Really beautifully-shot documentary and story flow of Ushio and Noriko Shinohara.
Once a rising star in the '70's New York art scene, 80-year-old "boxing" painter Ushio Shinohara is prepping for his latest show, hoping to reinvigorate his career. His wife and de facto assistant, Noriko, seeks her own recognition through her "Cutie" illustrations, which depict their chaotic 40-year marriage. CUTIE AND THE BOXER captures two lives united by a dedication to art-making for a touching meditation on the eternal themes of love and sacrifice.
Really comprehensive and engaging documentary about the influential cult band Big Star. Really nice that Ethan and I went to Memphis and even recognized some of the scenes.
Amazing quote by John DiMaggio: "Let me tell you one thing man....man, white people. With their dogs and yoga, man...frustrating. That's all I can say, it's frustrating man!"
Really great movie about voice acting, very comprehensive and interesting, I only wish H. Jon Benjamin was involved but it was pretty sweet to see almost all the futurama people
Very interesting but a bit shallow look at the Bordeaux wine industry and how it struggles to deal with the Chinese. Modern day tulipmania. Very interesting look into the ill and good effects of rampant capitalism and the wealth gap. Not such a great look at the effects of climate change. Best parts:
"His success comes from the pleasure industry." "I make sex toys"
"Wine is like the message--what do you call them? Tweet? Twits? Yes, wine is like a twit"
It's been a while since I've updated this blog, and somehow I am still here in DC and still at Brookings Executive Education. I want to revive my documentary watching habits as I really think it helped me learn a ton, and I've begun to read more novels. I think I ended up doing at least seven novels in the last month which is more leisurely reading than I have done since middle school.
So to recap some of the amazing documentaries I have watched since my last entry.
Heima (2007)
Full Documentary
Sigur Rós perform Heysátan
Heima (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhɛiːma]; at home) is a documentary film and double DVD set about the tour around Iceland in the summer of 2006 of the band Sigur Rós. During the tour the band played two big open-air concerts at Miklatún -Reykjavík (30 July) and Ásbyrgi (4 August), as well as small scale concerts at Ólafsvík (24 July), Ísafjörður (26 July),Djúpavík (27 July), Háls, Öxnadalur (28 July) and Seyðisfjörður (3 August). In addition, a protest concert against the Kárahnjúkar dam was performed at Snæfellsskála (3 August). The documentary also includes footage of an acoustic concert played for family and friends at Gamla Borg, a coffee shop in the small town Borg, on 22 April 2007.
It is truly a beautiful film and makes me want to visit Iceland ASAP :)
Rape of Europa (2007)
Spawning a terrible movie called Monuments Men starring George Clooney... but a fantastic documentary nonetheless, especially the part about moving the Nike of Samothrace down the Louvre stairs.
20 Feet From Stardom (2013)
Fantastic documentary!! I love Judith Hill, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton, and of course Darlene Love so much. Now I can't stop listening to the background vocals of any song.
Saw at E Street Cinema, not bad, definitely an intriguing look into mental illness and the ridiculous nature of museum donations because people were so upset that he duped them all, including the registrar
Best quote: "He messed with the wrong registrar, that's for sure"
Brothers Hypnotic (2013)
Documentary featured at the Vassar College Film Festival, fantastic music and story of 8 brothers from Illinois who have a really awesome brass band.
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - War
The Great Wall: Lovers At The Brink (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaso0j9x098
Just Like Being There (2012)
Really interesting movie about rock concert posters, if not a bit shallow because this field is so young the artists are still reconciling with their origins to their true artist nature as a contemporary printmaker/designer.
it's nearing the (counts on fingers) 4th month anniversary of me working here at Brookings Exec Ed, it's been great
certain things could be better, but overwhelmingly i am pretty happy here and i feel like people really are invested in me
yes katarina got fired my first day and that scared the bejesus out of me...i know i wont feel total relief until i am on that cruise to alaska with my mom at the end of august (end of the 6 month trial period where i finally get benefits, annual leave, and things)
a lot has happened and i have been terrible at keeping record of it
ive stopped taking photos because im too exhausted to lug my cameras around (but yayyyy new camera!!) also the weather got crappy here
and unfortunately all the canadians are back but i must must msut visit them
kailey came back! then she left (boooo!)
there was a frustrating month where i thought i could live with kailin
but then her female-only lifestyle encountered a guy and now she's the typical high schooler who is just trying to figure out looove.. ick
moved in may 31 to an apartment in van ness
cozy and compact, but will be good for me to not overspend on crap haha
need to save every dollar i can for sure
i adore my roommate Donte Donald (yes.) a 26 (?) year old who works in PR at the Economic Policy Institute, who is a bit forgetful and a little ditzy and definitely does not like doing his own dishes
ethan is undoubtedly happy for sure that ive moved out
niles and jessica's wedding went well
ive met his parents, his paternal grandparents, and his aunt. unfortunately his uncle passed and there's a chance i may go to the memorial service in a week..but at the very least i will be helping ethan through this time, which may involve giving his aunt company (who is a lovely lovely woman)
ethan's dad's art show in silver spring is beautiful, i really do like his pieces!
http://washingtonprintmakers.com/exhibition/extraktions/
ethan and i went up for founder's day, which was really nice and a drunken mess for me
saw dam funk, his favorite keytarist ever lol
i also went to vassar's graduation last weekend which was nice to see meryl streep and cower in her heavenly presence
andy was here wtf without telling anyone but at least i got to eat two dinners with him in the same night with him and jason wu in rosslyn--pho and rays hell burger
then went to dupont to drink and play cards against humanity at The Board Room
speaking of which it's funny how matt, emily, and i are all living in van ness, too bad matt is leaving july
and joe got into law school! aaah
life
how quickly it moves~
and i think im gonna restart the documentary pledge...AFTER I WATCH NEW ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT ASLKLDOWFAJW'TW;APJOTWA
don't stop doing what you do because youre the most amazing museum out there--you redefine what a museum can be, provide, and challenge--and one of your core values is to be as dynamic as the stories you tell. giving voice to the voiceless, thought for the overlooked, what you stand for is something all people should be aware of in one form or another.
you have your flaws, especially ones which are quite human and individualized (poor management, pride, miscommunication can find their way into the best of places), but you are a tank. a thinktank to be quite literal, as the people under your helm represent the most diverse, intellectual, and brilliant forms of knowledge and viewpoints for the field.
but it's time to move on from this field.
it's time to see what else is beyond this bubble, as i have certainly experienced the best that museums can provide now. and it's time to see how to fix your flaws and make you the best it can be.
1 more day until pizza party for a good job on the Maya Angelou Event
2 more days until my 23rd birthday
3 more days until my last day here at NMAI
5 more days until my return to NY
not sure if i'll keep this blog since NMAI and coming to DC were the major topics and now that i'm moving here it doesnt seem so travel-y
all i can say is that i wish i had a better ending to my internship. i wish i wasnt looking forward to leaving, but that's life. ...at least there were good naps in IMAX theaters
NMAI is still an amazing institution to me, but some people were right, it was only a matter of time that my eyes grew dimmer.
I hope it's different by the time I'm undeniably qualified for a position here.
OH MY GOD.
GOT INTO WORK AT 5:45AM LEFT AT 1:30AM.
EVENTS PLANNING WHAT
i cant even
so i need to make a list to remember
- easy transport
- 24 hour dunkin donuts -- thank god for coffee
- immense line that stretched 4 blocks long AT 5:00AM. BEFORE IT EVEN OPENED
- breezing through ^ line
- having a secret service agent escort me to work
- changing into my nice work attire
- befriending anya on the 4th floor discussing hte immense 29 page list of VIPs i assembled >_>
- watching the inauguration from all floors! director's terrace!
- SURPRISE EAGLE ARRIVES. children and adults alike go insane. story is there's a woman who works here named holly who came dressed as a donkey last inauguration. she wanted to connect with "the young people" but did not know how--then the answer presented itself: buy an eagle costume.
- befriending greg vaughan the security man in the imagiNations activity center!
- escorting the head of the smithsonian secretary richard kurin and his entourage :O (by accident)
- huuge jumbo tron and delicious breakfast and lunch watching beyonce beast inauguration
- watching the schmoes on the Mall (heheh)
- secret service guy on top of our museum with the biggest guns ever
- 350 visitors!
- getting to nap sort of not really at all
- seeing the intersection of the parades meet at OUR museum corner--only to have the parade be delayed by nearly 2 hours
- FLOTUS and POTUS being bosses
- JOE BIDEN BEING THE WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO SECRET SERVICE. oh my god, the man seriously loves to please the crowds
- the reporters also being just as punchy after hours of no sleep and the lack of having anything substantive to say: "there joe biden goes, pushing flesh with the people--shaking hands with the crowd"
- changing into ball attire! wearing my (read: my mom's) diamonds :)
- seeing everyone in long black dresses haha
- THE WHOLE MUSEUM WAS BEAUTIFUL. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING
- the food was delicious
- the music was amazing: funk, bluegrass, country, oldies, etc.
- 1491s!!!
- crystal shawanda
- chaske spencer is really tall
- my boss's sequiny dress!
- seriously everyone looked _amazing_
- recognizing some congressmen and tribal leaders feeling super proud
- connecting more with rebecca ortiz
- laughing it up wtih larry
- listening to martha redbone and murray porter--and SPEED YODELING
- pear zingers (aka pear drinky drinks according to my boss after a few of them)
- blue digital is amazing photography--yay for sending emailed pictures to myself!
- meeting roylan bowechop from the makah tribe and making a fool of myself >_>
- dancing with a dude who SNUCK INTO THE BALL WHAT. AND WAS THE LIFE ON THE DANCEFLOOR? some dude named Richard
- dancing with my coworker's military boyfriend?!
- dancing (a lot) of HUSTLE and CHA CHA with a POTAWATOMI TRIBAL COUNCIL MEMBER?!
- the military boy breakdancing?!
- the assistant director of the museum moonwalking?!
- the founding director of the museum dancing up a storm and staying a half hour later than he intended, breaking all records?!
- 700 retweeted photos!
- amazing success all around, my boss' boss grabs a bottle of wine and says she's done for the night
BAM.
oh and
my shoes were so comfortable it wasnt until 12:30am i wanted to take them off. SUCCESS
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
NEXT UP: POST-BALL ANALYSIS & BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING.
big news, FINALLY GOT A JOBBBBBB
at Brookings Executive Education, a collaboration between Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business, and Brookings Institute (thinktank in DC)
going to be doing Events Assistanting which is gonna be nice and admin-heavy but i really like the team and i feel so awesome about this position
my life is finally moving forward and i think as nice as it was to have a plan (get a job and go to grad school) im starting to feel dissatisfaction with at least some parts of the museum world
i hate inefficiency and working in this field is making me feel so inefficient.
i need to be challenged and move forward and if all i can scrounge up is a part-time job doing admin shit at a postal museum and working on my own projects which will go nowhere because my senior researcher is _insane_ and also in some ways burned out, then i think its time for the change
it is so wonderful to have all my stress leave my life
and i can finally post on this blog without going NEED A JOB JUST GIVE ME A JOB
life has been pretty good if not for the stress of being overlooked at work and looking for work + then deciding between the three offers
loove my new TMH friends hana and yi and kayla and sam <3
going to be living here until april 30th, if not longer if i dont go crazy
moved into a penthouse suite with two windows (just on the 3rd floor) which is so similar to my room at vassar my junior year
hana supercurled my hair and will do so again sunday so i look pretty--need to buy bobbypins!
got a nice bagel with cream cheese
went with hana and yi to hillwood estate and museum ---soooo beautiful and especially with hte paper dresses! never saw a museum whose motto is "be fabulous!"
& with two canadian interns colleagues of hana's, rob and shivonne. met so many canadians last night who cheered for me when hana screamed "SHE GOT A JOB. AT _BROOKINGS_"
<3
enjoyed a nice Goose Island Sofie and discussed...canadian things? met three more TMH-Canada intern girls Alicia, Jessical, and Nujhat
AND miss emily haight of chicago (only because i met her there) is now officially at NMWA (National museum of women in the arts) so there will be many mini-Chicago reunions and happy hours to come. got to see her, matt, matt's bf michael, and meghan, gabe, and some others from Smithsonian American Art at Chef Geoffs and enjoy a beer and an awesome burger :)
after hillwood we went to get some coffee, and eventually met with sam and her friend bryant at Sichuan Pavilion which was good and authentic--right down to the rude chinese mean waiter :(
but after that, got some bubble tea in chinatown which was ehhh for me but good for others i guess
sat and chatted for a whileeee
and made plans to hang out tomorrow eaaaarly
and i have to go into workkkkk omgggg inauguration is SO SOOOOOON
edit: mt.vernon was cool :D
sorry this got overlooked because of the AWESOMENESS of inauguration
so much has not changed
i really need to fix my inner clock because my current one still gets me into work around 9:30am -_-
but that is better than me waking up at noon...
yesterday was pretty productive
spent the morning with ethan
went to pentagon city with leslie to get shoes for the inaugural ball (yay for comfort)
then national gallery with joe
pulpo, a tapas place, with joe--had some delicious mini burgers, and tres leches
then a thai place with matt, caught up with him
headed home
unpacked til about 1am, showered, and slept soundly :)
...is exactly like the first.
very little, really none, fanfare for my return
but it's okay because that doesnt really matter. what matters is that it's INAUGURAL BALL INAUGURAL BALL INAUGURAL BALL
i need to remember to chat up people i havent met yet at NMAI and GGHC, try to leave a really positive impression :)
TMH is lovely as ever, rent is going up by $10 and they gave me my old room hahaha yay? not sure.
whoooo im back!
ai wei wei - not god's gift man to man
i like his ideas and some of his works, but at the end of the day he is an egotistical artist at the head of a massive workshop of nameless people
he doesn't seem to appreciate the valor of others because he thinks he is the leader through twitter
that he lives alone and that one person can enact all the change
he doesn't seem to believe in the strength of those who support him and also risk their lives just to help him do the things he does--only without the fame of being a fat man with a twitter account
that being said, some of his works are truly inspiring -- especially the sichuan earthquake victims pieces, but others are not as moving
some of it feels like dada on steroids, and some of its just him camwhoring it up because people don't do it in china and he's so different
he's the one cat that opens a door and leaves apparently
and like a cat, i love and hate him
so i guess what this means is he's definitely a great artist.
Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry (2012)
She lived 7 years happily on this earth.
and definitely an amazing documentary which can only attest to how things should be done--you really do get a good full nuanced complicated picture about the situation and that ai wei wei is not an amazing idol who is perfect, he's also flawed and sometimes not right
"One person can not solve the problems of a whole country. But if everyone ignores the country's problems, what will happen?"
- Gao Ying, Ai WeiWei's mother
i would've loved to see an actual bit from ai wei wei's wif about ai lao, his son from another marriage. why does he speak for everyone? hell, why did the mother of the child only get two lines and the two lines are "oh he's so nice to the son"?
" Ai had his only son through an extra-marital affair. “It was important
to show Ai Weiwei as a father, not only because his son plays a crucial
role in his life, but also because it’s one of the major reasons why
authorities are now able to put more pressure on him,” says Klayman.
“Without getting too much into his personal life, it was also important
not to hide the truth, and to show that Weiwei is not a superhuman. He
is a real person.” " So the man is not an island.
woke up feeling worse than ever
napped, set up the horse blanket so im extra comfy
gonna be a day behind or so
Art:21 Identity~
starring Steve Martin, Bruce Nauman, Kerry James Marshall, Maya Lin (eek), and Louise Bourgeois
amazing
http://video.pbs.org/video/1237561998/
i like the series because even though it's thematically organized, the content is so rich with great interviews and images
maya lin is like all at once the most serious and adorable artists ever
"I
cannot remember a time when I was not concerned with environmental
issues or when I did not feel humbled by the beauty of the
natural world. A strong respect and love for the land exists
throughout my work.
I take inspiration from topography and natural phenomena:
water patterns, solar eclipses, mappings of the ocean floor,
ice formations, undulations of the landscape. My work asks
the viewer to pay closer attention to the land.
As we begin the new millennium, we have to think of peace
not just as among our own species but as encompassing all
species that live on this planet. We must look at how our
activities affect the natural world in which we live."
- Maya Lin (http://www.scu.edu/ethics/architects-of-peace/Lin/essay.html)
interview went really well
northwestern might like me haha
nintendo store right afte rinterview
met up with samson and we went to the tree at rockefeller center, as well as the famous image of 30 rock and the christmas tree
lunch at tgifridays
walked over to kelvin's building and we saw the cool lever house with the tapestries and the huge bronze rat (that looked plush)
had some coffee in the blackstone building which was a little cracked out on christmas
after discussing e-waste and sustainability in the lever house courtyard, went down to the maker bot store on mulberry st--which had the most awesome heart gear and huge 3-d printed displays
after that, did a mini derive because i saw the street art wall changed and took some awesome photos
then went to the new museum of art, saw the exhibitions there on Rosemarie Trockel, and my favorite were definitely her wool pieces and her kunstkammer inspired curiosities with the beautiful scientific illustrations :)
omg Günter Weseler breathing pieces--amazing and terrifying. art really came alive o_o
after that we realized the new museum has a studio space next door called studio 231 which is currently featuring Haroon Mirza, "Preoccupied Waveforms" which was a thumping awesome room
http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/preoccupied-waveforms
following that we walked a bit, went into freitag which had the overwhelming smell of vinyl baggage
and then took the train to penn station to have red mango and look at the empire state building at a nice distance
walked to times square, spotted the ball from a nice distance and saw skyfall :D
good view from the empire terrace and now back homeeeee
whew--did so much!
i only like ballet when it's like this, not the dopey wannabes who fit every stereotype of a ballerina. the major draw for me to ballet is literally doing the impossible with your body--not so much the plinkety music and the classical characters;
every dance has their bad schmoozey moments, like ballroom faces and bboying crotch grabbing but ballet is one of _the_ cheesiest because so many of the girls all look like they desperately need a cheeseburger and to not be fragile pieces of glass
but once in a while you see people who are strong, talented, and beyond graceful and it reminds you that even if everyone can dance or make art, there is such a thing as talent and not everyone has it.
the whole movie reminded me that passion and motivation are the real drives in life, and that if you're not feeling that inner hunger and ache from time to time, you're not really doing what you live for
Cutie and the Boxer (2013)
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