#journalismstress has forced me to skim over everything (including news, ironically). That is why this blog post is going to be short - purely because I don't really have time for Perhaps a Letter anymore - I've got a shiny new blog designed to 'promote my professional online presence', check it (and follow. please.) at http://helenawilliamsonline.wordpress.com/ . Perhaps a Letter doesn't quite cut it in terms of professionalism you see.
To all you Londoners out there: have any of you been stopped in the street around Angel or Holloway Road and given a 'free'* cd with 'More Than Just A Band' printed on the cover, above a picture of a curly-haired bloke with a dog looking at some kind of musical vortex opening out of the earth?
*suggested donation follows
The back cover says "'More than just a band is a one hour documentary featuring an underground group of musicians and their friends who aren't satisfied with just making music... they've decided to take their lyrics to the next level. Follow the band, whose lifestyle and beliefs have inspired and enraged (huh?) the hearts of many, while capturing the attention of the world's media. Find out for yourslef why this band of radicals are causing such a stir... before they are pushed even further undeground!"
Exciting stuff. I'm a journo student and haven't heard about it at all (granted. I don't have time to read the news... but I still know what's going on in the world). As for causing a stir... fair play, I'm blogging about them - however when I googled them to get background info nothing of relevance came up. Maybe not that big a stir, I guess.
Hoping for some awesome radical underground music, I cracked it on my laptop - to find a rather long documentary on hippyish Christian types (most probably born again...) complete with some accoustic guitar and vocals tracks. I started watching the homemade doc - looks like someone was just fooling around with a camcorder - and watched 20 minutes of these guys' lifestyle before I got bored and moved on to something more relevant to my life. Although I gave it a go it wasn't really my cup of tea, I'm afraid.
However, watching it made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and I can't really put my finger on why that is. Is it because serious belief in religion is a foreign thing to me? I wouldn't say I'm strictly atheist, and I do sometimes wish I could believe in something so illogical and yet so strongly, as a means of comfort. I just can't bring myself to do it though, because I don't think I can make that kind of leap of faith. I think it's the fact that these people are so dedicated to something which is so ambiguous.
Either way, I wouldn't say avoid these guys - be open to everything. I'm not entirely sure if they are more than just a band though.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Friday, 17 September 2010
the return of the geek
Forgive me dear readers, for I have neglected. Big time. The thing is, I've had too much to do, what with moving from the seaside to the city in order to pursue my not-so-blossoming journalistic career. There have been ideas - I just haven't been able to make them a reality.
One which came to mind a few weeks ago, in fact, was the fact that it seems that geeks really are getting chic. And I'm not talking about 'geek chic', a fashion trend which has been around for a while (a trend which is the source of mixed opinions. Although my mind says NO because it reeks of pretentiousness, I have to admit it's HAWT when some gorgeous guy dons scarves and geeky glasses. Ohm nohm).
*interlude - whilst on the topic of London and geek chic, take time out to clock this vid to get a feel for the love-hatred of geek chicness.*
Thank god I don't have 20:20 vision, cause my frames look worryingly similar to the ones at 0.36.
Anyway. I'm not talking about new-age hipster geek chic, because that's portraying the message that you're so cool you can look uncool.
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| Eisenberg - ones2watch4.com |
The geek I'm talking about is the proper nerd, the ones most people laughed at at school and actually weren't bothered to hang out with. Unattractive, not particularly interesting underdogs who may or may not have had excellent grades. I'm talking about what Superbad unsurfaced in 2007, arguably the first of a long line of films to come starring geeks who really are just geeks.
You see, the most enjoyable films I've seen recently have all had massively geeky protagonists - and all the films have done pretty well for themselves. Note that I'm not a huge cinema whore, but do enjoy the odd really good film.
ZOMBIELAND - a 2009 spoof zombie movie, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Jesse Eisenberg. Funny, graphic, exciting - loved the way it was filmed. Go see it. Go check Eisenberg out (see above right).
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| Johnson - screenrant.com |
Not your average man candy, right? But still, weirdly compelling in Zombieland. By the end of the movie I wanted his babies. And this isn't geek chic, this is the real deal.
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| Mintz-Plasse - stupidcelebrities.net |
KICK-ASS - it's Ronseal - it does exactly what it says on the tin. Saw it for the second time a couple nights ago and got so excited by it, even when I knew what was going to happen. Great plot, awesome filmage. Hot geeky protagonistS. It's a 2010 movie directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring Aaron Johnson (above left) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (right), who are both really painfully geeky. They get into a couple fantastic home made costumes and voila- the beauty is that the transformation isn't even there. When Peter Parker becomes spider-man, he sheds his geeky self and becomes totally awesome. The great thing about Kick-Ass is that these kids are still super geeky (they're actually pretty normal kids, don't have any powers or anything, just a couple home made costumes) and stay that way. And yet they're hot for it.
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| Cera - remotepatrolled.com |
SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD - another gem of 2010 directed by Edgar Wright, it's an all-singing all-dancing worship to geekiness. The Universal Studios opening credits were in 16-bit Nintendo-ish game style (all you gamers out there - sorry, I'm pretty shite at the exact technical terms). The entire movie was riddled with gamer jokes and graphics. I'm not much of a gamer myself - I did and still do love Pokemon on Nintendo, but that's pretty much it I'm afraid - but I loved it. The two guys I went with to see the movie most probably pissed themselves laughing, because they got EVERY joke. And after the movie was over an unfortunate viewer sitting beside them had a tearful rant about movie-ruinage because of it. Anyway, the leading man Michael Cera (left) is - again - a huge nerd, and the girl he gets is probably every gamer's fantasy, with bright purple hair 'n shit.
What do all of these fine young men have in common? You have to admit, there are serious similarities between them (particularly between Eisenberg, Johnson and Cera, I think). Big watery eyes, pale, curly hair.... not typical tall, dark, tanned and therefore fanciable material, perhaps. But daymn, do I fancy them in them movies. I have to admit (call me slow, very very slow), but until writing this I would have guessed Eisenberg, Johnson and Cera were the same guy.
I reckon that maybe what makes these charming young men so attractive is the fact that they're genuine. None of this love-rat business (footballers - boo?) and popularity contests, no peacocks, no worrying about whether your man is going to screw you or screw you over. Maybe it's nice to have a guy who will totally love you for anything, who pays attention to you rather than his image, a genuine guy who might be a bit insecure to start off with but blossom, if you give him the chance. On the flipside, maybe I'm just a massive geek as well.
Sunday, 11 July 2010
art - the belgian kind
Philosophy of art was definitely my favourite module as a joint-honours philosophy undergraduate. I loved the fact that the concept of art is so broad and nobody can quite grasp what it is - there isn't a definite definition. Whether people attribute this inattainability to a Danto-esque Art World pretention, or to the fact that art is something transcendental, is a personal opinion and I think says a lot about a particular person.
I've always enjoyed art, and I enjoy the fact that it can incorporate absolutely anything. I'm actually a fan of more modern art which, although usually doesn't seem to require that much technical skill or representational talent, says something about society - often strong messages. I enjoy the open-endedness of more modern art because I think each viewer takes something different from less determined works of art.
Last weekend pottering about Brussels (and a day trip to Blankenberge on the Belgian coast) wasn't supposed to be arty, and yet after looking through my photos I realised that almost everything I snapped was part of some kind of art display. Interestingly, everything fell into completely different categories of art as well.
Take a picnic to the Bois de la Cambre in Uccle, for example. It's a beautiful patch of woodland right in the middle of town, and I actually don't know how big or small it is. Nevertheless, a charming gentleman and I packed cheese and ham sandwiches, strawberries and a flask of tea (quintessentially British, I know) and ambled (in the sweltering city heat) to the cool little oasis of trees. It was a beautiful day, and the light and shadow contrasting and filtering through the leaves was stunning. I've attempted some arty-farty photos and although I love photography I don't think I've quite got the knack of it (above left: bit of tree. above right: gentleman in tunnel).
Later on that evening, I and a charming gentleman made our way to the heart of Brussels (muggy-central!) for cherry beer and slim cigarettes. We were waiting for other friendlings in the Grand Place - which is always wonderfully vibrant on summer evenings, with clusters of people sitting on the cobbles smoking, drinking and chatting; parents even bring their little kids to hang out with them until ten or eleven at night - when a dramatic blear of violins stained the air and one of the main buildings of the square lit up. They do this over the summer, every summer: it's called something along the lines of 'Sound and Lights' if I remember correctly, and basically the public get a free light-and-sound display every evening as a main building in the Grand Place is used as a projector screen. It's a lovely performance, especially on a summer night.
Fast-forward a number of sweaty and uncomfortable hours, and it was time to leave the city for the day. We were headed for Blankenberge, which I'd never heard of - but it's somewhere on the north cost of Belgium (to be honest, when I think 'Belgium' I don't think 'Seaside' - but 'tevs). We had a voucher for 2 euros off the Blankenberge 2010 'Zandsculptuur' Festival and thought, 'yes'. But first a snapshot of a bit of urban art at the station (the station, incidentally, was an inferno. Heat and madness.) Admire the typically Belgian Tintin incorporated in the tag. That's street-cred, if I've ever seen it.
A train and a wander later, we got to the fantastic sand sculpture festival. What technical feats. Just have a look at some of them - we were told that we were absolutely not allowed to touch the sculptures - probably because they were made out of concrete of polystirine and we'd find out if we touched them (LOL @ the non-threatening, tasteful and carefully thought-out warning signs). The exhibition was huge and the works of art were beautifully executed, each cluster representing a different country. So you'd get the standard stuff like Ganesh for India and a Kangaroo for Australia, but also Nokia phones for Finland and Lego for Denmark. As a final thought - I don't think the sand sculptures were my favourite pieces of art I saw over the weekend, despite being the most skillfully executed. Enjoy. 
I've always enjoyed art, and I enjoy the fact that it can incorporate absolutely anything. I'm actually a fan of more modern art which, although usually doesn't seem to require that much technical skill or representational talent, says something about society - often strong messages. I enjoy the open-endedness of more modern art because I think each viewer takes something different from less determined works of art.
Last weekend pottering about Brussels (and a day trip to Blankenberge on the Belgian coast) wasn't supposed to be arty, and yet after looking through my photos I realised that almost everything I snapped was part of some kind of art display. Interestingly, everything fell into completely different categories of art as well.Take a picnic to the Bois de la Cambre in Uccle, for example. It's a beautiful patch of woodland right in the middle of town, and I actually don't know how big or small it is. Nevertheless, a charming gentleman and I packed cheese and ham sandwiches, strawberries and a flask of tea (quintessentially British, I know) and ambled (in the sweltering city heat) to the cool little oasis of trees. It was a beautiful day, and the light and shadow contrasting and filtering through the leaves was stunning. I've attempted some arty-farty photos and although I love photography I don't think I've quite got the knack of it (above left: bit of tree. above right: gentleman in tunnel).
Ambling out of the urban woods was slightly more upleasant - going back to the hustle and bustle of a steaming capital city after an hour of calm is never that great. It definitely put me in a bad mood - but I've never really been a fan of heat. These guys cheered me up though:
Forgive my photographic failures - if you look closely you can see they're juggling things (sticks? batons? they looked like bowling pins. maybe they were bowling pins.)
What these guys were doing was hanging around on a main artery road in Brussels - one where all the embassies are - and when a light turned red for cars they'd run out and start juggling. They were obviously arty studenty types, probably from the ULB university down the road - and there were loads of them! What a fun thing to do on a hot and sunny day! (Dare I say almost Brightonian!) Although they asked for money they weren't beggars (all too often you see sad-looking limping beggars tapping on car windows and asking for a euro cent. The Belgian's policy on homelessness is horrendeous - no Big Issue scheme here). Anyway, these guys seemed to be doing OK money-wise. There was nothing ominous about what they were doing - and I'm sure the people in the waiting cars enjoyed watching them. I certainly did. I suppose you could call juggling-busking art?
Later on that evening, I and a charming gentleman made our way to the heart of Brussels (muggy-central!) for cherry beer and slim cigarettes. We were waiting for other friendlings in the Grand Place - which is always wonderfully vibrant on summer evenings, with clusters of people sitting on the cobbles smoking, drinking and chatting; parents even bring their little kids to hang out with them until ten or eleven at night - when a dramatic blear of violins stained the air and one of the main buildings of the square lit up. They do this over the summer, every summer: it's called something along the lines of 'Sound and Lights' if I remember correctly, and basically the public get a free light-and-sound display every evening as a main building in the Grand Place is used as a projector screen. It's a lovely performance, especially on a summer night. 
A few beers and cigs later and photos of the counterpart to the infamous Mannekin Pis - the Jannekin Pis, which is tastefully placed down the most touristy side-street of Brussels - were a must. Now that's fine art, if you ask me. You're supposed to drop coins in the puddle beneath her, for love and good luck, obviously. The quirky thing which I find a bit depressing but weirdly endearing about Brusselians (I prefer to avoid the term 'Belgians' as a collective noun) is that their national symbol is a pissing boy (and girl) and they don't mind. Probably because the country's falling apart anyway, so why not poke some fun at it. The Mannekin and Jannekin are definitely not aesthetic feats, but they're still considered art, I think. Perhaps satirical art.
Fast-forward a number of sweaty and uncomfortable hours, and it was time to leave the city for the day. We were headed for Blankenberge, which I'd never heard of - but it's somewhere on the north cost of Belgium (to be honest, when I think 'Belgium' I don't think 'Seaside' - but 'tevs). We had a voucher for 2 euros off the Blankenberge 2010 'Zandsculptuur' Festival and thought, 'yes'. But first a snapshot of a bit of urban art at the station (the station, incidentally, was an inferno. Heat and madness.) Admire the typically Belgian Tintin incorporated in the tag. That's street-cred, if I've ever seen it.
A train and a wander later, we got to the fantastic sand sculpture festival. What technical feats. Just have a look at some of them - we were told that we were absolutely not allowed to touch the sculptures - probably because they were made out of concrete of polystirine and we'd find out if we touched them (LOL @ the non-threatening, tasteful and carefully thought-out warning signs). The exhibition was huge and the works of art were beautifully executed, each cluster representing a different country. So you'd get the standard stuff like Ganesh for India and a Kangaroo for Australia, but also Nokia phones for Finland and Lego for Denmark. As a final thought - I don't think the sand sculptures were my favourite pieces of art I saw over the weekend, despite being the most skillfully executed. Enjoy. 
Images: own
Sunday, 4 July 2010
on guilt and impulse buying
Money's a great and terrible thing. I love it when I have it but when I have it I spend it and then need more. Being lazy, privileged and having to go between Brussels, Brighton and London at awkward intervals during the summer means that I can't get a regular job now I'm on the continent. Although I worked at a newspaper for free I don't have a penny to show for it (goddamn internships!). I'm currently babysitting - and feel live I've regressed back to a 14 year old. Still, it pays well, considering all you have to do is put a kid to bed then sit in a stranger's house and watch their tv.
I've earned close to 100 euros in a week (not bad!) and that means I've had to spend some of it, especially because I never went clothes shopping as a student (booze or clothes - you choose!). Going to the H&M in Rue Neuve in Brussels and buying a skirt on sale and a bag on impulse (not even on sale - argh!) actually made me feel guilty. I had to stop everything and think about it for a while, and felt pretty bad whilst and after buying the items. It only came to a grand total of 30 euros.
Why would that be? It's a nice skirt and a nice bag. I'll definitely use both of them, and well (I'm the kind of person who overwears everything if I like it). I'm earning money - it sounds amateur-ish, but I've got plenty of babysitting lined up. Yep, definitely sounds amateur-ish. I also love stuff. I'm such a consumer. What's my big problem?
Being a University of Sussex student, I studied theory by neo-Marxist Herbert Marcuse concerning the consumer culture. His 'One Dimensonal Man' book is difficult - I didn't even read all of it, although I was supposed to - but once you get the ideas right it's really interesting, and quite enlightening. The basic idea I grasped is that the Capitalist consumer culture propagates commodities which are 'false' needs - such as fashion clothes, fast food, gadgets, etc. H&M skirts and bags. Pretty much everything, it seems. According to Marcuse, us humans who live in this society are quite superficial in the sense that we have false needs, which means we buy shit to satisfy these needs. The consumer culture gives us the illusion that if we buy x, y or z we'll be more complete, therefore we NEED x, y and z. Of course, x, y and z are only bits of junk which give you a smidgen of gratitude until you need more. Marcuse then goes on to say that 'true' needs are satisfied by higher things, such as art.
This is what I gathered at least. The art thing I'm not so sure about, to be honest, because although I like to think of myself as an art aficionado, I maintain that the art world is pretty pretentious and a lot of 'great' art is only 'great' because the artist knows the right people. I agree with the first bit of Marcuse's theory though. Think about it: before you buy that shirt - or gadget, or whatever it is that you want to buy - you saw and love in a shop, you can't really stop thinking about it. You imagine how great everything is going to be once you have it. You realise that it'll cost money but it's worth it because object x will make your life better. Once you get it, you think 'wow, this is great' - and after a couple days, even though you don't really want to admit it, you think 'now what'. You start looking around for something else to buy. The 'now what' is the glimpse we have of our consumer-culture false needs.
Maybe that's why I felt guilty. I was thinking about that skirt for a couple days and now I have it I think - was it really worth thinking about that much? My life hasn't really changed as much as I thought it would in that pre-consumer-delerium I was in. The impulse buy bag was pretty much the same thing. Ah well, it's the society we live in, isn't it - which is in my view, pretty impossible to escape. May as well buy lots of shit to make me feel better about it.
I've earned close to 100 euros in a week (not bad!) and that means I've had to spend some of it, especially because I never went clothes shopping as a student (booze or clothes - you choose!). Going to the H&M in Rue Neuve in Brussels and buying a skirt on sale and a bag on impulse (not even on sale - argh!) actually made me feel guilty. I had to stop everything and think about it for a while, and felt pretty bad whilst and after buying the items. It only came to a grand total of 30 euros.
Why would that be? It's a nice skirt and a nice bag. I'll definitely use both of them, and well (I'm the kind of person who overwears everything if I like it). I'm earning money - it sounds amateur-ish, but I've got plenty of babysitting lined up. Yep, definitely sounds amateur-ish. I also love stuff. I'm such a consumer. What's my big problem?
Being a University of Sussex student, I studied theory by neo-Marxist Herbert Marcuse concerning the consumer culture. His 'One Dimensonal Man' book is difficult - I didn't even read all of it, although I was supposed to - but once you get the ideas right it's really interesting, and quite enlightening. The basic idea I grasped is that the Capitalist consumer culture propagates commodities which are 'false' needs - such as fashion clothes, fast food, gadgets, etc. H&M skirts and bags. Pretty much everything, it seems. According to Marcuse, us humans who live in this society are quite superficial in the sense that we have false needs, which means we buy shit to satisfy these needs. The consumer culture gives us the illusion that if we buy x, y or z we'll be more complete, therefore we NEED x, y and z. Of course, x, y and z are only bits of junk which give you a smidgen of gratitude until you need more. Marcuse then goes on to say that 'true' needs are satisfied by higher things, such as art.
This is what I gathered at least. The art thing I'm not so sure about, to be honest, because although I like to think of myself as an art aficionado, I maintain that the art world is pretty pretentious and a lot of 'great' art is only 'great' because the artist knows the right people. I agree with the first bit of Marcuse's theory though. Think about it: before you buy that shirt - or gadget, or whatever it is that you want to buy - you saw and love in a shop, you can't really stop thinking about it. You imagine how great everything is going to be once you have it. You realise that it'll cost money but it's worth it because object x will make your life better. Once you get it, you think 'wow, this is great' - and after a couple days, even though you don't really want to admit it, you think 'now what'. You start looking around for something else to buy. The 'now what' is the glimpse we have of our consumer-culture false needs.
Maybe that's why I felt guilty. I was thinking about that skirt for a couple days and now I have it I think - was it really worth thinking about that much? My life hasn't really changed as much as I thought it would in that pre-consumer-delerium I was in. The impulse buy bag was pretty much the same thing. Ah well, it's the society we live in, isn't it - which is in my view, pretty impossible to escape. May as well buy lots of shit to make me feel better about it.
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