{art cinema in the 80s: james gunter}

Im kind of an art freak.. If I had my way, Id create a tv comedy set in a Sotheby´s Auction House. In fact, and please dont tell anybody, despite passionately disliking tv novelas, I incidentally got hooked, HOOKED, with a Korean show called "Auction House". Before you say anything, take a little peek right here. I couldn't take my eyes off the subtitles but I was able to enjoy an interesting plot, good performances and the visuals, whoa the visuals! Worth every minute...

As I was saying, I love art and like navigating through the internet trying to find artists I would buy pieces from. That is how I came across James Gunter, don´t know too much about him yet but I was really tempted to share his work. It´s bloody fantastic matey!

 Look at this guy´s great artwork right here:

http://www.jamesgunterstudio.com/

{there´s a new app in town.. and Im scene-past it}

You could say Im a bit of a geek, Ill allow it. Ive never done Star Wars role play but... I have been tempted to dress up as Galadriel when Im informed of a comic-con convention and have Sheldon as my roommate. I know many of you find that annoying (the possibility of him being in the other room) but I believe it would be a very enlightening experience. In the meantime I enjoy apps and gadgets. I make smart use of a traditional and quite popular selection but every now and then magic happens and we are presented with a gift of innovation and desirability that only the very strong are able to resist. Its time to present the SCENE PAST - Movie Location app.

There was a time when iOS time travel was not even a concept yet so I had to resort to other imaginative ways of reaching further dimensions. However I had to come to good terms with the universe to realize that going back in time was reserved for the chosen people, for the Bill and Teds of the world, so I settled for just traveling to the spots where "once something had happened". I had the opportunity of engaging in historial type voyages. Going to countries, cities, villages and islands where there had  been a succession of relevant events, such as world wars or literature hot spots... But one thing that has always captured my attention... movie locations. I remember the first time I went to Universal Studios, I went crazy over the scenery and the actors. I loved the feeling of being "inside" a movie, living it. I suppose my enjoyment for film set scouting only grew bigger after that.
So off I went and had the great adventure of stepping foot on some memorable cinematic planes. Its important to clear up that I only go to locations that have a certain meaning for me, of movies that have become part of my personal history... Such as, The Goonies! But you already knew that, right? How could any Goonies fan not want to visit Astoria (OR) and be up close and personal with the landmark that brought us The Fratellis, Chester Copperpot and One-Eyed Willie´s rich stuff! Duh! No brainer... and Cannon Beach, whoa! Simply magical....

Here´s the Walsh House

The Home of Phyllis Dietrichson

And as a mad film noir fan, there was no way I would miss out in seeing The Dietrichson house up close and personal. The set of Billy Wilder´s masterpiece and the spot where Barbra Stanwyks character meets Fred McMurray´s for the first time.... (Glendale, CA)

Heaven on Earth

Another site, which is really heaven itself, with or without movies, Shakespeare and Co. . How I love visiting this site whenever in Paris. Hours of dust and musk, piano playing and words, words all over. It had been a main character in several movies like Julie & Julia and of course the one that made it ultra famous, Before Sunset... Celine and Jessy meeting after 9 years...

And the story continues, lost of amazing celluloid worthy scenarios to get on a flight and direct myself to. But this gadget, Scene Past allows you to check out these places and travel in time... and for only 2 bucks!!! I have to take advantage of this. I found out about it on this blog that I log into every day, Geeksugar (I know...). It gives out the following info:

{As it turns out, San Francisco 50 years ago looks just like San Francisco today! A new time-traveling app for iOS called ScenePast ($2) takes movie buffs to the filming locations of their favorite motion pictures. Enter a year, a zip code, or a city, and see what old sets from Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco look like in 2014. The app reveals over 650 past and present scenes from famous American movies. ScenePast's creators have watched over 20,000 hours of movie footage in search of identifiable film (and some TV) locations.

That old house from Mrs. Doubtfire? Still there. The schoolhouse from The Birds? Exactly the same. The ivy-covered frat house from The Graduate? Going strong. Scroll down for a look at 10 iconic movie sets — some locales are surprisingly identical.}

What are you waiting for? Which movies sets are you looking forward to visiting?

{once there really was a man named joseph (john) merrick}

Its incredible the way our brain works and the process of how we save information, regardless of whether the information is accurate or not. And thanks to the media, we share the wrong data with generation after generation. A clear and very famous example of this is the famous line in Casablanca "Play it again, Sam"... Bogie never said that! Wikipedia refers to it as a "misquotation", I call it, someone made a mistake once and it took like 100 years for someone else to check out the fact that he actually said: "Play it, Sam". Funny thing is, despite this correction being made, we still use the original quote on our everyday lingo! And how many more like these?! Probably thousands! 

This came to mind when a friend of mine commented on a quote in the movie The Elephant Man, directed by David Lynch. The words were something in the lines of "I am not an animal, I am a human (being)"... We couldn't remember if it ended in human or being... And his final comment regarding the veracity of the story sent my mind on a very rocky trip. Im not the type of person who can just drop something like that, so naturally I brought it upon myself to investigate. Well, for starters the quote ends in being. Phew! That´s one less thing to worry about in my life but... and here´s where it gets interesting... Ive always though this story was fictional, based on a play, and so does everyone else I know! And guess what? Its not!!! There really was an "elephant man"....

It appears as though the movie is much more accurate to the actual facts than to the play. So I suppose the term "adapted from the play" is a misquotation in itself? This is a movie from 1980, so I have been deceived for over 30 years! Im over the shock now, things had to go back to normal at some point but Im still quite intrigued by all this. Did you know, and you never told me?!

You can read all about the real thing right HERE.

{try using it in a sentence: trite}

{the girl who loved kisses}

Im finishing up a short story called The Girl Who Loved Kisses. Here´s a little taste just for you...

On the quest of experiencing the perfect kiss. 

A short story about (Karina Kates), a young woman who loved to be kissed. She wasn't looking for love or sex, she wanted to find that sensual, moist, delicious, soft pair of lips which would advance this glorious kiss. Just the right amount of pressure and the proper wetness. And that had to come from one special man, she hadn't met him yet...

{an image says a thousand words}

For more pictures click here:  Facebook Photo Album

{dolly & em}

HBO. Surprise surprise, I didn't even know about this show. I wasn't planning on doing much tonight so I couldn't resist my curiosity of taking a look at this tv production starring Emily Mortimer. Ive had a thing for her since I saw her performance in Match Point, remember sweet Chloe? So proper, so English. I believe thats why I like her, she´s genuine, non pretentious whatsoever. And that shows in her work which is why I was excited to watch this proposal. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I saw it was a short delivery, just 6 episodes (of which I only watched 5, I couldn't find the last one yet) so I went for it and what a sweet surprise it turned out to be! Ok, so its not the traditional over achieved HBO "standarette" but... Its good! Its funny, entertaining, both stars, who are best friends in real life manage to portray that trust, devotion and jealousy all in one take, as real friendships happen! I don´t want to give to much of it away, spoilers piss me off but I do have to bring up the fact that something woke up a state of amazement in me, can you guess? Ill give you a little clue...

Here´s Johnny! You know his appearance brought a smile to my face. Funny thing is, he doesnt have to do anything, in fact, he doesn´t do anything!! But he´s there, call it moral support on his behalf, fate on mine. But hey, everything tastes better with Johnny! Plus, had the arduous task of playing... well, John.

I really enjoyed the plot, it takes you into the world of cinema in a very precarious way, taking all the glamour out of the equation. Which makes it even more appealing, it even touched a little nerve around my acting bug which objectively I have to surrender to. Reality is it will never go away, and who knows, I may return to the spotlight one of these days...

You can watch the show live streaming on several sites which I trust you will have no problem finding. Its a feel good kind of show, perfect to watch with a big pint of ice cream. That would be the jealousy part on my behalf, it´s all part of this new diet! Bon appetit... 

{because it´s march, lets talk about the march girls}

I couldn't sleep last night trying to find the 1949 movie version of Little Women to watch online. The one with Elizabeth Taylor and the rest... I found it but then it was so late I fell asleep and dreamt about the March girls... BTW, the prose is turning out to be a bit romantic because in order to shut out the unpleasant high noises of the city Ive been listening to a very soothing soundtrack. I believe someone was facing my exact same dilemma and decided to put all the greats together, Chopin, Mozart, Bach. If the decibel levels in your current town are annoying the hell out of ya, click on this link and enjoy as the quietness is delicately reestablished...

Back to our theme of the day, Little Women. Im not going to review the novel (right now) though I might as well share with you that it´s an all time favorite, and was rather embarrassed by this fact back in college. I mean, first day of class, professor points out at the young girl who appears quite confident adverting this attitude as a facade of some rather uncomfortable feelings of inadequacy. Spot on, smart man! I tried to sell, no one bought. So next thing I know, the subject of favorite books and Little Women surfaced. I did avoid the seemingly foolish declaration that a first edition of that book was gifted to me and was possibly the most thoughtful present I had ever received. He never knew. Well if he happened to discover my blog I suppose he is now well aware of this and can finally find relief and understanding regarding this powerful affair between Miss Alcott and Miss Neumann, I bet he´s even having that Eureka moment right now....

I wonder if there ever was a time in which witty, chatty, fashion driven, slightly cultured, lunch eating, club loving, city contained women debated whether they were more of a Jo, or a Beth. The same way as our current culture intrinsically divides women into four very clear and concise categories: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. There are NO OTHER OPTIONS so pick one and move on! Despite Sex and The City being over for so long, reruns do not count, many aspects of this amazing series have been heavily imprinted in our hearts and our souls. Its going to take a very potent contender to knock them down and erase the chip in our memories.

Im a late 80s/90s gal so I missed the Mary and Rhoda competition but thanks to a very creative piece of cinematography delight referred to as Romy And Michelle I have learned a great deal about our female ancestors and the variety of stereotypes that was available back then. Thanks to this movie, I also know who invented Post Its, but that´s for another post (it). I do imagine that history has offered plenty more choices but I would need to do a lot more research and Im getting of the page entirely...

In the end, I am A JO, the book nerd, author who rejects the pretty boy and falls for the old decrepit and infirm version of what was once a pretty boy. She takes charges and takes no BS from anybody. A feisty little creature with strong beliefs of righteousness and well, the hair thing, nah wouldn't cut my hair for all the money in the world... I said "a Jo", not just call me Jo.

It just makes me think about the values that stand in our present societal system. If we could just find the right balance between consumer frenzy and well, those things that really matter... I dont know, just sending the question out there...Wouldn't we be in a better place if our choices were as simple as choosing if we were a Meg, Jo, Beth or Amy?...

I read an interesting article by Dana Stevens regarding the subject of as she likes to call them "tradition of plucky female heroines". You can find it right HERE...

And today (3/31) I go and find an article titled - Was Jo March a lesbian? Right after Im comparing myself to Jo!! Im not a lesbian, not that there´s anything wrong with that... But I love theories so I wanted to share this one with you...

{the accidental tourist}

"The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own."

Today I got lost.

I panicked for 12 minutes and frantically manipulated my GPS.

I couldn´t find any response or way out.

I became a tourist...

In my own town.

Here are the results:

(1) Sat outside a cafe, watched people go by, caught up on reading...

(2) Looked up, hadn´t done that in over a year

(3) Waltz into a bookstore.. Oh surprise, right?

(4) Crossed many avenues

(5) Found the church of my religion.

(6) And the church of some other religion...

(7) Played photographer

(8) Took the cliche-est shot of them all

And finally found my way home...

Now Im home.

Today I got lost.

I had a wonderful day.

Next time Im planning to do this ex profeso and if you want to give it a go, check this great article from The Sensationist. 3 STEPS TO BECOMING A TOURIST IN YOUR OWN CITY.

{conversations with an underdog}

I was once asked who would be my pick for 6 people (dead or alive) to come over for dinner, among my guests was John Cusack. When I was questioned about my all time celebrity crush, I instinctively responded John Cusack. When asked about favorite people I follow on twitter, I said, you guessed it, John Cusack. Needless to say he is one of my favorite people in the world... And believe me you will hear plenty more about him, his work and his words.  But for the time being Im just focused on a quote I recently read regarding all this astrology seeking knowledge and it said something like this: 

"Aquarius natives pride themselves on being the champions of the underdog"

And the ultimate underdog is my Johnny, always throwing the curve ball and getting involved in the most unusual projects. We have so much in common, you see... Marry me J.C. ...

{True by Spandau Ballet playing in the background...}