The Illusionist

I sat in the stadium chair, my hands gripping my knees trying to stop them from quivering.  I'd been waiting for this moment since I was eight years old.  The never ending smile was plastered across my face as I watched the titles on the big screen in front of me. "World's Best Illusionist!" "20 Emmy Awards!" "A Living Legend!"

I'd been a fan of David Copperfield's for longer than I can remember.  I used to watch his tricks and illusions we'd taped off of TV over and over again, the same captivation and excitement overtaking me each time.  He was always someone I had longed to see but never thought I'd actually get to.  So, when I found out he was coming to Cape Breton I thought it was a joke.  I never ever thought that I'd actually get a chance to see the magician of our lifetime.

So, I sat in the stadium chair... awaiting his arrival.  I'm going to relate it to Johnny Depp's version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I felt like one of the golden ticket winners, anxiously waiting to see if Willy Wonka would live up to the expectations that have been built up over the years.  There was a grand introduction, just like in the movie... which built up my expectations even more.  David Copperfield eventually appeared on a motorcycle... which came out of nowhere... which was incredibly fascinating.  The box was empty... then it wasn't.  

I sat, like the golden ticket winner, peering up at the stage thinking, "You're Willy Wonka?"

I think I was expecting the same David Copperfield that was present in the tapes I'd watch at home.  He was lacking ambience... charm; He wasn't as suave as I was hoping he'd still be.  I was expecting him to be... tall and handsome, but there was something very disproportional about him.  

Nonetheless, the show blew me away.  My only complaint was that I wish it was longer than an hour.  I think, in some ways, I was disappointed because I was expecting someone phenomenal... while for the most part, it was all the same tricks I've already seen.  I was hoping to see some favorites that he didn't perform.  I'm sure he puts on a very different show in Las Vegas.  Cape Breton is a small area and the tickets were less than a hundred bucks - so, the show was a hundred dollar show.  I'm sure in places where there's more money, he can afford to put on a more extravagant show.

He did this trick... which was pretty incredible, haha.

I was heartbroken to find out David Copperfield is old, decrepit and mullet-less.  However, if you ever get the chance to see him, I definitely recommend it.  I assure you you'll be blown away by his illusions and magic.  He's more than just a magician... he's a performer.  He builds a relationship with the audience... though, I do agree with other reviews that his show is a little "mechanic" now.  But, I guess... maybe that's inevitable since he's been doing it repeatedly for so long.

What I was expecting:

What I got:

Paranormal Activity Review

I’m a particularly strict critic when it comes to horror films and I’m not especially attracted to films under such genre; However, something about Paranormal Activity’s theatrical trailer and growth in hype captivated me.  Paranormal Activity, a film written and directed by Oren Peli was originally released in 2007, however, didn’t make it to big screens until two years later in 2009.  There was much alteration made to the film, including recuts, editing and alternate endings, in attempt to make it on the big screen.  I’ve seen the original film that was released in 2007 which has a very different ending from what I’ve researched in the version that’s in theaters today.

The seemingly legit documentary centers around a young couple, Micah and Katie who have been together for three years.  Micah purchases a camera in hopes of recording the paranormal phenomena that Katie claims has been haunting her for years. Micah is more fascinated with the technology of the camera than with what’s actually going on with his girlfriend, which shows he is skeptical of her complaints. The “shaky-cam” technique reflects a feeling of intimacy, allowing the viewer to take advantage of the permission authorized to intrude on the couple’s life.  This technique inevitably allows the viewer to relax, familiarly relating the film to their own personal connections with home videos.  Throughout the film, the paranormal activity and strange occurrences seem to heighten as the hand-held camera documents what is going on.

The film successfully builds up anticipation and suspense.  There is an interesting push and pull that I was experiencing while watching the film;  I felt relaxed with the home-video feel and fell in love with the characters, but I was on edge being consciously aware that spine-chilling events would eventually corrupt this feeling of comfortability.  

This film delivers terror triumphantly.  Micah and Katie are an average couple whom most can relate to which makes it easy to emphasize, getting caught up within their situation.  The actors who depict the couple are extremely believable and do anything but come off as a cheap imitation like the characters in the 1999 mockumentary film, The Blair Witch Project.  I was fearful that Paranormal Activity was just to be a knockoff of TBWP.  However, I was anything but disappointed.

The audience is casted as the camera holder, allowing the viewer to easily and unavoidably experience the paranormal activity up close and personal. Paranormal Activity is honest and not exaggerated in a sense that it portrays what I always secretly wanted to encounter:  the evidence of a ghostly presence.  Most horror films consist of inflated, fabricated nightmares with monsters, and unrealistic but horrifying events.  The typical horror film leaves nothing to the imagination while it’s the suspense and the terror of “not knowing” that is evident in Paranormal Activity.  It leaves a lot for the viewer to interpret and imagine, which can be as terrifying as we want it to be.  Even with being scared with the average horror films like, Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th, there’s still the realization that these horror films we watch are at a safe distance from reality.  However, Paranormal Activity is the opposite in the sense that we’re put into the shoes of the camera holder and entrapped within the film itself.  The film ends with the caption, “Dedicated to Micah and Katie” reflecting the feel of an actual documentary which allows the viewer to believe this “mockumentary” is actual recorded evidence of paranormal activity.  The typical horror movie will release its grasp on the viewer, letting them escape and head back into the comfort of reality, while Paranormal Activity doesn’t necessarily give the viewer this safe closure.

I can confidently say that Paranormal Activity is the best horror/thriller film I have seen because it escapes the cliche one would associate with this particular genre and brings to the table a whole new meaning of being scared.  I guarantee you’ll have difficulty sleeping after watching this thriller of a film.

once upon a time

I'm laying on the floor with my sister.  We're on our bellies, pencil crayons in our hands... colouring the pages of my Beauty and the Beast colouring book.  She's watching Matlock.  I hate this show, but I don't care because I'm spending time with my sister. I'm watching her colour the page, envious of her ability to stay inside the lines.  I try to copy her artistic approach.  

It's a Monday night.  My parents are at a meeting; so, my sister is watching me.  After we colour, she does my hair, paints my nails and puts makeup on me.  It's not actually makeup.  She has one of my storybooks on her lap and she uses her makeup brushes to "dip" into the colours displayed on the cover and then pretends to splash the paint onto my face.  I love the way the soft bristles dance against my face and I laugh as she tickles me with the brush.

My parents come home.  I'm anxious at this point because they promised to bring me home a surprise.  They always brought me home a surprise.  It's a surprise, but at the same time I know exactly what it is.  They burst through the door and I run up and hug them.  They hand me a brown paper bag.  I open it up and smile.  Cream Soda and Sour Cream and Onion chips.  The usual.  I love it.  It was such a treat.

***

I had an unbelievably rough day.  Murphy's law was definitely slapping me in the face today with the "everything that can go wrong, will" theory.  After class, I stopped by the store on the way home and bought Cream Soda and SC&O chips.  I don't think I've tasted either since before I was ten years old.  Nostalgia is bouncing against my lips.  All my favourite memories are coming back to me now, swamping out the bad day I just had.  

I think we all get overwhelmed every once in awhile, and sometimes not even venting to people will help.  No matter what, they never say exactly what you want them to say.  I think that we can only strive for relief within our selves. We can achieve this by resorting back to a moment in our lives when we were happiest... and reliving those memories, grasping onto those once-felt feelings.  If you grasp hard enough, you can pull them out into your current situation.  And eventually, those feelings you've grasped from your memories will dilute the stress that's trying so hard to weigh you down.

'Cause everyone's your friend in NYC

I signed up for my critique today.  It's at 2:40pm in the crit room in the Fine Arts building on November 2nd.  So, if you want to show up - feel free!

You may be asking what exactly a crit is.  Well, it's a term very familiar to the Fine Arts world.  It's a pretty big deal come fourth year.  In our first three years, we often "critique" eachothers' works to get us comfortable with offering feedback and talking about our own work.

So, each fourth year student signs up for a time slot.  Fine Arts classes are canceled because the faculty attends these critiques.  In the crit room, I will be exhibiting work that I've been working on independently so far.  People, students and staff, will be invited to look around at the artwork and then be seated.  I'll talk about my purpose and methods.  Questions will be asked.  That sort of thing.  If you find yourself bored at 2:40pm on November 2nd, please show up and take a gander at what I've been working on this year!  It's only an "in progress" crit so none of my work is actually complete.  But you'll get a good feel of where I'm going with it all.  I'd love some extra eyes to view and feel free to offer me your feedback.  I'd certainly appreciate how you feel about it!

It's going to be a busy week with preparing for the 2nd.  Here are the events I have to look forward to/stress over:

October 29th

Leave Sackville

Bus to Halifax

Flight to Newfoundland

October 29th-31st

Halloween festivities spent in St. John's

November 1st

Fly back to Halifax

Bus to Sackville

November 2nd

Critique

November 3rd

Bus to Cape Breton

November 4th

David Copperfield

November 7th

4TH YEAR FINE ARTS NEW YORK CITY TRIP !!!!! 

This trip is "mandatory" to graduate, however, we have to pay for it ourselves.  I'm not complaining about it.  I'm actually really excited;  It'd be much more expensive under any other circumstances like if I decided to go on my own.  I'm... just... broke.  I'm not quite excited about my lack of money.

Ahhhhh.... you can see I have a lot on my plate for the next few weeks.  I have to have everything ready for my critique before I go away to Newfoundland and I'm going to be pretty much nonstop until I get back from NYC.  

I'm so much closer to graduating and I absolutely cannot wait!  I've been thinking a lot about possible options for next year.  I'm almost certain I'm going to be moving to Halifax in May.  I'm more likely to find a summer job there than at home in the Cape.  I'm going to apply to NSCAD.  There are some graduate programs there that I was looking into.  I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my degree and how exactly deep I want to dig into the fine arts world... but I'm going to use next year to find out.  Eventually, I think I want to get my bED to fall back on.  That way, I'll be able to teach if I wanted to.  But I'm definitely going to strive for something much bigger...

Inside my studio

As you may or may not know, I've been writing in diaries and journals since I was eight years old.  It is something I've always loved doing and I've always been passionate about writing.  It's very personal to me; So, I wanted to bring this into my artwork.  I'm making several bodies of work all around the same theme: my diaries.

I've written in my diaries about many different people - some who have impacted my life in a tremendous way.  These people have shaped me into the person I am today; I wouldn't be who I am without the memories I've made with these people and the influence that they've had on me.  

So, I'm doing big watercolour portraits of these people and the title of the work will be a date of a diary entry in which I wrote about them, as well as a line from the specific diary.  The title will become just as significant and meaningful as the artwork itself.  My initial idea was to have my numerous diaries and journals displayed to invite people to flip to the date that's the title of a portrait and read the full entry.  I'm still playing around with ideas and what exactly I want to do.  I've been making color photocopies of my diary entries... I figured I could do something with them.  Perhaps I can make a sculptural book out of them.

Also, I have a bunch of 1ft x 1ft canvases; So, I've been scanning and printing out diary entries onto iron-on transfer paper and ironing them onto material.  I plan on stitching them to the canvases and painting/collage-ing  around them.  That's basically my idea for my fourth year project for this semester.  It's very personal but, to me, that's what artwork is about.

Below are pictures I took of my studio!  Sneak a peek at what I've been working on and where I work at.

Put down the cookie

Ok, so it's Sunday night and you're thinking to yourself, "I'm starting tomorrow!"

I've been there before, too.  Many many times.  The thought sets in, more than likely, after you've stuffed your face with countless calories and sat on your ass all day.  So, you want to start eating healthy and exercising.  It lasts maybe a day or two, and then it rains.  You're sitting at the table peering out the window and say to yourself, "Well, I can't go for a walk or run today... so I'll just take a day off."  Then you think, "Well, if I'm taking a day off I may as well eat that cookie that's sitting on the counter calling my name."

And this is when you usually crash into a downward spiral .  You eat like crap and laze around all week.  Then Sunday night comes and you're thinking to yourself, "I'm starting tomorrow!" 

STOP!  PUT DOWN THE COOKIE!

I'm here to tell you to stop procrastinating and start now!  I'm going to introduce you to my friend, Leslie Sansone.  Her in-home walk program is the best program I've ever been introduced to.  It's motivating and, well, let's face it... some of us aren't physically or mentally equipped to handle the pressures of going to the gym and having to work out in the presence of unbelievably fit people.  It actually nauseates me and makes me less motivated.  So... with Leslie's program you can walk miles upon miles - rain or shine - in the very comfort and privacy of your own home.

You can purchase her DVD's mostly anywhere.  I downloaded a few of her DVD's through torrents online.  I recommend the 4 Mile Super Challenge.

In the summer during camp, my friend Donna and I would pop in the DVD and workout after the kids went to sleep.  The guy counselors would point fingers and laugh at us.  We told them not to laugh until they tried it.  So, they did... and they agreed that it was a super challenge and legit workout.  The workout DVD became something we all did every night as a team.  It felt great to be able to push ourselves to the fourth mile.  It's so rewarding and you feel so great.

Every mile is 15 minutes, so you can decide to quit whenever you want.  I usually try to push myself to go all the way.  The workout is great if you just want to keep healthy or if you're trying to reach a weight loss goal.  The benefits are: a stronger heart and lungs, conditioned muscles which give you a faster metabolism, flexibility and strength! It's so easy and easy enough for absolutely everyone to do it.  

Go to her website http://www.walkathome.com to watch some introduction videos, browse around the website, and read some success stories!  

So... put down the cookie, pop in the DVD and go walk a mile or two.  You'll feel great!

Tears For Fears

I was in swimming lessons from ages five to seventeen.  Every Saturday.  When I entered the level where diving was introduced as a new requirement, panic swarmed inside my stomach.  I watched as the instructor showed us how to kneel onto the edge of the pool deck and dive into the water.  My hands clenched by my side and my stomach flopped.  I snuck into the bathroom and waited until I thought my turn to dive had passed.  I did this every and any time we had to do dives.  I managed to avoid conquering my fear for years... until it became time to be a lifeguard.  

I secretly confessed to my Nationals instructor my secret fear of diving.  There was a segment in the course where everyone lined up on the edge of the pool deck.  I watched each and every one of them dive into the water.  They motivated me and encouraged me to do it.  Friends would stand beside me, helping to position my body the correct way for entry.  Their confidence and support helped me overcome the dread associated with diving that day.  I was filled with delight when I finally vanquished what I used to think was out of reach. 

Reliving that day and realizing that it's better to not to repress what intimidates me, still doesn't relieve the pain associated with thinking about what tyrannizes me.  

When I was in Jr. High, I remember stressing to no-end about getting tests back.  My heart would pound in my chest as the teacher would call out names one by one to go up to the desk and pick up your test.  I hated this.  Sometimes I'd tell my teachers I'd rather not know.  Don't get me wrong, I never ever did poorly on a test.  I was a 90's student but it still didn't change the fact that the possibility of doing bad made my stomach ache.  My teachers would laugh, shake their heads, and shove my test in my face.  That same sense of relief I felt when I conquered diving always consumed me when I became conscious of the fact that I did good on a test.

I know it's irrational to run from your fears.  It's irrational to pretend to be happy wallowing in oblivion because we can't repress the unknown forever.  And, when asked "would you rather be hurt by the truth or be happy believing a lie" I always respond "truth" because I'd rather be faced with reality than pretending to be impervious.  

It's hard to face your fears.  But once you do, you can shove them in your past and wave goodbye.  Saying goodbye isn't pretty but it's uglier living a lie.