Thursday, 24 August 2023
Namibia: Live stream in the Namib Desert
There's a live 24/7 webcam from a waterhole in Namibia!
🤩🦓🦏🐘🐆
Monday, 7 August 2017
Updating and relinking
Slowly, slowly re-linking all the images in my posts; moving them from the previous hosting site (which had been so good before! So sad...). Also updating dead links and videos. Please bare with me! Here's a pretty picture of some lavender I grew =)
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Moments
Got a review today that made me think...
Let's go back a bit. When I was brainstorming for a shop name, I wanted something that sounded happy and carefree. I settled on 'One Sunny Afternoon' because, who doesn't like warm sunny afternoons right? I did wonder if it was too long but anyhow, there we are.
Writing the shop story for my profile, I said that it means a lot to me because of how it pulled me out of an unhappy place after leaving my old job, and that every piece I make is special to me, that I want it to go on and become special to someone else and be part of their story. At the time in my mind I was thinking of happy moments.
And there have been. I've helped make things for weddings and birthdays and special anniversaries. But life comes with the sad moments too.
This will be the second time I've been told that something I made was worn to a funeral. It makes me sad but also happy at the same time. No. Happy is the wrong word. Honoured? Heartened. Heartened to know that something I made did something for someone else at an important moment. At lease I hope it did. I hope it helped them.
So it should be me saying "Thank you." Thank you for sharing that with me.
❤
"Needed this to attend a funeral. Suits the moment. Thank you"
Let's go back a bit. When I was brainstorming for a shop name, I wanted something that sounded happy and carefree. I settled on 'One Sunny Afternoon' because, who doesn't like warm sunny afternoons right? I did wonder if it was too long but anyhow, there we are.
Writing the shop story for my profile, I said that it means a lot to me because of how it pulled me out of an unhappy place after leaving my old job, and that every piece I make is special to me, that I want it to go on and become special to someone else and be part of their story. At the time in my mind I was thinking of happy moments.
And there have been. I've helped make things for weddings and birthdays and special anniversaries. But life comes with the sad moments too.
This will be the second time I've been told that something I made was worn to a funeral. It makes me sad but also happy at the same time. No. Happy is the wrong word. Honoured? Heartened. Heartened to know that something I made did something for someone else at an important moment. At lease I hope it did. I hope it helped them.
So it should be me saying "Thank you." Thank you for sharing that with me.
❤
Monday, 3 October 2016
To die slowly
“He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.
He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones "it’s" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.
He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.
He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.
He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.
He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.
Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”
"A Morte Devagar" is the work of Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros, often misquoted to Pablo Neruda
English translation via GoodReads
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.
He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones "it’s" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.
He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.
He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.
He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.
He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.
Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”
"A Morte Devagar" is the work of Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros, often misquoted to Pablo Neruda
English translation via GoodReads
Thursday, 14 July 2016
Ceramic Masters of Icheon
This beautifully shot film of the working process of five Korean ceramics masters is just mesmerizing. The skill! The artistry! Ah. ❤ I could just watch it on loop...
Video by the American Museum of Ceramic Art
via My Modern Met
Video by the American Museum of Ceramic Art
via My Modern Met
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Friday, 22 January 2016
{卷珠帘}
卷珠帘 {'Raise the pearl curtain'}, a beautiful traditional Chinese style song by young talented singer songwriter 霍尊 Huo Zun (also goes by Henry Huo) who came to fame on a Chinese singing talent contest a couple of years ago. The lyrics are written in old Chinese prose and describes a woman wistfully thinking of the person she loves as she sits by a window on a moonlit night.
I'm really loving the 古風 'gǔ fēng' ('style of the antiquity') and 中國風 'Zhōngguó fēng' ('Chinoiserie') art and music that can be found everywhere now by Chinese artists and musicians. Maybe it's just me getting older and that urge to look at your roots, but I'm rediscovering a great interest in all these traditional Chinese arts, the music, the dances, the clothing, the history and the folklore. Especially the 古風 aspect, which describes a style that conjures a Middle Kingdom of a time long ago, of myths and legends, when gods and spirits roamed, warlords clashed, heroes fought, and everything was that little bit more epic...
I'm really loving the 古風 'gǔ fēng' ('style of the antiquity') and 中國風 'Zhōngguó fēng' ('Chinoiserie') art and music that can be found everywhere now by Chinese artists and musicians. Maybe it's just me getting older and that urge to look at your roots, but I'm rediscovering a great interest in all these traditional Chinese arts, the music, the dances, the clothing, the history and the folklore. Especially the 古風 aspect, which describes a style that conjures a Middle Kingdom of a time long ago, of myths and legends, when gods and spirits roamed, warlords clashed, heroes fought, and everything was that little bit more epic...
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Be the Good
With so much sadness in the news recently, I've been finding it difficult not to feel helpless and a little despairing. I really liked this quote; it made me think that even though each of us on our own may not be able to do very much on a grand scale to change the upsetting situations we are seeing, I find some hope in the thought that each of us can still do good everyday in small ways. And lots of these little bits of good add up and spread and grow, and all will not be lost.
Image via Action for Happiness
Friday, 9 October 2015
A dance to The Unforgiven
Resurrected my ancient iPod touch this morning and was happily running through old playlists when the opening strings of the The Unforgiven as played by Apocalyptica came on. Aah I still get shivers from it.
I actually first heard this version on the inaugural Eurovision dance contest back in 2007 when the winning couple from Finland danced a Paso Doble to it. Their interpretation of the music and the beautifully balletic flow of their Paso were just magical. I loved the dance and the music.
*Sigh*...isn't that just gorgeous?
I can't quite remember if it was from this that I looked up Apocalyptica or if it was after seeing the clip of Kseniya Simonova the sand artist's story telling, that moved the audience and judges on Ukraine's Got Talent to tears, which used music from Apocalyptica as well. I don't know what it is but I just love it when classical instruments are used to produce that rock/metal sound, I feel it adds a whole other level of awesome!
I actually first heard this version on the inaugural Eurovision dance contest back in 2007 when the winning couple from Finland danced a Paso Doble to it. Their interpretation of the music and the beautifully balletic flow of their Paso were just magical. I loved the dance and the music.
(sidenote: what did we do before we could find everything on Youtube?!)
*Sigh*...isn't that just gorgeous?
I can't quite remember if it was from this that I looked up Apocalyptica or if it was after seeing the clip of Kseniya Simonova the sand artist's story telling, that moved the audience and judges on Ukraine's Got Talent to tears, which used music from Apocalyptica as well. I don't know what it is but I just love it when classical instruments are used to produce that rock/metal sound, I feel it adds a whole other level of awesome!
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Earrings inspired by Chinese period dramas...
Well, I had to do it at some point. Between watching all those Chinese historical dramas, wanting to own their fabulous hairpins and earrings, and pinning beautiful photos of hanfu and qipao, kimbok and kimono, I don't know what took me so long to actually make some jewellery inspired by traditional clothing.
Here's the brainstorming... always the fun bit.
And here are the four earrings! I wanted to make them wearable everyday, not too grandiose.
Getting the listings ready to go in my Etsy shop. Watch out for the update =D
Edit: Live now in store!
Here's the brainstorming... always the fun bit.
And here are the four earrings! I wanted to make them wearable everyday, not too grandiose.
Getting the listings ready to go in my Etsy shop. Watch out for the update =D
Edit: Live now in store!
Friday, 18 September 2015
Things to give up if you want to be happy...
I love this, words to remember and a state of mind to strive for...
15 Things to Give Up If You Want to Be Happy1. Give up your need to always be right
When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind. - Wayne Dyer2. Give up your need for control
By letting it go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. When you try and try, the world is beyond winning. - Lau Tzu3. Give up on blaming others
A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else - John Burroughs4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk
The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. - Eckhart Tolle5. Give up your limiting beliefs
A belief is not an idea held by the mind; it is an idea that holds the mind. - Elly Roselle6. Give up complaining
You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. - Alphonse Karr7. Give up the luxury of criticism
Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticise others. - Christian D Larson8. Give up your need to impress others
Don't try to impress others. Let them have the fun of impressing you. - James R Fisher Jr9.Give up your resistance to change
Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. - Joseph Campbell10. Give up labels
The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about. - Wayne Dyer11. Give up your fears
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. - Franklin Delano Roosevelt12. Give up your excuses
99% of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. - George Washington Carver13. Give up the past
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. - Christian D Larsen14. Give up attachment
The wise individual doesn't get too attached to any of life's pleasures, knowing that wonderful science is hard a t work proving it's bad for him. - Bill Vaughan15. Give up living your life to other people's expectations
The world is a mirror and reflects back your expectations. What you get is what you see. You create your own reality. - Denis Waitley
Original article by World Observer Online
Original Image via Pinterest
Monday, 24 August 2015
Chess set of tiny planters
Even though I'm not really a chess player, I love ornate chess sets. Especially ones with a special theme where the pieces have original designs.
So I saw this and immediately fell in love. A chess set of tiny planters that you can customise with your own choice of herbs and cute succulents? I want one! A 3D-printed set that XYZWorkshop created for a design competition.
If you are in possession of a 3D printer, the printing pattern is even available for download, for free, on MyMiniFactory.
So I saw this and immediately fell in love. A chess set of tiny planters that you can customise with your own choice of herbs and cute succulents? I want one! A 3D-printed set that XYZWorkshop created for a design competition.
If you are in possession of a 3D printer, the printing pattern is even available for download, for free, on MyMiniFactory.
via MyModernMet
Monday, 3 August 2015
So much to learn, so little time
You know, when I was younger, I used to wonder how I was ever going to be able to read all the books that had ever been written.
We have access now to so much information and knowledge via the internet, never mind 'fear of missing out', I think sometimes I have 'fear of not having enough time to find out and learn about it all'.
The Art of Egg Painting: Ciocanesti, Romania from Jungles in Paris on Vimeo
Ornamental eggs are a signature craft of Eastern Europe. The jeweled Fabergé versions once coveted by the Russian nobility are really just a high-end take on a humbler, older, and perhaps even more remarkable Easter tradition. See the full story.
Credits: Directed + Shot + Edited by: TITUS ARMAND NAPIRLICA
We have access now to so much information and knowledge via the internet, never mind 'fear of missing out', I think sometimes I have 'fear of not having enough time to find out and learn about it all'.
Reading about a random topic on Wiki that leads to a marathon onward link trail; finding that one picture or article or video on Facebook or Youtube or Pinterest that leads to discovering a new hobby, travel bucket list destination, singer, artist or just really interesting fact...anything! I love that.
I'd watched the odd video link posted by National Geographic before, but only recently realised that they were from a whole Short Film Showcase of videos from around the web. I'm working my way slowly through them - it's a great Sunday morning contemplation exercise. And I want to share the ones I love the most on the blog. One at a time, short little nuggets of thoughts and ideas. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
How about this beautifully mesmerising clip of the process of traditional hand egg painting in Bukovina, Romania, to kick things off?
The Art of Egg Painting: Ciocanesti, Romania from Jungles in Paris on Vimeo
Ornamental eggs are a signature craft of Eastern Europe. The jeweled Fabergé versions once coveted by the Russian nobility are really just a high-end take on a humbler, older, and perhaps even more remarkable Easter tradition. See the full story.
Credits: Directed + Shot + Edited by: TITUS ARMAND NAPIRLICA
Monday, 11 May 2015
Cookie Wisdom
As a kid, Cookie Monster was always my favourite one from Sesame Street because he had funny eyes and was such a messy eater XD
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Let it Go
Ok, I know it is possibly one of the most overplayed song ever... but it's a little special to me.
Just to make it more interesting because it has been played so many, many times, here it is in Mandarin from the Taiwan version of Frozen. Beautifully sung by Shennio Lin, and with a translation of the lyrics that capture the feeling of the original the closest I feel, when compared with the Chinese Mandarin or the Cantonese versions.
I went to see Frozen whilst it was still in the cinema last year and heard Let it Go for the first time. When Elsa sings at that point in the movie, she's feeling very alone in the world and the lyrics are reflecting that. I found myself relating to them so much that when she's singing '..no rules for me, I'm free!' and starts running up the ice staircase she's just created, I was starting to well up.
Five years ago I decided to leave medicine, leave being a doctor, and I was really scared. I'd never imagined that I wouldn't be staying in it when I was going through medical school. Six years at university and two years of training later, I found myself hating what I'd thought would be my career. I saw how some others were so enthused by the stressful nature of the work, whereas I found it a struggle. And how some thrived in the competitive environment whereas I couldn't understand the need for a lot of the politics. I didn't feel like I belonged - the way I am, the way I work, just didn't seem to fit in there. So when I had to decide what do to whilst waiting to get a specialty training post, I realised that actually I didn't want to pursue it anymore. My heart wasn't in it.
The most difficult part though was after I left. Looking back now, I was really quite low for a few months before and after the official last day. Was I depressed? I'm not sure, but I certainly had periods where I was very tearful, couldn't sleep or slept too much, and had episodes where I felt a horrible hopelessness. I was grieving, definitely, for having left something that I'd planned and based my life on for so long. I am a typical introvert in that I normally don't enjoy large group gatherings and often have to take a few days of being on my own to recharge after a spate of socialising. So for a while I found it particularly difficult to face parties and meet ups because inevitably I had to talk about what I was up to and then explain, and sometimes be asked to justify, my decision, often to people I hardly knew, when I hadn't even fully accepted it myself. I found it difficult when I got negative reactions where people thought I was making such a throwaway decision when it was anything but, and I could see they didn't understand how horrible the whole thing had been for me.
In truth I was judging myself. 'How could you just throw it away?' and 'But you've wasted those years at university!' were things that went around in my own head too. I wasn't sure if it was a brave or stupid decision. But my instinct was screaming for me to leave. Having been away from it for long enough and really enjoying what I'm doing now with my own thing, being my own boss, I am more sure that I made the right choice. It hasn't been easy and it is still difficult, but I am far, far happier now. There is this wonderful quote "You know you are on the right path when you become uninterested in looking back." which is exactly how I feel. I know a few others who left medicine for a career change and are much happier for it as well. I also know some who left but went back again. I know for sure that I don't want to go back to it.
So, back in that dark cinema last year, when Elsa was in the last verse, throwing her tiara away and singing "I'm never going back, the past is in the past!" I was a blubbering mess. But it was a happy mess. It felt quite cathartic. Everyone has their own interpretation of the song. For me, Let it Go is about self-acceptance and how powerful it is when you stop hating yourself for being you. It doesn't matter if others understand why I did it anymore, because I'm happy that I did.
I still can't sing the whole song without getting a tad emotional.
I went to see Frozen whilst it was still in the cinema last year and heard Let it Go for the first time. When Elsa sings at that point in the movie, she's feeling very alone in the world and the lyrics are reflecting that. I found myself relating to them so much that when she's singing '..no rules for me, I'm free!' and starts running up the ice staircase she's just created, I was starting to well up.
Five years ago I decided to leave medicine, leave being a doctor, and I was really scared. I'd never imagined that I wouldn't be staying in it when I was going through medical school. Six years at university and two years of training later, I found myself hating what I'd thought would be my career. I saw how some others were so enthused by the stressful nature of the work, whereas I found it a struggle. And how some thrived in the competitive environment whereas I couldn't understand the need for a lot of the politics. I didn't feel like I belonged - the way I am, the way I work, just didn't seem to fit in there. So when I had to decide what do to whilst waiting to get a specialty training post, I realised that actually I didn't want to pursue it anymore. My heart wasn't in it.
The most difficult part though was after I left. Looking back now, I was really quite low for a few months before and after the official last day. Was I depressed? I'm not sure, but I certainly had periods where I was very tearful, couldn't sleep or slept too much, and had episodes where I felt a horrible hopelessness. I was grieving, definitely, for having left something that I'd planned and based my life on for so long. I am a typical introvert in that I normally don't enjoy large group gatherings and often have to take a few days of being on my own to recharge after a spate of socialising. So for a while I found it particularly difficult to face parties and meet ups because inevitably I had to talk about what I was up to and then explain, and sometimes be asked to justify, my decision, often to people I hardly knew, when I hadn't even fully accepted it myself. I found it difficult when I got negative reactions where people thought I was making such a throwaway decision when it was anything but, and I could see they didn't understand how horrible the whole thing had been for me.
In truth I was judging myself. 'How could you just throw it away?' and 'But you've wasted those years at university!' were things that went around in my own head too. I wasn't sure if it was a brave or stupid decision. But my instinct was screaming for me to leave. Having been away from it for long enough and really enjoying what I'm doing now with my own thing, being my own boss, I am more sure that I made the right choice. It hasn't been easy and it is still difficult, but I am far, far happier now. There is this wonderful quote "You know you are on the right path when you become uninterested in looking back." which is exactly how I feel. I know a few others who left medicine for a career change and are much happier for it as well. I also know some who left but went back again. I know for sure that I don't want to go back to it.
So, back in that dark cinema last year, when Elsa was in the last verse, throwing her tiara away and singing "I'm never going back, the past is in the past!" I was a blubbering mess. But it was a happy mess. It felt quite cathartic. Everyone has their own interpretation of the song. For me, Let it Go is about self-acceptance and how powerful it is when you stop hating yourself for being you. It doesn't matter if others understand why I did it anymore, because I'm happy that I did.
I still can't sing the whole song without getting a tad emotional.
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Etsy Mini
Ooh I like the new Etsy widget. Neat and concise. Very nice. This is my Etsy shop's Etsy Mini =D
Thursday, 12 February 2015
A beautifully expressive short ballet
I keep saying this, but I just love discovering a new piece of artwork or music and artist or singer through randomly clicking on a link somewhere. Today this video of Sergei Polunin dancing to Andrew Hozier's 'Take me to church' was trending and I clicked to see why.
Wowee! I had heard of Polunin before, I think probably from coverage for when he unexpectedly left the Royal Ballet, but I hadn't seen his work. On just this performance in the video - I think he really is incredible. The power in his leaps and turning jumps is just awesome, and I love that you can see his emotions through his movements and in his body, particularly his face and his hands, as he interprets the music.
I love dance and ballet in particular. I love the discipline and the form - the training gives ballet dancers that elegance and poise and those very particular shapes and extended lines that are really pleasing to look at. The thing is though, I'm not actually so keen on classical ballets. Yes, they're very pretty, but maybe they're too pretty. I always feel they're dancing with masks on because they can't show their effort on their faces. And it can't be messy - it has to be very neat, and precise. I feel that, dance, at its simplest, is expression. Expression is messy; it's visceral and spontaneous. So I love this way of ballet dancing. The movements are not completely tidy, in fact I feel they're quite unrestrained, in that he's not censoring himself - he's not just aiming for a picture perfect pose but to actually describe a feeling. Yet, you can still see that he is technically brilliant because he can execute those difficult, powerful moves and look absolutely exquisite as he hits those lines. And it feels very raw and emotive because he's showing effort and emotion on his face. What an astounding dancer. All the more impressive because I know a little of how difficult it is!
Wowee! I had heard of Polunin before, I think probably from coverage for when he unexpectedly left the Royal Ballet, but I hadn't seen his work. On just this performance in the video - I think he really is incredible. The power in his leaps and turning jumps is just awesome, and I love that you can see his emotions through his movements and in his body, particularly his face and his hands, as he interprets the music.
I love dance and ballet in particular. I love the discipline and the form - the training gives ballet dancers that elegance and poise and those very particular shapes and extended lines that are really pleasing to look at. The thing is though, I'm not actually so keen on classical ballets. Yes, they're very pretty, but maybe they're too pretty. I always feel they're dancing with masks on because they can't show their effort on their faces. And it can't be messy - it has to be very neat, and precise. I feel that, dance, at its simplest, is expression. Expression is messy; it's visceral and spontaneous. So I love this way of ballet dancing. The movements are not completely tidy, in fact I feel they're quite unrestrained, in that he's not censoring himself - he's not just aiming for a picture perfect pose but to actually describe a feeling. Yet, you can still see that he is technically brilliant because he can execute those difficult, powerful moves and look absolutely exquisite as he hits those lines. And it feels very raw and emotive because he's showing effort and emotion on his face. What an astounding dancer. All the more impressive because I know a little of how difficult it is!
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Assassin's Creed
All right, a little fan-girl geeking out coming up. You have been warned.
I'd always known of the Assassin's Creed games, but had never played them or really known about them in depth.
And then a couple of years ago I came across this really cool video of parkour/free-running inspired by the Assassin's Creed game style.
I loved it! But still I didn't attempt to get the game itself at the time. There was no particular reason; I guess I've just never been a massive action game player.
And then last year I played the most recent Devil May Cry, DMC, and really liked it. My little sister and I started working our way backwards through that franchise over the summer and it got me playing games again (we played quite a bit of video games growing up - Pacman, Super Mario, Bomberman, Sonic, my favourite Ecco the Dolphin ^_^...)
Anyway, so Assassin's Creed Unity was launched just at the end of last year and the guys who did the original parkour video did another one with 4 people, to tie in with the new game's multi-player co-op capability.
Talking about how cool it was with my other sister's boyfriend over Christmas, he said he had Assassin's Creed Black Flag on his Xbox and let me have a go on it. I have to say I didn't get into it so much on first play because I found the gaming style quite complicated, the controls confused me somewhat. But I was on board now, and after finding Assassin's Creed II on special offer on Steam over New Year's (=D) I gave it another shot. And I'm really glad I did as I was very impressed with the whole world and back story that they've built up for it - warring factions, Templars and conspiracy theories, sci-fi crossed with historical drama! The intrigue! The sense of adventure! I'm a really clumsy assassin though; I keep walking into walls and falling off rooftops (unintentionally)... and my brain's inability to realise that it's not really me climbing up those high places is a bit of a problem (I'm scared of heights) but it's definitely a great game. I really like how detailed the locations and historical information are, it's almost like going on a virtual tour of the time periods the games are set in - currently I'm still rampaging through Renaissance Italy.
I also can't stop re-playing the cinematic trailer for Assassin's Creed Unity because I love the song - Lorde's smokey cover of 'Everybody wants to rule the world' - and the action is so brilliantly choreographed to every beat. Very neat.
Word is that the next one is to be set in Victorian England. That'll be interesting. But the one I really hope they develop is the short side game China Chronicles that they've already released. Not only would the backgrounds and graphics plus the martial arts influences that'd be in there be so awesome, the main selling point for me is that the assassin in that story is a woman!
I'd always known of the Assassin's Creed games, but had never played them or really known about them in depth.
And then a couple of years ago I came across this really cool video of parkour/free-running inspired by the Assassin's Creed game style.
I loved it! But still I didn't attempt to get the game itself at the time. There was no particular reason; I guess I've just never been a massive action game player.
And then last year I played the most recent Devil May Cry, DMC, and really liked it. My little sister and I started working our way backwards through that franchise over the summer and it got me playing games again (we played quite a bit of video games growing up - Pacman, Super Mario, Bomberman, Sonic, my favourite Ecco the Dolphin ^_^...)
Anyway, so Assassin's Creed Unity was launched just at the end of last year and the guys who did the original parkour video did another one with 4 people, to tie in with the new game's multi-player co-op capability.
Talking about how cool it was with my other sister's boyfriend over Christmas, he said he had Assassin's Creed Black Flag on his Xbox and let me have a go on it. I have to say I didn't get into it so much on first play because I found the gaming style quite complicated, the controls confused me somewhat. But I was on board now, and after finding Assassin's Creed II on special offer on Steam over New Year's (=D) I gave it another shot. And I'm really glad I did as I was very impressed with the whole world and back story that they've built up for it - warring factions, Templars and conspiracy theories, sci-fi crossed with historical drama! The intrigue! The sense of adventure! I'm a really clumsy assassin though; I keep walking into walls and falling off rooftops (unintentionally)... and my brain's inability to realise that it's not really me climbing up those high places is a bit of a problem (I'm scared of heights) but it's definitely a great game. I really like how detailed the locations and historical information are, it's almost like going on a virtual tour of the time periods the games are set in - currently I'm still rampaging through Renaissance Italy.
I also can't stop re-playing the cinematic trailer for Assassin's Creed Unity because I love the song - Lorde's smokey cover of 'Everybody wants to rule the world' - and the action is so brilliantly choreographed to every beat. Very neat.
Word is that the next one is to be set in Victorian England. That'll be interesting. But the one I really hope they develop is the short side game China Chronicles that they've already released. Not only would the backgrounds and graphics plus the martial arts influences that'd be in there be so awesome, the main selling point for me is that the assassin in that story is a woman!
Saturday, 19 July 2014
The Drowned Man
Way, way back in January, one of my friends treated me to an evening out to see immersive theatre company Punchdrunk and the National Theatre's most recent offering, The Drowned Man. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Seriously. It was mind-blowingly awesome. I loved it so much I couldn't stop recommending it and took my sister and her boyfriend, and my youngest sister all to see it to make sure they didn't miss it. My youngest sister liked it so much we went back to see it again, just a few weeks before it finished its run. If it hadn't wrapped, I suspect we might have gone again. Yes it really was that good, and no, that is by far not the most times people have been.
The Drowned Man is set in a 1960s Hollywood film studio, Temple Pictures. Inside the studio where stars and starlets chase their dreams, two lovers struggle to make ends meet. Tragedy strikes when infidelity, scheming and betrayal drive them apart, leading one of them into ever increasing delusion and paranoia until eventually it ends in a horrific death. Strangely, a similar story unfolds in parallel outside the gates of the studio among the people of the town. Even more mysteriously, something happened to Temple Studios itself, which we are told was shut down overnight for an unknown reason...
Do you know Punchdrunk? They made their name through pioneering large scale immersive theatre where audience members are free to roam and interact with the sets, the story and the characters.
I'd been to an open air promenade play before (based on Lords and Ladies, the Discworld book by Sir Terry Pratchett) which was staged in a park and where the audience followed the actors around the various scenes as the story unfolded. But we were still only watching in the background. Punchdrunk's productions are truly immersive. They convert huge disused buildings into unbelievably detailed sets and you are allowed to go wherever you want as the actors enact the story around you. There's no right or wrong way to go about it, you choose what you want to do and see. Though, 'seeing' doesn't describe the complete sensation, it's more 'experiencing'. You don't just watch as a passive audience, you have to work for it by choosing what to do. Very often you have to chase after the characters (up and down stairs, through narrow corridors, across forests and deserts...) as they go about their business. You can stand right next to the actors in a fight, sit at their desks, eavesdrop on intimate conversations, read a note they've read, look through cabinets, walk into their homes, riffle through their belongings... the amazing sets, the sounds, the smells, the music, the lighting, and the actors, all catapult you into the world that the story creates. It is as if you are watching from inside the story, beside the characters. It's like a live-action computer game. There are some rules though - all audience members have to wear a mask, talking is not allowed, and you are encouraged to explore on your own. A lot of it is practically in the dark, with only strategic lighting to guide you through the huge maze of rooms and sets. The more you search, the more secrets you uncover. And if you are very brave (and very lucky), you might find yourself rewarded with a special interaction.
For The Drowned Man, four floors of an old postal sorting warehouse was converted into Temple Studios and its town. The scale and detail of the sets were just incredible. To give you an idea of the sheer size, it played host to around 40 cast and 600 audience members at full capacity, with lots of space still left over. There was a working cinema inside. Yes really! You could have gotten lost in there. Each show ran for three hours but that was still not enough to see everything. You could easily have spent it just exploring the sets and rummaging through the details. And if you decided to follow the characters, there were multiple story lines happening simultaneously all over the four floors and it was impossible to follow everything. My friend and I missed a whole floor on the first visit and even after seeing it three times I hadn't followed every character.
The story itself is inspired by Woyzeck, a fractured, unfinished play by George Buchner, about a soldier who is driven crazy by his lover's affair and ends up killing her. It also draws on ideas from other works including short story The Sandman, and novels The Day of the Locust and Something Wicked This Way Comes. To quote Punchdrunk's own description, Temple Studios is a place where '...celluloid fantasy clings to desperate realism and certainty dissolves into a hallucinatory world' as we '..[follow] its protagonists along the precipice between illusion and reality.'
For me, it very much gave a sense of the dark underbelly of the Hollywood dream - voyeurism, exploitation, obsession and corruption. I loved the air of menace that ran through the whole story, the allusions to the malevolent and the supernatural that played with the mind and made everyone very jumpy. I loved how, as the audience, we wandered around this world in eerie white masks as if we were ghosts - we could see the characters but they couldn't see us (or could they...?). The freedom to roam everywhere and be so close to everything completely blurred the fourth wall and, in a crazily beautiful way, brought full circle the very idea of fantasy/reality that was being played out.
I also loved that each person's experience was completely unique to them - only I saw everything the way that I saw it, even though we were all watching the same thing. And because of the story-within-a-story, multiple layered nature of the game that we were playing, we could all be seeing a different layer of the story depending on how deeply we were looking for hidden clues and trying to unravel the secrets. Oh how things clicked into place when reading spoilers afterwards.
I can't wait to see more of Punchdrunk's work. I'd first become aware of them a few years ago when they turned railway arches at Waterloo station into the setting of an immersive play for the launch of a sci-fi horror game for one of the big consoles (found out too late, didn't see it T_T). Their Sleep No More, which has located the story of Macbeth inside a 1930s hotel, is currently running in New York. Will they bring that back over to the UK? Or will their next production be something completely new? I wait with bated breath! Here is Punchdrunk's founder, the genius that is Felix Barrett, to tell you a bit more:
PS. All the scenes you see in the trailers are from the actual sets that were on location.
The Drowned Man is set in a 1960s Hollywood film studio, Temple Pictures. Inside the studio where stars and starlets chase their dreams, two lovers struggle to make ends meet. Tragedy strikes when infidelity, scheming and betrayal drive them apart, leading one of them into ever increasing delusion and paranoia until eventually it ends in a horrific death. Strangely, a similar story unfolds in parallel outside the gates of the studio among the people of the town. Even more mysteriously, something happened to Temple Studios itself, which we are told was shut down overnight for an unknown reason...
Do you know Punchdrunk? They made their name through pioneering large scale immersive theatre where audience members are free to roam and interact with the sets, the story and the characters.
I'd been to an open air promenade play before (based on Lords and Ladies, the Discworld book by Sir Terry Pratchett) which was staged in a park and where the audience followed the actors around the various scenes as the story unfolded. But we were still only watching in the background. Punchdrunk's productions are truly immersive. They convert huge disused buildings into unbelievably detailed sets and you are allowed to go wherever you want as the actors enact the story around you. There's no right or wrong way to go about it, you choose what you want to do and see. Though, 'seeing' doesn't describe the complete sensation, it's more 'experiencing'. You don't just watch as a passive audience, you have to work for it by choosing what to do. Very often you have to chase after the characters (up and down stairs, through narrow corridors, across forests and deserts...) as they go about their business. You can stand right next to the actors in a fight, sit at their desks, eavesdrop on intimate conversations, read a note they've read, look through cabinets, walk into their homes, riffle through their belongings... the amazing sets, the sounds, the smells, the music, the lighting, and the actors, all catapult you into the world that the story creates. It is as if you are watching from inside the story, beside the characters. It's like a live-action computer game. There are some rules though - all audience members have to wear a mask, talking is not allowed, and you are encouraged to explore on your own. A lot of it is practically in the dark, with only strategic lighting to guide you through the huge maze of rooms and sets. The more you search, the more secrets you uncover. And if you are very brave (and very lucky), you might find yourself rewarded with a special interaction.
For The Drowned Man, four floors of an old postal sorting warehouse was converted into Temple Studios and its town. The scale and detail of the sets were just incredible. To give you an idea of the sheer size, it played host to around 40 cast and 600 audience members at full capacity, with lots of space still left over. There was a working cinema inside. Yes really! You could have gotten lost in there. Each show ran for three hours but that was still not enough to see everything. You could easily have spent it just exploring the sets and rummaging through the details. And if you decided to follow the characters, there were multiple story lines happening simultaneously all over the four floors and it was impossible to follow everything. My friend and I missed a whole floor on the first visit and even after seeing it three times I hadn't followed every character.
The story itself is inspired by Woyzeck, a fractured, unfinished play by George Buchner, about a soldier who is driven crazy by his lover's affair and ends up killing her. It also draws on ideas from other works including short story The Sandman, and novels The Day of the Locust and Something Wicked This Way Comes. To quote Punchdrunk's own description, Temple Studios is a place where '...celluloid fantasy clings to desperate realism and certainty dissolves into a hallucinatory world' as we '..[follow] its protagonists along the precipice between illusion and reality.'
For me, it very much gave a sense of the dark underbelly of the Hollywood dream - voyeurism, exploitation, obsession and corruption. I loved the air of menace that ran through the whole story, the allusions to the malevolent and the supernatural that played with the mind and made everyone very jumpy. I loved how, as the audience, we wandered around this world in eerie white masks as if we were ghosts - we could see the characters but they couldn't see us (or could they...?). The freedom to roam everywhere and be so close to everything completely blurred the fourth wall and, in a crazily beautiful way, brought full circle the very idea of fantasy/reality that was being played out.
I also loved that each person's experience was completely unique to them - only I saw everything the way that I saw it, even though we were all watching the same thing. And because of the story-within-a-story, multiple layered nature of the game that we were playing, we could all be seeing a different layer of the story depending on how deeply we were looking for hidden clues and trying to unravel the secrets. Oh how things clicked into place when reading spoilers afterwards.
I can't wait to see more of Punchdrunk's work. I'd first become aware of them a few years ago when they turned railway arches at Waterloo station into the setting of an immersive play for the launch of a sci-fi horror game for one of the big consoles (found out too late, didn't see it T_T). Their Sleep No More, which has located the story of Macbeth inside a 1930s hotel, is currently running in New York. Will they bring that back over to the UK? Or will their next production be something completely new? I wait with bated breath! Here is Punchdrunk's founder, the genius that is Felix Barrett, to tell you a bit more:
PS. All the scenes you see in the trailers are from the actual sets that were on location.
Thursday, 10 July 2014
Measure
"If your parents ever measured you as a child, they had you stand against a wall, and made a little pencil mark on the wall to show your growth.
They did not measure you against your brother, or the neighbor’s kids, or kids on tv.
When you measure your growth, make sure to only measure your today self by your past self. If you compare your relationships, your success, or your anything against anyone else, you are not being fair to you.
Everyone has a different path, a different pace, and different challenges to face along the way."
~Doe Zantamata | writer, photographer
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