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Your Morning Commute, ImmortalizedBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Someday, something as mundane as commuting to work--waiting in traffic james, taking the bus, riding the Metro--will be seen as social history. You are the specimen and the study is a matter of cultural anthropology. When you swipe your Metro card, you are making history. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
This Ol' Sewing MachineBy The Picture Pharmacist QuailBellMagazine.com Dear fledglings, Has sewing ever given you tetanus? Probably not, unless you 1) sew with a rusty, antique machine, 2) said bloody hell to getting your shot. But if you are one of those rare few whose crafty pursuits have made you ill, maybe you want to commemorate the event. Put something in your scrapbook. Show the grandchildren. Of course, when you had the dreaded 't,' you never photographed your sweating, convulsing body (well, maybe your weird cousin Phil did.) That doesn't mean it's too late to illustrate those fond memories. Simply download this image of a cute ol' sewing machine, pop it into Photoshop, and play around with your toolbox. You might even make a .gif! Or...not. Either way, until next time... Yours truly, The Picture Pharmacist
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Take home a piece of QB.Dear fledglings, We know that our Etsy shop has been severely lacking love for the past several months. It was never what it should've been in the first place. Alright? We admit it. An empty store is not much of a store. So, we've decided to change that. We have our pride. We want an awesome shop. We want it to have inventory at all times. You shouldn't find our store empty anytime soon. In fact, in the past 48 hours alone, we've brought our inventory up to 20 items. By the end of the week, we fully intend to have 100 different goodies! So please check out our shop and support Quail Bell Press & Productions, the quirky collective responsible for Quail Bell Magazine. You'll be supporting various collective endeavors, from Quail Bell Express to Comicality Magazine to our documentary, "The Persistence of Poe" to our fall fashion show, "Once Upon a Time II: Forgotten Folklore." Just read the item description to see what particular project your purchase will support. Thanks so much for your time and interest! Feathery hugs, The QB Crew The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
La MinervaBy QB Camera Eye QuailBellMagazine.com A fountain and monument, La Minerva not only pays tribute to the Roman goddess Minerva, but she also represents her home city--Guadalajara, Mexico. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Vegan in Sportsman's ParadiseSurrealist Animal Artist, Amy GuidryBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Born in Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1976, Amy Guidry has always been a Southern girl, but, more importantly, she has always been an artist. Before she learned how to write, she drew obsessively--going through a whole package of paper in less than a fortnight. By the time Amy became a student at Loyola University in New Orleans, the choice to major in Visual Arts was an obvious one. The university awarded Amy the Loyola University Art scholarship, an honor bestowed upon a single student per graduating class. Amy has built her career upon her talent as a surrealist whose work evidences vegan themes. Her paintings have been exhibited across the United States, in galleries and museums, in venues like the Women's research Center at Brandeis University, the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Several of her works also belong to private and public collections and have even ben featured on MTV's "The Real World, Season 20: Hollywood." That's not to mention the publications--like American Artist Magazine and Studio Visit--that have also recognized Amy's paintings. Wally Workman Gallery in Austin and The Oak Street Gallery in Hammond, Louisiana represent Amy's fantastical paintings. I recently exchanged emails with Amy to find out more about her upbringing and thoughts on art: Courtesy of Amy Guidry Why have you chosen paint as your medium? Have you tried your hand at digital illustration before? What do you think of digital art? I've always loved to draw and have done a lot of black and white work with different media. I eventually moved to painting because it allowed me to maintain the same precision and control but with color. I'm going to date myself here, but I had done some digital illustration using PC Paintbrush back in the day. It was just for fun, and I liked the challenge of drawing with a mouse but it just doesn't allow for the same look and feel of a painting. Clearly the digital world is light-years ahead now and I do think there are some great digital artists out there, but it's just not my preferred medium. If you had to paint the same subject over and over for the rest of your life (but in different ways, however you wished), what would you choose? Animals have always been a popular subject for me, that's probably as specific as I can get as I can't say there is any one species I prefer over another. I love them all. I've drawn animals since I was a kid and have always had an interest in helping animals at a very young age. How has being born and raised in the South influenced your work--or does answering that question require too much speculation? I can't say that my work is a direct result of my location, but there are some issues I've tackled with my work that may be of particular interest to some because I live in Louisiana. The state nickname is "Sportsman's Paradise" which, not that everyone here is necessarily a carnivore, but it is a popular state for hunting. As a vegan artist, I use my work to take on issues such as animal welfare and environmental destruction which is something that takes place across the globe. The fact that I've mostly lived in the South all my life is really a footnote to a larger issue. How's it possible to be a full-time artist in the age of the Internet? People have Flickr, Tumblr, and Pinterest, and for many, that's enough. Actually I think the internet has been a big plus to the art world. Because of sites such as Flickr or Pinterest, many people that have never given much thought to art or have not had much by way of an arts education, are being exposed to artists from all over the world. I believe the more people can see art and become familiar with various styles, media, movements, then the more appreciation they have for art and the more likely they are to collect. Other art forms--music or writing, for example--are more readily available and discussed among the general public and have received more general acceptance [because of the Internet]. Visual art has always maintained this mystery in which people find it intimidating and assume you have to either be an artist or an art historian to understand it. Clearly that is not true. Just as I am a far cry from being a musician, yet I love music. The Internet is really helping to improve this and make art a part of our dialogue and raising awareness of the role and importance of art and art institutions. Your work has traveled everywhere, but have you? What are some of your top towns and cities, either domestically or abroad? What about them speaks to you as an artist or is just plain fun? I can't always travel with my work and sometimes I've even had two or more openings going on at the same time in different places, so that poses a problem as well. When I can travel, I love to take the opportunity to visit new places and revisit those that are my favorites (as of now). I recently went to Chicago and loved it. The architecture alone is enough of a reason to visit. I am in Austin every so often because I am represented by Wally Workman Gallery, and always enjoy my stay there. It's a fun city, there is a lot going on with art and music, of course, but also the natural landscape there is just stunning and inspiring to any artist. I have to include New York City, which as an artist, I love that there are so many great museums and galleries in such a small space, but it is also a fun place to visit and reminds me of New Orleans in some ways. I've been to the Monteverde rainforest in Costa Rica which was for fun, not business, but it's incredibly beautiful and inspirational. Last but not least, I have to include my current residence: Lafayette, Louisiana. I moved here 14 years ago and it's just a great city. It's a college town with a lot of history and culture, and a supportive art community. AmyGuidry.com The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
There's A Whole Box of CigarsThe most gripping fear of first love is its finality. One day it, like a sunset or storm, shall end. There are exceptions, of course—tales of young lovers who shrink and hunch until they become each other's old lovers. Soul mates from age 17. But typically first love does not last. An eternity becomes yesterday. A friend of mine once told me, “Don't think about it ending.” She and her first love enchanted each other their sophomore year of high school. He was the type of rebellious teenage heartthrob who excited a Christian girl like her. Someone reserved yet secretly eager to puff on a cigar in nothing but a pair of Hanes Her Way. The relationship came to a close at the end of their junior year when it hit my friend that, while she had plans for college, her beau did not. Even if he had wanted to attend a four-year school, he lacked the grades, test scores, and money to do so. All of a sudden, my friend realized how different their priorities and philosophies were. She was the owl and he the pussycat. They both wanted the moon, but they could not touch it together. They didn't even want to travel to the moon the same way. The possibility of them never exploring the depths of a crater together had never occurred before occurred to her. By the time my friend told me her story, she was pursuing someone else. A few years had passed since her Danny and Sandy days. The loyalty she had once harbored for her first love had faded. He was a memory, not an idol or a human being. Just a memory. First love is an apple waiting to fall from the tree—and trees do not grow on the moon. Maybe a flock of doves will swoop down and pluck the apple before it falls, bringing it closer and closer to the stars on a perfect, balmy evening. But, more than likely, that apple will fall and hit an unlucky worm on the head. It's a sad thought, yes. Yet you needn't dwell on it. Comfort yourself with the moment you have now: the full box of cigars, staring each other down in your Fruit of the Looms, maybe with “Grease” playing in the background. Don't think about it ending. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Call for all 501c3 lovers!Do you run an arts, historical, or otherwise cultural non-profit? Volunteer at one? Donate to one? Tell us the name of your favorite Quail Bellish non-profit and you might just see it given some extra special love here on The Real. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Yabba dabba water do?By The Science Squad QuailBellMagazine.com Next time you wish your water bottle contained a more exciting beverage, just remember that it's the same water that dinos drank. It's all because of this nifty thing called the water cycle you learned about in grade school. The water cycle is so gosh darn efficient that only 0.001% of the total water on earth is in the atmosphere at any given time. Wondering how much of the earth's fresh water is up there? Only 0.04%, so feel free to chug away during the summertime or anytime. You're not wasting anything. The Jetsons will drink the same water the Flintstones once did. But how does the water cycle work? By magic? No, there's no alchemy going on here. It's all science. Water in the atmosphere returns to earth as precipitation, like rain or snow, eventually going through infiltration, the process by which water enters the soil Then the water says sayonara to the soil and returns to the atmosphere via evaporation, hovering in the sky again as condensation in the form of clouds and water droplets. Phew! Quite a few 'ation' words there. How are you going to remember them all? With the water rap! It's the water cycle, yo! Give me a P for precipitation! Give me an I for infiltration! Give me an E for evaporation! Give me a C for condensation! Precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, condensation! Again, brother! Precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, condensation! Oh, yeah! Yabba dabba do! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Memory-making at Virginia BeachBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com It's the beach you've always known, but why not explore it again? Your piggy bank squeals madly at the thought of Cancun or Miami, and, besides, Virginia Beach's only a three-hour traffic jam away from Washington, D.C. Sure, as a Washingtonian/Virginian/Marylander, you've seen the boardwalk zillions of times. You've practically nicknamed each grain of sand. Yet Virginia Beach will be different this trip. Everyone says it's changed. There are still 35 whopping miles of waterfront property and the ocean hasn't body-swapped with the Gulf of Mexico yet, but it's changed. You'll lasso up all your college friends and go binging...er, shopping...er, swimming. Right. Swimming. This is going to be the best end -of-summer-trip ever. You will leave so early that you'll wake up the roosters. You will sit in the car listening to audio books that should not have been recorded because their print versions weren't even that great in the first place. Your S.O. will fall asleep looking at the map. Many years later, you will arrive at the beach with no real intention of putting on your trunks or bikini top. All your friends will agree. It's too hot. There are too many bugs. Why not look at the ocean from the bar? There's AC there. Maybe you should've gone with your family instead. At least your six-year-old niece would've ventured into the water. You could've made sand castles with your father. At some point, maybe you and your uncle would've gone fishing, or your mother would've pulled out a pail of steamed crabs. The only downside would've been Grandma insisting on stopping at a dozen gift shops to buy “I [heart] Virginia” T-shirts for every grandchild. But you'd never turn down a free T-shirt (even if you owned eight of the same one already.) After visiting more stores and restaurants than those things called “beaches,” you and your friends will go home. It truly was the best end-of-summer trip ever: Nobody got stung by a jellyfish and you have the perfect Facebook profile pic with Neptune. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Celebrate a Digitized SesquicentennialNow you can read Civil War documents on your iPad. That's because archivists from The Library of Virginia are scanning privately-owned manuscripts and posting them on the Library of Virginia's and Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission's websites. The project's called The Civil War 150 Legacy Project. The point of digitizing these files is to make them accessible. In March and April 2011, the team traveled from Charlottesville to Roanoke to Norfolk (and several other places throughout Virginia). During their visits, anyone could come to the specified location, often a public building such as a library or community center, and present their Civil War documents to be scanned for the project. Examples of represented manuscripts include letters, photographs, hand-drawn maps, military passes, and more. Isn't it time your great-great-great-grandfather's diary was read and seen by all? You might just find it in The Civil War 150 Legacy Project. VirginiaCivilWar.org/Legacy The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Everybody Knows Hello KittyBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com Everybody knows Hello Kitty, whether it's your three-year-old niece or your grandma. She's a global icon, thanks to the success of her parent company, Sanrio. Sanrio is a business with worldwide star power. According the college textbook Business (11th edition by Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor), “international business encompasses all business activities that involve exchanges across national boundaries” (73). One example of an international business with an artistic bent is Sanrio Company, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo. Sanrio specializes in what they describe as “social communication gifts,” greeting cards, books, restaurants, movies, musicals, and even theme parks. They are famous for their sweet characters, like Hello Kitty and My Melody. Sanrio's merchandise receives great attention all over the world, doing especially well with children and teenage girls. Their official slogan is befittingly cute: “Small gift, big smile.” Established in 1960 in Japan, Sanrio netted over 76 billion yen in 2011 alone. The company employs over 777, excluding contract workers. Currently Sanrio's Chief Executive Officer is founder Shintaro Tsuji. Company subsidiaries in Japan include Sanrio Entertainment Co., Ltd., Kokoro Co., Ltd., Sanrio Far East Co., Ltd., Sanrio Car Lease Co., Ltd., and several others. Abroad, Sanrio has subsidiaries in the United States, Brazil, Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, and China. Sanrio has not always been a global business, however. They started with 1 million yen in capital and wholesaling silk and rubber sandals as their trade. Tsuji quickly noticed that sandals with characters on them sold better than characters without—an observation that eventually inspired him to turn Sanrio into the character farm it is today. From there, the company transitioned to producing content for publications. Their first poetry collection, entitled “Beloved Songs,” came out in 1966. It was not until 1969 that they even opened their first shop, the Gift Gate in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. In 1973, the company changed their name to the present Sanrio Company, Ltd. and moved the headquarters to Gotanda, Tokyo. That same year, they opened a restaurant and engaged in their first film projects. The company continued expanding, with Sanrio Film Corporation of America opening in Hollywood, California in 1974. From there on out, Sanrio became an international namesake: they launched their ever-popular Hello Kitty character. Now Sanrio operates several stores in California and even runs a high-end boutique in Times Square called Sanrio Luxe. About 12,000 different locations in the Western hemisphere sell Sanrio merchandise today. Today Hello Kitty reigns as a merchandise queen, with products like clothes, shoes, accessories, stationery, gifts, and all kinds of entertainment. Other top Sanrio characters include The Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Keroppi, Jewelpet, Tuxedo Sam, Chococat, Cinnamonroll, and Badtz-Maru. Every year, Sanrio adds three new characters and retires older, less profitable ones. The Medinge Group of Sweden awarded Sanrio “Top Brand with a Conscience” in 2003 for some of its global efforts in social justice. Since 1984, Sanrio has worked with UNICEF and after the 2011 Japanese earthquake, Sanrio donated heavily to earthquake victims. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Words & Language--your friendly weapons?By QB Provocateur QuailBellMagazine.com Most people drift in their language, aimlessly employing words that do not accurately or adequately portray their feelings and loyalties. They do no consider how words shape their identities and influence how others perceive them. Are you one of those people? Or are words your friendly weapons? The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Using Online Media for Product InnovationBy Mademoisella Alouette QuailBellMagazine.com Image courtesy of blog.eogn.com Artists, designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs alike are becoming increasingly dependent upon online media for product innovation. They turn to the Internet to fulfill needs involving research, marketing, advertising, communication, and even innovation itself. More precisely, here are some of the ways innovators employ the Internet for the purposes of conception, implementation, and marketing their innovations: The conception of an innovation demands both creativity and research. While it is not always clear what fuels creativity, research is a much more concrete process. In this day and age, innovators of all kinds conduct a fair amount of research online. The Internet helps them fact-check, read up on product/service/company history, find press releases, watch interviews, download legal documents and information, and more. Broadly, these abilities allow them to get context and come up with new ideas. More specifically, these abilities allow them to structure businesses plans, get design inspiration, and learn about their competition. Examples of online tools that may be particularly useful for innovators and their research include JSTOR, ARC (Archival Research Catalog), Microfilm Catalog, AAD (Access to Archival Databases), and numerous others. Some of these resources offer content directly online, while others facilitate the process for finding and obtaining physical content, such as books, paper documents, and videos. Undoubtedly, communication between innovators is essential for the flow of ideas and exchange of technical, legal, and business information. The speed and affordability of Internet communication expedites conversations between innovations. Examples of online communication tools for innovators include Quirky, Threadless, Incuby, and IdeaWicket. Depending upon how they are utilized, more mainstream social networking websites like Facebook can facilitate communication between innovators, as well. Google’s array of tools, such as Gmail Chat and Google Docs, have huge potential for the exchange of innovative ideas, as well. Marketing a product is very nearly as important as coming up with the idea for it. After all, without marketing, the product will likely never build a client base. Marketing has become faster and more stream-lined thanks to the Internet. GoDaddy and Survey Monkey offer customizable polls and surveys that allow innovators to gauge customer preferences, opinions, and satisfaction within hours and minutes, as opposed to months and years. The concept of an electronic poll is arguably innovation in and of itself. The opportunities to advertise a product innovation online and the innovations created for online advertising purposes abound. Take the concept of video advertising alone. Because of email and other online communication tools, any web video has the potential to go viral. Even ‘unsuccessful’ videos typically garner dozens of page views. Since websites like YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, Veoh, and Flickr are free to join, innovators only pay for the cost to make their videos—not to “air” them. Compare that to traditional broadcast television, where a single one-minute commercial spot can cost anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars. Web-building websites, like Weebly, make it simple to quickly embed the HTML code from a YouTube or Vimeo video. By putting the video in more spots, the innovator increases the chance of his video being seen. Apart from video, online advertising manifests itself in the form of social networking and blogging, too. Tumblr, for instance, allows users to share anything—audio, video, images, writing—in a two-step process, regardless of theme. An innovator could easily use this to his advantage by constantly sharing content related to his product or service (or even just vaguely related thoughts and ideas). The Internet is not only all about innovation; it is innovation. All of the aforementioned goods and services are examples of innovations created as a result of the Internet—and innovators would be wise to use them! Imagine. Everything from Ebay to Yahoo! to Drawger would simply not exist if it were not for the Internet. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Post-colonial Spice in PRBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com Though el Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista boasts 47 square miles, as a tourist, you're likely to see only three square miles of it: El Viejo San Juan, the second-oldest European city in the Americas. There, history is hip. But if you're a traveler not bound by a cruise ship schedule, the city invites you to see more than castles on the Caribbean. Somewhere between the old and the new lies the real San Juan in its truest, most beautiful (and most fun!) form.
JUGAR ES VIVIR. Given its petite size, Old San Juan calls for walking. But never fear, there is also a free trolley that circulates throughout the blue cobble-stoned district. Must-sees are plentiful. Two forts—el Morro and San Cristóbal—guard San Juan with reverence for the city's walled past. El Morro, the older of the two citadels, dates back to the 16-century and has six levels, a lighthouse, and a plaza that could hold over 200,000 gallons of rainwater. After touring the forts, hit La Casa Blanca, Ponce de León's family residence, or the San Juan Cemetery, a seaside resting place for many famous Puerto Ricans. That's not to mention Paseo de la Princessa, a 19th-century promenade, Parque de las Palomas, a renowned pigeon park, or one of the area's several museums and other notable sites. Had enough of the historical stuff? Hang out at Condado Beach for sunny amusement, nightclubs and resorts. You might also try the bustling Puerto Rico Convention Center, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Antiguo Casino, or Teatro Tapia (historical but with a contemporary program.) ¿CUANTO CUESTA? Stroll through San Juan for high-fashion and local souvenirs alike. Puerto Rican Arts and Crafts delivers exactly what its name implies: quality work by native artisans, from ceramics to jewelry. Interestingly enough, there's also a place called Haitian Gallery, which specializes in Haitian and Indonesian folk art, like woodwork and furniture. Cigar seekers should try The Cigar House or El Galpón, while fine jewelry hunters might try Vogue Bazaar or Casa Diamante. Chain stores, from Marshall's to Radio Shack, pop up here and there with a PR-twist, as well. ¡A COMER! With a whole menu of restaurants catering to every preference, Old San Juan is for foodies. La Fonda del Jibarito cooks up authentic Puerto Rican delights. For Puerto Rican flavors fused with Spanish, African and Taíno Indian influences, go for Parrot Club. Thinking something different? Dragonfly offers Asian cuisine while 311 specializes in classic French food. Outside of San Juan, locals swear by Ajili Mojili and Café Angel in Condado. Just remember that before you leave Puerto Rico, you must try mofongo, a fried, spicy plantain dish with your choice of filling. Y MAS... A longer stay in San Juan merits some further out exploration. Located immediately east of San Juan's Condado, Isla Verde is a beach-y place with coral reefs that also houses Piñones State Forest, a natural reserve full of mangrove trees. For even more eco-adventure, El Yunque, the only rainforest in the United States, lies but an hour away from San Juan. Many tour buses trek from San Juan's hotels to the 28,000-acre rainforest. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Bíonn adharca fada ar na ba thar lear.
By Hannah Grubbs QuailBellMagazine.com The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Latin American Theatre Come to LifeBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com If you ever thought that the performing arts in Latin America were limited to mariachi, Washington, D.C.'s Teatro de la Luna will prove you wrong. This Arlington-based, 501c3 theatre company promotes Hispanic culture in bilingual performances, from plays to staged readings to poetry marathons to puppet shows. Since 1998, they've put on the Festival Internacional de Teatro Hispano, a month-long celebration of Spanish language, folklore, and original stories every October. This season starts off with Arpas de América, a Latin American harp concert series on September 14 and 15 at Rosslyn Spectrum in Arlington, Virginia (Metro-Orange/Blue lines.) Come get a taste of anthropology in action. TeatroDeLaLuna.org
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Things To Say When You Inevitably Find Yourself At An Instagram Art Gallery By Dan Hanlon QuailBellMagazine.com Everyone’s on Instagram nowadays. That includes President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Dane Cook, and probably your mom since Oprah’s on it and your dumb friend Craig who finds Dane Cook funny. So really it’s just a matter of time until you find yourself in an art gallery staring at a wall of Instagram photos trying to think of a smart comment to impress your friends with. If you’re a time-traveler from anytime before 2009 or anytime after the Instagram fad and don’t know what Instagram is, it’s a cellular telephone application and Internet website that allows users to post and share photos that have been filtered to look vintage. If you don’t know what telephones, the Internet, or photos are, I suggest time travelling back to a different time. With many real photographers and people who think they’re real photographers using Instagram, it could soon be considered art. In order to prepare you to make smart-sounding comments, I have taken the most instagrammy Instagram photo in existence. It might even take home the Instagrammy at the InstaGrammy Awards, if there happened to be such a thing. Here it is: Notice that the photo doesn’t contain any people and is off center. This indicates that the photo was taken by someone who actually thinks they have photography talent. In actuality, they’re just someone who downloaded a free cell phone app and pressed a button, much like I did when randomly pointing my phone-camera to take this terrible photo. However, in the future, when everyone has replaced real photography with Instagram, this will be considered art. Millions will flock from around the globe to see this photo, having no idea what The Mona Lisa is.
So, finally, here are some art critic-like things to say when you see a photo like this in an InstaGallery (or just sarcastic Facebook comments you can make to your friends that post Instagrams 24/7): “I think the power-lines protruding the tree line symbolize society’s struggle to balance nature with technology.” “The clouds are dark and ominous in the top right yet bright and hopeful in the top left. I think it’s saying, “Yes, things get better, but only if you search in the right places.”“ “It’s almost as if the tree branches are ever so slightly reaching to the sky and the heavens above, perhaps representing man’s unknowing of space and death.” “I believe that the vintageness of the photo is perhaps a commentary on man’s desire to live in the past, or even more likely, a struggle to move on.” “The black border shouts, “Look at me! I’m here and not afraid to admit it, Look at me and judge me as you will! I am not afraid!…Look….at….me…”“ “Half of the photo is a tree and the other half is the sky. It says to me “Where do you want to live your life, in the trees OR IN THE SKY?”“ And last but not least... “Hey, that looks like a horrible photo someone took with Instagram. Let’s get out of here.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Creation and DestructionBy Oliver Wood QuailBellMagazine.com If there is anything truly universal that can be said about man, it is that he is a builder and destroyer, and at both; he is nature's genius. The slightest bit of observation proves the case. We only have to open a history book, or inspect the archaeological record, to see that no other animal has built anything on the same scale as him, and we hardly have to walk further than the length of our street to see that he has destroyed – mainly through tarmac – more of the planet's surface than any other creature. Yet like anything that has a capacity for genius, once that genius has already accomplished its best works, he is very likely to become complacent. It is all too easy for him to build tall and brash because he feels his work in delicate cottages and maisonettes justifies it. It is almost impossible for him to resist destroying his enemy with heavy artillery because, whether consciously or not, he feels that the gentile rules of pugilism have already proved that it is possible for him to be noble and civilized. As his body of work in demolition and construction increases, rather than becoming more and more refined in his skill, he is in fact much more likely – as is the trend with most geniuses – to become more and more a bogus buffoon; passing off any scrap of third-rate material as one of his defining epics. He may even, at his most bloated and self-indulgent, start to claim copyright of things that were never his in the first place – land, planets, even abstract sequences of genetic code have fallen victim to these pretensions at various points in time. From the point of view that most forms of genius are improved by revealing to them their limitations (there is, after all, nothing as effective in encouraging an artist than exposing him to the highest examples of his art) it is quite possible that we could improve man's creative-destructive tenancies in a similar way. In this instance, what appears to consistently throw man's achievements into the background, is the thing he seeks to imitate. He might, at his most civic and constructive, give birth to skylines and statues and be very impressed with the results. He may, at his most technologically adrift, acquire the capacity to level whole civilisations with the flick or a switch, and be similarly ecstatic with the aftermath. But if succeeds or fails at either, all his efforts are mitigated by a single fact: that he has no ultimate power to give birth to something as impressive as a living organism from his own body, or deny something its existence before it has even come into being. In other words, from a certain perspective, all man's (and all woman's) artificial creating and undoing is based on the effortless process of childbirth. Perhaps, for some, to point out this sort of limitation is going too far. It may seem more discouraging than inspirational to find out that all man's efforts are based upon something fundamentally beyond him. Yet the point here is not to encourage man to give up his profession or craft to become a pilgrim of the maternity ward. The end goal is not to see men and women cowering in religious circles around fertile bellies. As with introducing any person to the actual extent of their talents, the actual point of the comparison is to help him strive to accomplish something half-way close to his ideal. Beginning with man's most obvious creation's, his buildings, it is worth bearing out which ones succeed and which ones fail in their imitation of child-birth. Beyond their basic functionality, it is clear that buildings which grow organically from their foundations are much more 'birth-like' than ones those separated from their roots. This, however, is not to say that a building must be situated amongst the materials it was built from in order to faithfully reflect the process of the womb. Foregoing the fact that a thing which perpetually clings to its mother is unnatural, it is the process by which a thing comes into existence, not its subsequent relationship with its surroundings that concerns us here. With this qualification in mind, it should be plain to see which buildings succeed and which fail in their imitation. A building which takes years of planning; going through countless stages of redesign, conceived and re-conceived by many different minds is hardly ever 'birth-like' and is almost uniformly ugly. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Journeying Through JewelrySometimes a class reminds you of what you already know. Other times, a class reminds you that you know nothing. The latter can change your life, or at least a couple of your opinions. As far as I'm concerned, epiphanies are always welcome. Until this past spring, my experience with jewelry-making had been limited to little girls' play: stringing beads onto pink or purple elastic and tying a knot once I'd completed my arrangement. Lisa Frank beads and tubs of pony beads bought at the dollar store were standard fare—their colors cute in their gaudiness. My creations often became friendship bracelets or party favors. That was no longer the case after taking a class at the local arts center during my last month of college. When I first walked into Lynn's class, I was feeling down. Only two weeks stood between graduation and me. It had been an arduous day at college, full of the dreaded three Ps: Presentations. Papers. Projects. I had barely survived the day and would've rather been at home taking a nap or a bubble bath. Instead, I mustered up every ounce of friendliness in my body and began chit-chatting, lest I be accused of grumpiness. I immediately betrayed my ignorance in the art of jewelry-making. Lynn had asked each one of us to explain our previous jewelry-making experience, and I told the class exactly what I told you. The class, which was full of older women, laughed. They appreciated my honesty and were amused by my naivete. I shrugged. I wasn't going to pretend I knew more than I did. I just wanted my rubber ducky.
We started learning and making on the first day. I was thrilled to be using my hands in a new way, to discover a new skill I might have. Lately I had been doubting my hands. I did not believe in their strength or their ability to render anything beautiful. I had been going through a phase of listlessness spurred on by disappointment. These days, no amount of effort seemed to will my hands into making what I envisioned. A lot that disappointment had to do with college graduation, with everything feeling so final and so telling of the rest of my future. My hands were useless—until Lynn showed me otherwise. At first I was frustrated because I could not work the wire as quickly or as easily as Lynn. But I was being too hard on myself; Lynn had a professional record that stretched over thirty years. Other than that, there was the main fact that I just needed to relax. My muscles were too tense. I was terrified because I was convinced that I couldn't do it. Lynn kindly coached me into calming down. Suddenly the wire started to obey my hands. My bad mood gradually cleared. My hands could make things, lovely things, things I had never imagined they could make because they had never tried before. Through observation and practice, I was getting the hang of basic metal jewelry over the course of those few weeks. My hands had a new purpose. But I only realized this because of Lynn's class. Had it not been for her, I might've continued thinking that my hands had no artistic life left in them, that they never would've picked up a new trade again. Fortunately, I was wrong. Fortunately, my hands had found a place in the world of metal jewelry. And fortunately one class changed my outlook on creation: Before you can make anything, you must have faith, faith that you can make it and make it well. One class gave me faith. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
You can create art anywhere.Image by tickr on Flickr.com Dear fledglings,
You can create art anywhere--no matter where you live. Never use location as an excuse to stop (or never even start) creating. Maybe you don't live in an "artistic" city. Maybe you didn't go to art school or enroll in a creative writing program. Throw away your excuses. Talk about when, no where. And when is now. Create now and create fearlessly. Feathery hugs, The QB Crew The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Ten Thousand Villages Does Business RightBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com Ten Thousand Villages perfectly exemplifies the concept of an ethical small business. The company functions as a fair trade organization that promotes the handicrafts of disenfranchised artisans in developing countries. More specifically, they train and consult such artisan groups to make their handicrafts environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and overall appealing to Western consumers. Ten Thousand Villages then provides the artisan groups with retail space for their handicrafts in places where the average resident has the type of interest and disposable income to make purchases. The business particularly works with communities in South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America, but also collaborates with communities in Africa and the Middle East. Part of the Mennonite Central Committee, Ten Thousand Villages pays its artisans one-third of its revenue; the rest goes toward covering costs (importing, retail costs, marketing, administration, etc.). The business accomplishes all of this with only 294 employees. This 501c3, American-based business was founded in Pennsylvania, where it remains headquartered today. Edna Ruth Byler, a businesswoman inspired by her Mennonite Christian upbringing, established Ten Thousand Villages in 1946 after taking a mission trip to Puerto Rico and witnessing a degree of poverty she had never seen before. Today's CEO is Craig Schloneger and Yvonne Martin serves as Chair of the Board. Annual revenue hit $23.4 million in 2006, though net income was only $1.064 million the same year. In 2011, total revenue reached over $24.9 million. Ten Thousand Villages operates 74 stores across the United States, including one in Richmond's Carytown and soon another in Downtown. In 2011, sales from these stores alone amounted to $11,435,348. Ten Thousand Villages also has contracts with other retail spaces, e-commerce from its website, and sales made at festivals. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Fantastic writing is only the beginning of the magicWriting: In the words of The Chicago Tribune, Guillermo del Toro's “Pan's Labyrinth” is a fairy tale for grown-ups. The film works as a parable, which is always a difficult genre to pull off in a non-medieval context. But the film also functions as a convincing work of hyper-realism, especially with its portrayal of violence during the Spanish Civil War. (Del Toro's other film about the Spanish Civil War is “Devil's Backbone.”) The fairy tale and realist portions of the film complement each other because they are both matters of extremes. When they meet, there is balance. This balance is evident at a very basic storytelling level that the acting, production design, cinematography and other more visual elements of the film progress in a natural, persuasive, and engaging way.
Ofelia is a compelling character because she experiences conflict. As a dreamer coping with the death of her father and her mother's re-marriage, her emotional growth has been a little stunted. Even though she is on the verge of puberty, she still believes in fairy tales. At the same time, she lives in a less than idyllic point in history. Violence and pain take many shapes in her life: her mother is sick with child; her step-father is a serial murderer; war and blood-shed abound. Ofelia can choose to mature and accept reality or ignore reality and remain in her fairy tale world. She chooses the latter to her detriment. All of the adults in Ofelia's life face a similar, though less literal predicament. Each one must cope with the Spanish Civil War. The question is, how? Del Toro does not blatantly answer it, though he actively portrays Fascism as cruel and disgusting (primarily through the development of Captain Vidal's character.) Ofelia's mother, for instance, chooses to cope with the loss of her first husband to the war by marrying a sadistic military man. Ultimately that decision leads to her death: Vidal never treats her kindly, only caring for the child she carries. When she dies, Vidal does not mourn her, proud instead that she produced a male heir to carry on his evil legacy. Vidal, of course, dies, too, indicating that del Toro has no answer for how to deal with war (except to avoid having it in the first place.) Of the film's heavy fairy tale influences, del Toro said: “I have been fascinated by fairy tales and the mechanics as work in them since my early childhood. I have enjoyed reading the original versions of Grimms' Fairytales and have always found that the form itself lends easily to deeply disturbing images. Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde in fact have some tales of thinly veiled S&M, full of horrific and brutal moments.” Other authors who influenced and informed del Toro's understanding of mythology and fairy tales include María Tatar, Jack Zipes, Vladimir Propp, and Bruno Bettelheim. Acting: Ivana Baquero (Ofelia/Princess Moanna) is one of those rare child actors who can perform without obvious self-consciousness. Ivana was 11 when the film was shot, making her a few years older than del Toro had originally wanted for Ofelia. However, Ivana's age does not detract from the story. In fact, it enhances it. She can still play an 'innocent' who believes in fairy tales because she hasn't quite entered puberty. Yet she also has an evolving knowledge of the real world and an immediate need to stop believing in fairy tales, as far as the adults in her life are concerned. Doug Jones (the Faun/the Pale Man) said in an exclusive interview with Reelz Channel that an actor's responsibility is to convince the audience that his character woke up in this organic world. Every actor in the film manages to convince the audience of that. Such nuanced performances are especially important in high-fantasy films since the audience already has to be persuaded that this magical world exists. Expensive props, costumes, and set dressing help, but will ultimately mean nothing if actors cannot deliver natural performances. According to one interview with the director (EatMyBrains.com), del Toro said that Spanish casting agents discouraged him from choosing Sergi López for the role of Vidal. The casting agents said that due to López's history as a melodramatic comedic actor, he could not play such a mean, raw character. However, as all the other actors in the film, López managed to seem real. In his particular case, he portrays Vidal as the film's truest monster, despite his lack of horns or fangs. Of casting, del Toro said, “Casting is a lot of instinct like everything else in filmmaking, and sometimes you can go wrong.” In this case, he was very right. Cinematography: Most of the shots from Ofelia's fantasies are medium and wide to give the viewer a full scope of the fairy tale world. Since this film had a $19 million dollar budget and could afford advanced production design and quality CGI, Guillermo Navarro had some freedom in framing. Production Design: Though “Pan's Labyrinth” uses some CGI, many of the visual effects are the result of careful production design, including advanced make-up and animatronics. In some cases, CGI and animatronics were blended, as with the mandrake root. Prosthetic make-up also played a huge role in the film, particularly with the Faun. Jones spent an average of 5 hours in the make-up chair everyday as latex foam was applied to him. His horns, which were always applied last, weighed 10 pounds. Such attention to detail is necessary for all of the elaborate fairy tales, as well as the fact that this film is also a period piece. Though del Toro had been working on character design for the film for years, Eugenio Caballero, the production designer, and his department prepared for “Pan's Labyrinth” in only three months. Location also contributed to the film. “Pan's Labyrinth” was shot in Central Spain over a period of 11 weeks near Madrid, during the driest summer Spain had experienced in decades. This proved problematic because the story takes place in a lush, fairy tale forest. To overcome this problem, they shot only around the forest's shaded areas where ferns grew. Sound Design: Javier Navarrete, who also scored “Devil's Backbone,” scored “Pan's Labyrinth.” The reoccurring lullaby is haunting, enhancing the film's fear factor. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Tip #3: How to Make Love to a CentaurBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com One way to seduce a centaur is to lick them on the ears. Wiggle that tongue 'til they whinny. That organ's not just for lapping up melting ice cream. Check back over the coming weeks as we reveal more tips for how to make love to a centaur. |
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