twenty-two: August 2009

Friday, August 21, 2009

FOR EVERY DRAMA TO BE FOUND, THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF SOUND

If the title of this post rings a bell (as I hope it will to most of you) it's because I'm trying to keep my cool by "Mary-Poppinizing" my actual state of mind. I just got back from a long night out, very diverse and very fun.
First out to watch the local mis-en-scène of La Traviata (I might comment on that later but I'd rather you check out my friend's opera blog and his critique at www.operaperu.com), then dinner at my favorite restaurant with my mother, then drinks with some friends (at this same restaurant's bar) and then to the local club : not precisely the coolest place on the planet.
Just so that you get the picture, two friends of mine told me my outfit was just too nice for that place (one actually said "classy", very cute of him) and that I didn't belong there tonight. I made an effort to stay, a whole group of friends were there, and even though I really have a hard time at ignoring things I dislike (such as the awful music on the loudspeakers) I was enjoying myself because I was surrounded by people I care for.
All of a sudden, the club got some sort of notice that it had to be shut down immediately (*). People rushed to the coat check and it was chaos. I was lucky enough to be one of the first ones at the counter and managed to get my jacket pretty quick.
As I walked past the huge line of people pushing their way towards the coat check I couldn't help but to show a smile that denoted triumph over everyone else. Unfortunately this smile would then dissolve on my way out of the club when I realized I lost my cell phone. I had kept it with me all night, been careful enough no to leave it inside my jacket, but at some point I just lost it, probably when I ordered a bottle of water at the bar (after giving the bartender a look of despise when he said he had no diet soft drinks at ALL, to which I responded " Is this a GAY BAR or NOT????!!!").
Anyway, the point of this post was that, once again, I think there is a song for every situation. I've already mentioned I have pictured my life as a musical many a time, and I guess tonight's events have lead to me singing the following song out of the blue just before going to bed, here it goes.

(*) It was impossible not to make a cinematic reference when we were forced out of the club. I couldn't help but remember the post-Marseillese scene in Casablanca when Rick's café gets shut down.

Monday, August 17, 2009

FABULOSITY

I am absolutely OBSESSED with this video. I can't stop watching it over and over again. I love the lighting, the wardrobe, the choreography, and OF COURSE I love the song. Even though it's probably one of the most popular and signature songs of the 1970's, I had NEVER seen the video before. I can't get enough of it. I'm just overwhelmed by the visually amusing result of a mix of simple elements and by how utterly cool it can still look up until today, thirty-one years later.
I was listening to Paul Oakenfold's mix of Madonna's new single, Celebration, and there's a tiny bit that sounds just like the "your body, my body..." part. Couldn't help but google it, youtube-it I mean, and there it was.
I think hedonism is probably one the first words that comes to my mind when I think of the disco era, and this video is the perfect example. As usual when I get super excited over something, I can't quite express everything I'm feeling as clearly as I would want to (*insert flashback to that paper on Madonna for my English Media course in high school here*), so that's it. I need to dance to this SOON. Enjoy.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I VOGUED UP FROM BED TODAY

It's been a while since I've been experimenting a new phase in...narcissism (?), I guess that's what I should call it. Most of these "exercises" have come out of boredom, a designer's-block in the middle of work, or something of the sort, but today's came out of my love of all things Madonna. Yes, I am one of those people that actually have August 16th marked on their calendar as a special date, not because I actually need a reminder, but just because I like to have it written down, I guess it keeps the fantasy alive, the fantasy that I actually know her. It also manages to ease the pain of having about 5 friends who share the same birth date as her...1,2,3,4,5...breathe....
Anyway, this is the first series of self-portraits I've decided to publish on my blog. I know that "self-portraits" may sound a bit pretentious, but I do need to stress the fact that all these pictures have been taken by none other than yours-truly. Either with the help of my laptop or my camera on self-timer, all done in private.
Since I already declared this an exercise in narcissism, I'll go all the way. I'm particularly proud (yes, proud) of this one because I think I managed to compose something visually pretty with the few elements my unshaven-self had around at 9am this morning. I will admit I changed into that t-shirt (the one I wore to my famous hand-grabbing moment at the Confessions Tour in 2006), but that was it. As I took the first three pictures I thought I should have done this in a sleep-walking version, but then I realized the first one looked sort of like a Tamara de Lempicka painting (again, in my very own private fantasy)that I like, so then I couldn't help but link that to the opening of the Vogue video where Madonna's own paintings by this artist mix with some of the dancers posing as sculptures.
Even though the whole set of pics is almost like a Vogue tutorial, I actually think my look came out to be very à la Jean Seberg, I guess it must be my short hair, the striped t-shirt and sunglasses. NOUVELLE VAGUE meets VOGUE. Or maybe it's just me. Voilà :