool that each different era of architecture had a specific goal that they were trying to accomplish in their building.

I just love when I can use the things that I learn in daily life... I am going to be a teacher one day and that is what I most want to teach my students to do... is to use the things that they learn! It makes life so much more fun when you learn things enough to actually understand them and point them out to others. I do this a lot with science... I learned the constellations so that I could look at the sky and understand its stories and patterns... I truly enjoy understanding the world around me and why it is the way that it is, and so far Humanities has really helped me to understand things better! I didn't think that i would learn as much as I have so far, but I am truly enjoying myself and I hope that I can continue to use what I learn in my daily life!

I spy makes me happy!

This week for my cultural event I went to the Museum of Art on BYU campus. And it was so much fun!! The exibit that I specifically went to see was the Walter Wick I Spy exhibit.

This was such a great exhibit. There were so many different little things that made it amazing.

The first thing I liked was that when I walked into the museum the guards at the front desk gave me a little sheet of things to look for in each picture and little activities to do throughout the exhibit. I loved this because it brought a whole new aspect the pictures, and made it not only an uplifting experience but a fun and challenging one as well. I actually want to take my fiance back and make a fun date out of it! One of the fun activities was to look for this little robot guy named Seymour, that is hidden in most of the pictures! it was amazing because even if the picture didn't look like it could hide a robot, there Seymour would be peeking out of a window or standing on a balcony in the distance.

Here is an example of how Wick incorporated his robot Seymour... if you look you can see a little robot guy in the front window in the right of the screen...

The next aspect of the exhibit that I liked was the music that was playing over the speakers. It was fun music that reminded me of my childhood! I was taken back to the days when I played with lincoln logs, and legos, and those tinker toys! It also reminded me of a toy or candy shop and Disney Land... the music just added so much to the exhibit. It helped me get into the right frame of mind to look at the pictures and just trully enjoy the time that I could forget about "grown-up" troubles. I loved it!

The thing that I liked most was that each picture had a little plaque on the side explaining a fact about the picture or how it was made. I was amazed to find out that for most of his pictures he actually builds the models and takes the pictures. The sets are so detail oriented... its amazing! for example, the picture above had a set that was built in miniature. Wick builds the sets, and then takes pictures and edits them and enhances them to make them look good enough for the book. But i always thought that the pictures were drawn or made on the computer, and they are not! its just amazing! I have always wanted to build little sets... its kind of a secret desire of mine... but his little sets were so neat, and so detailed... they looked like they were probably so much fun to make!

here is a picture of the set for the picture above...

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I felt as if I was a kid again... one of the neatest parts for me was to watch a group of 4 older people, 3 older males in nice buisness suits, and an older woman in a nice suit. Looking at them I would not have guessed that they would enjoy a childish exhibit such as Walter Wicks, but I was very wrong! As I watched them I could see their excitment as they found the items in the picture, and saw all the little details in the pictures... at one point I saw them all start laughing with joy and then one of them said "I knew you all would like this... that is why this exhibit is here, because even thought these pictures are for kids they bring out the child in old people like us as well!" I just thought that this was a special insight into the specialness of Walter Wick's photos. And I think that is the artistic aspect of it as well... every detail of the exhibit acts to create an overall affect of childhood and happiness that most adults loose. My fiance does research with children and he told me once that the Average child laughs or smiles around 500 times a day... where the average adult only laughs or smiles around 18 times a day... this is so sad to me! Thank goodness there are artists like Walter Wick that have work that adds more smiles to our lives!

Modernism: in reading

This week for our reading assignment we were asked to read From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe.  I didn't really know what to expect... but i'm not gonna lie... i didn't expect what I got! not in a bad way though! I just didn't think that the whole book would be on the history of modernism in architecture.  And once i figured that out... im not gonna lie... i didn't expect to enjoy it!  But much to my surprise I found it very interesting and entertaining to read! haha Wolfe did a great job of telling the history of the modernist movement in a way that even those not interested in architecture could understand.  As I was reading, I found I was learning a lot and laughing a lot due to his witty and sarcastic humor.  

My favorite part of the book was the chapter labeled the Silver Prince, wherein it talks about the man Le Corbusier who was thin, with owl eye glasses, and rode around on a white bicycle wearing a black bowler hat.  But the part that fascinated me most about him was his reason for the way he dressed "he said he dressed this fashion so as to look as neat and precise and anonymous as possible to be the perfect mass-producible wire figure for the machine age."  I can't believe that he actually wanted to purposefully not stand out... it seems like what we want to do most these days is to stand out... and he didnt! and the funny thing to me is that he seems to trully stand out among the crowds with his style and looks... so in that way he ended up achieving the complete opposite of what he was aiming for! 

This is a picture of him that I found that kind of makes me smile!

I don't know why this picture makes me laugh! I think that maybe its because it reminds me of those multicolored pictures of Marilyn Monroe...  

Marilyn Monroe was a star!  She was a public icon, people loved her and people still love her! Maybe the fact that Le Cocorbusier has a picture like this indicates that he was an icon for Modernists!!! haha

Anyways! the thing that scares me about Le Corbusier is that he wanted the world to be like him... mass produced.  Everyone looking the same no one standing out.  The worker housing that was built during this time is similar in that.  The architects who built it wanted every apartment to look the same... 4 white walls, uncomfortable furniture, they wanted everything Modern and "working class" and nothing Bourgeois.  They wanted everyone to be equal, more so than in just possessions and wealth... they wanted everyone to be equal in looks and that is scary!!  In this equality they saw beauty... this might be a harsh comparison but what I see in this is Hitler, and Stalin.  These communist tyrants also strived for equality, they believed that if everyone were equal no one would want.  Everyone would be happy because there were no poor (of course there would be not rich either, except for Hitler and his cronies) And these men went to extreme lengths in their quest for equality and Utopia, as can be seen in any history book or WWII museum.  So this part of the book fascinated me because I saw so much of communism in it... even though there are many beautiful modernist buildings and paintings... I guess that the idea behind modernism in a sense makes it hard for me to purely just enjoy it for its aesthetic parts.  

Just to close, when I was looking for a picture of Le Corbusier I found this funny thing on his owleyed glasses!  haha how to be an instant architect!  I think we should all wear these in class one day! 

I'm Singing in the Rain!

So i just looked out the window and realized that it is raining and I figured that there would be no better time to write about my cultural event that I attended this week! This week I went to the play Singing in the Rain at the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  It was such a great experience and so much fun!  I was going to attend Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, however it just didn't really work into my schedule so I set out on a quest for another theatrical performance  I could attend and I found Singing in the Rain last minute on monday right before class.  I asked Jasie for permission to see it that day in class and then that night my fiance and I were sitting in the theater watching it! 

The Hale Center Orem theater is not really much to look at on the outside... and at first, not on the inside either.  It was a small little theater with probably 80 or so seats squished all around the stage.  The stage is just a small little area in the middle of the room, and there is also a small raised area of the stage on the back wall. So at first we were not to impressed...

Anyways, we bought our tickets (which i would recommend getting ahead of time, because we got the last two seats in the house and they were in the very back corner, but we were able to see really well anyways).  And we were given student discounts so the two tickets were only $15.00 total which was awesome! 

As the play started I realized that the whole theater was the stage for the actors and suddenly a not so impressive theater turned into the wonderful world of Hollywood Show-biz!  For those who don't know, the play is about the Hollywood in the 1920's. A time of transition from silent films to Talking pictures.  The main characters are Don Lockwood, a wonderful actor, singer, and dance, and his screen partner Lina Lamont, a beautiful but awful singer, and dancer with a very naisaly annoying voice.  Lina loves Don and wants him to love her, but He can not get past her selfish and annoying tendencies which creates friction between the screen couple.  One night Don meets Kathy Seldon, an aspiring actress who is both beautiful and talented on the stage and  Don soon falls madly in love with her.

The new talking picture craze is sweeping the nation and Lockwood & Lamont are expected to join in, however there is one problem... Lina's voice.  She is attractive to look at but when she opens her mouth no audience can stand to listen to her! So Kathy, Don, and Don's best friend Cosmo Brown (a talented muscian who works for the movie studio) devise the plan to have Lina lip sink the songs and lines, while Kathy does the real voice.  the movie is a hit and everyone loves Kathy's voice but Lina does not want the world and her fans to know that she is not really the one singing and talking and she tries to force Kathy into being her voice for the next 5 years.  Don and Cosmo are not about to let Kathy's career go down the drain like that so they trick Lina into lip singing in public and then pull back the curtains so the whole audience can see Kathy really singing in the background! 

All in all its a wonderful play with amazing music, plot, and characters!  I was extremely impressed by how good the performance was as well! There were many amazing and talented actors and actresses! The best part of the show was the actor who played Cosmo Brown, who is the comedic relief of the show!  He was so good! He reminded me a lot of Jim Carey in his acting and mannerisms!  He was just tall and goofy and he really stayed in character very well! 

Another wonderful part of the show was the song Singing in the Rain.  During this song the theater turned on sprinklers in the ceiling, so it literally rained in the middle of the theater! They gave everyone in the first row a yellow pancho to wear to keep from getting wet... however Don (who was singing and dancing in the rain) found it fun fling water off of his umbrella onto the audience and make lots of splashes up into the seats.  It was so much fun! And everyone in the audience really enjoyed the experience! 

I would rate this performance an 8 out of 10... The acting was great! but the singing was not as up to par as other small theaters I have been to.  Also the concession stand was not as well stocked as I would have wished it was... I was really craving popcorn... haha... and they didn't have any! But it was still awesome and the price was great as well! 

Overall I waked away happy and uplifted.  I love the musical theater because they are full of wonderful songs and characters that I think everyone can relate to! I plan on returning to the Hale Center Theater to see other plays that they put on! 

What is Art?

In class this week we had a long discussion about what is art.  I think that this question can be answered in many many ways... to me, art has always been just pictures that hang on a wall, Beethoven's fancy music, or big museums.  However I am starting to realize that If i put a little bit of effort into finding out more about artists lives, or if i take the time to go look at paintings in a museum instead of just on the internet, I'll be able to learn so much more about why those paintings are so amazing.  And to me (at least right now) that is what art is... its a window into the artists souls, its a way to learn about human lives and interests through other peoples experiences, failures, and triumphs! I feel like if I learn what an artists life is like i will be able to see them overcome their problems and struggles through their art and then I will be able to celebrate their triumph with them!  It is a celebration of the Human soul! Its amazing to see what we have been able to do with a little bit of talent and a lot of hard work.   

Art is the expression of the soul! Ballerina's wouldn't dance if it didn't make them happy!  If they didn't find something in their dance that lifted them higher than they could on their own.  I think everyone should feel that exhilaration of doing something that you love that gives you a release from your everyday mundane life even if just for a second.  I believe that that is what keeps people dancing, or singing, or writing, or painting.  The chance to do something beyond themselves, and then if they are lucky they get to share that with others and help them see their joys or sorrows, their passion in life.  That is truly amazing! 

Another thing that I enjoyed in class this week is our discussion on symbols and what they mean.  I never realized how much symbolism in involved in art, or architecture.  My favorite symbols to learn about were the greek Gods and Goddesses.  I have always LOVED mythology! There is something about greek mythology that just makes me so happy! the stories are amazing of course, like the hero Persius and his many adventures, or Hades and underworld, and Zeus's victory over his father to create all the gods.  

All of the stories are great... but I think that my favorite think about mythology of all types is that these gods and monsters and heros were created as a way for humans to explain the world around them.  In a very real sense this was the beginning of science! Humans didn't understand why there was lightning... so they created Zeus, a god who threw lighting when he was angry.  Or they created Apollo to explain why the sun traveled across the sky everyday.  I just really like it... and I like to learn about it because, just like art, learning about an ancient cultures beliefs is a way to learn about them, their culture, and what traits and characteristics they valued the most.