“If slaughterhouses had glass walls,

everyone would be a vegetarian. 

 -Sir Paul McCartney

Wow, I completely forgot to mention my weekend trip to Florence, Italy last week.  And ironically enough, I will never forget this trip as it has officially become the most ridiculous weekend of my life, hands down, feet down, “man down.”  

To kick off this adventure, Chris, Caitlin, and myself left for the train station six hours before our scheduled train departure at 10:45 pm.  You may be asking yourself, “why Brendan?” Well, as I have previously mentioned (and will inevitably complain about in the future), Italian transportation is an incredibly large joke.  I thought Delta was bad, but boy, was I proven wrong.  There is this thing here in Europe where workers just go in strike whenever they feel like it: “I think I want a longer lunch break, STRIKE!” “Man that company party last night got weird, STRIKE!” “When in Rome…STRIKE!” Ok, there is a real reason, but it’s more fun to pretend like Europeans are lazier than Americans. Anyways, there was a planned strike for our departure date.  After getting on the wrong bus and taking two hours to make a 30 minute walk to the station, we made it to Termini five minutes before the last train left for the night.  Unfortunately, we had to leave our fellow travelers in Rome to catch the next train in the morning as they hadn’t even left Trastevere yet.  Lucky them…

We arrived in Florence determined to blindly find our hostel and immediately seek out food.  After a while of wandering (and an unplanned run-in with Ilana Wolstein) we decided to take the second option of directions given to us by a bunch of literal stoop kids.  Side note: the first option was to follow a dark alley to a dead end.  We found the hostel and well, um, huh…let me explain it this way.  You know in horror movies when the ditsy blonde walks into the dark cellar and everyone is yelling at the screen about how dumb she is and how she completely deserved that chainsaw to the abdomen? Yeah, well, we were that proverbial blonde.  We walked in the doors, up seven flights of stairs in the pitch black, and were greeted by two men whom we immediately coined “crackhead” and “crazy eyes.” 

At this point, we unanimously decided that the only possible way to stay at Hostel the night was to go out and drink enough to lose all inhibitions, and subsequently, survival instincts.  In this endeavor, great success. In life decisions, huge fail.  But hey, it was only 10 euros per night and I’m poor.  So, we went out to Red Garter with Chris’ friend from Clemson and slept like little prisoner babies that night.  The next morning we woke up and left instantly to meet up with our other friends who had taken the 6:45 am train in.  We succumbed to the lure of McDonalds breakfast and postponed all lures of a shower and change of clothes at the hostel.  But rolling ten people

nothing to you, then well, open a book.  After, we went to see the Michelangelo’s David. This brings up a quick point that I would like to make.  The David is not special nor is it cool.  In fact The David Letterman > The David.  The David Fullmer > The David.  And dare I say? The David Hasselhoff  > The David.  Yeah, that’s how I feel about this guy whose hands and head are disproportionate to his body and cost 15 euro 

deep, we decided that no crackhead or crazy eyed Italian could overcome us (again, probably not the best logic).  Anyways, we rallied and did a lot of the tourist attractions including the Duomo and Duomo Capula. While Rome is a 

far superior city to Florence, the view from the Duomo rivals that of the Vatican.  Florence is honestly breathtaking from the top of the Duomo; and not because of its altitude, but the uniformity and structure of the city’s buildings and streets.  Pictures may speak 1,000 words, but seeing this in person requires none.  Moving on, we visited the Uffizi Museum, which is very famous for its arrayed art collection.  The gallery houses everything from Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Annunciation to Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus to Raphael’s Madonna of 

the Goldfinch.  If these mean 

to go see. Spend your money on something important to the world, like beer or pizza.  The girls proceeded to go leather shopping (cause I guess that’s famous in Florence) while Chris, Alex, and myself scoured the local market for a place to spend our money on something important to the world.  After a nice midday break, we made fools of ourselves back at the leather store by creating puppets out of mink scarves.  And so, the birth of Master Scarf and Monsieur Lerow came to be. 

Ok, just one more… The Any Homeless Man Named David > The David.

Being poor college students, we barely eat and spend our money on other…vices.  But in Florence, we got our money’s worth spending 15 euro on a 4 course meal with all you can drink wine and a bar crawl after…best of both worlds.  Those worlds being keeping yourself alive, the former, and slowly killing yourself, the latter.  I left my Rome friends for a while to meet up with Ryan Cristal and Natasha Volny, my buds from Vandy, and also ran into a bunch of other Commodores.  It’s definitely nice to see some familiar faces for a change, because I usually have to rely on coincidence to see Paige (called out).  We ended up at a club called Space and that’s where this chapter needs to end.  

At our hostel, we needed to be up and out by 9:30 every morning for cleaning until 4 pm.  While we initially found this to be a relief from the griminess of the actual people there, we learned the truth shortly after leaving Florence.  Instead of sanitizing and cleaning, the Firenze police were more concerned about the drugs that crackhead and crazy eyes were supposedly cooking in the kitchen.  So we needed to be out the next morning at 9:30 am after getting back at 5 am in the morning.  Rough start doesn’t begin to describe this epic rally.  Fortunately, we couldn’t have asked for a better day to do all the outdoor sight seeing.  First, we trudged along to the Ponte Vecchio where something happened once, but I’m not sure why it’s famous.  

After came the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens.  These were short-lived because around this time, our hangovers began to kick in.  Naturally, we bought some boxed wine, crackers, cheese, meat, and jam and made the hike to the Piazza Michelangelo where we had a “picnic” that overlooked all of Florence. 

I’m not sure how accepted it is to drink at a monastery, but the monk seemed fine with it when he drank our wine.  Wouldn’t that have been a cool story if it were true?  Damn, oh well.  Moving on, we spent our last night in Florence at a club called Fullup where I ran into more Commodores (some who will never remember that) and we had a…fun night.  Alter egos Master Scarf and Monsieur Lerow tried to take Bambi to Albania. ‘Nuff said.  

Saying goodbye to crackhead and crazy eyes was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I think it took me under three second to grab my belongings and run.  But, I will never forget them and all the free sangria parties they tried so hard to invite us to.  Live Long and Prosper Florence. We had an incredible time. 

Until next time fans,

Keep on keeping on.

For more photos, check out my facebook album 

PINK! PINK! PINK!

Since Valentines day is the day after tomorrow (EEK!), I decided to do a blog post on all things pink that I am currently loving! Pink is one of my favorite colors. It is just so feminine and girly! Since I will most likely be sitting at home on Valentines day, forever alone, stuffing my face with Raisonettes and Hershies Kisses, watching the Notebook and reminiscing over The Vow, I wanted to get my Valentines day on and do this post! Hehe. 

In my opinion, this is the perfect Valentines day nail polish. It is just the prettiest bubble gum pink. This is Mod Square by Essie! 

Okay...don't laugh at me! I've literally had these my whole life, I have one in every size! They're called Flatsos.  Although we are past the age when one would want to recieve one of these for Valentines day, I would still want one haha. They are so soft and comfy to sleep with! If you don't have any plans, these little guys will hang out with you on the 14th!

This is the Revlon Lip Butter in Cotton Candy. I love this color because it gives a really natural and nice pink shimmer to the lips.  It is also extremely moisturizing (hence the name lip BUTTER) and the packaging is really cute.  I keep this in my purse and am constantly applying it. They only cost around $8 so why not?! 

Yes, I've had these for quite the long time, BUT I still love them.  These are the Jcrew toothpick jeans.  They cost $108, but they are totally worth it. Just pink pants in general are cute, and they are perfect for spring time! 

Here is a simple outfit I made on Polyvore centered around a pink dress.  I think this would be a really cute outfit to wear on Valentines Day!!

I hope y'all have a fabulous Valentines day, weather you're at home alone or out with your prince charming.  Feel free to check out my:

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/tyeblakely/feed

Twitter: tyeblakely

Tumblr: Sassyclassyprep

Performance

I saw the film Carnage last night.  It is worth mentioning in this blog not because it was good (though I wouldn't say it was bad) or because I liked it, but because it told a story in a very interesting way.

The story:  Carnage is about a fight between two boys.  You never see these two individuals beyond the intro and outro of the movie, though, instead they are developed as characters through their parents.  What is most interesting about their development is the shifts of parental perspective; at times they are defended, cherished, and admired, but they are also at times revealed to be terrors, monsters, soul-sucking parasites.  What the real story ends up being about is the faces we put on as adults that we believe so dearly are our true, civilized selves, but which, given enough time and alcohol, fall away to reveal the childish needs and desires we still carry.

The telling:  This is a play.  Everything about it is a play, from the location (one room) to the plot (character-centric) to the delivery (projected voices).  The dialogue is heavy, with each line hammering home an element of the speaker's personality.  Penelope (Jodie Foster), constantly dripping with morality, judgement, and desperation.  Michael (John C. Riley), the accommodator.  The props are overly meaningful and each character is drawn to them like a moth to a flame.  Tulips find themselves embodying roles of politeness and convention ("what lovely tulips"), power and destruction (dropping a cell phone into the vase), and eventually carnage (being flung around the room).  Books serve to bond the two female characters at first, only to tear them apart in the end.  Cobbler finds itself being ingested and spewed back out, both physically (thrown up onto aforementioned books) and metaphorically ("delicious" while being eaten, but "horrible" in the secrecy of a private conversation).

The story is as much a traversal through interactions with physical objects as it is a narrative about two boys.

Apartment Plot

Theatre Plot

Stage Plot

Ciao my American friends and loyal cohorts! First and foremost, YES, I am still alive despite strong past evidence to believe otherwise.  Second, I apologize for my absence and lack of updates-I haven't posted anything to this blog for a while, but it's not because I'm busy (most definitely the opposite). Rather, I have been feeling particularly uncreative and unmotivated these days (unless you're a future employer reading this, in which case, I am SUPER busy with work and exceptionally motivated). Now, this absence could be the side effects of staying out too late and/or not getting enough sleep, but surprisingly no. It’s the stinkin’ weather.  In my family, we have a saying that never fails to disappoint: “avoid liquor.” Oh, sorry wrong one, I meant to say “when the Fung’s go on vacation, we bring the weather with us.” And as you can imagine, Cleveland has graced Rome with its wonderful presence.  Yes, it has perpetually snowed here all week for the first time in 27 years and I am the lucky recipient of this miracle (insert straight-faced emoticon)! Before you say, “but Brendan, you love snow,” let me remind you, this isn’t Midwest snow where we grab our skis and head to Holiday Valley. No, this is equivalent to Nashville snow-one where everything is shut down and bad driving becomes worse driving. Add the -9.5°C temperature (that’s 15°F) as the icing on the cake, and this past week has been anything but a “roman vacation.”  However, despite a cancelled weekend trip to Tivoli (public transportation in Italy is…unreliable to say the least), this countrywide standstill has given me the opportunity to get to know Trastevere far better.  And for that, I am grateful.  We spent the whole weekend within the confines of our small historic town (sound familiar, Chagrin?), uninterested in the notion of travelling throughout the ice-covered and taxi-less city.  A solid mixture of the Gladiator drinking game, an outstandingly lazy Saturday, and an enjoyable loss for the Patriots left us with an altogether great weekend.  Next up…Krakow, Poland.  I can already hear mom and dad in my head, “avoid liquor.”

"It's

just

life,"

they

say.

]

Tony Green

Age:28

Representing:NJ

• • 1. People would say that i'm...

    Laid Back
    2. When I wake up in the morning I...

    Stretch and then check email, text, facebook, twitter, etc
    3. I wish...

    The world was based on Equality not money
    4. If I had a million dollars...

     I'd cop a new ride, clothes/sneakers, new apt, put the rest into music and promotion
    5.My biggest fear...

     Being unheard and being misunderstood
    6. What makes you happy...

    Accomplishing goals I set for myself
    7. What super power would you have...

    Telekenesis, ability to move objects with my mind
    8. 1st thing you notice about the opposite sex...

    Depends on if she's walking towards me or away from me
    9. Describe your life in one word...

    conundrum
    
    

What do you believe in?

 I believe in opening minds up to different ideas
When did you know you wanted this as a career?

1995 Listening to the album 'Only Built 4 cuban Linx' by Chef Raekwon

How did you 1st competition feel?

I felt confident that I shined, but there's always room for improvement

Who's your ideal celebrity woman?
 I respect a lot of females in the game, they have a lot to move past to get where they want to be. I like Tyra a lot .

What do you look for in a mate?
Someone into music

Where do you expect your passion to take you?

I'm trying to go so far it'd be like I was space traveling. Hip Hop has always guided me, so I'll go whereever it takes me.

Motto/Quote:
Never let the negative outweigh the positive

Favorite Foods:
 Rib Eye Steak , beer if that counts as a food and strawberry nesquik

The Tony Green files<--Mixtape

Facebook Fan Page

Source: Vogue

Take a good

look at cool.

you fool.

A study out of Harvard University has discovered the secret to being cool.

Setting yourself apart from your peers is the answer to eternal 'hipness'.

Whether it's your taste in music, fashion, books or movies, what you do is hip as long as no one else is doing it at the same time.

Secret To

Being Cool?

Via: Yahoo

TOO

COOL

MIAMI BLACK

Me likes this photo of a black cat in Little River in Miami. It's from MIAVIAYOU. It's a blog with a full-flex collective of Miami locals with an eye for distinctive flavor. It just started so wait to see more cool videos and random art photos. YeeeYoooo!

My Super Bowl of cereal

S'mores Grahams (a.k.a. S'mores Crunch) was a short-lived cereal produced by General Mills. This cereal was similar to Golden Grahams with a blend of chocolate mixed in. It consisted of chocolate graham cracker cereal pieces and tiny marshmallows pieces similar to those found in packets of powdered hot chocolate mix. It was launched in 1982 and discontinued in 1988. General Mills later resumed S'mores Grahams production throughout the late 1990s, but it has since been re-discontinued.

The cereal's mascot was the S'morecerer (an animated sorcerer). Ads with this mascot would feature a couple of kids trying to get to the cereal but then encountering a conflict (such as getting chased by a lion or their sail getting hit by lightning), then the S'morecerer would appear and transport them right to the cereal. It would usually end with one of the kids saying the tagline, "Can I have s'more?"

The prize in every box of S'mores Grahams for many years was a small pack of Starburstcandies.

Kellogg's introduced a similar cereal in 2003. This version (named Smorz) featured larger marshmallows and "puffs" as the cereal-base, as opposed to the Golden Grahams style pieces of S'mores Grahams.

Via: Wiki

Discontinued 

Winner

Fancyphotography

1. People would say that I’m …..

Easy to get along with
2. When I wake up in the morning I…

Take a shower, brush my teeth, and go on facebook (laughs)
3. I wish..

That I had patience
4. If I had a million dollars..

I would go shopping & buy camera equipment
5. My biggest fear is..

Why live in fear, I say take life as it comes at you
6. What makes you happy

Doing what I love to do make me happy
7. What super power would you have

Invisibility
8. 1st thing you notice about the opposite sex

How they dress
9. Describe your life in one word

Amazingly-Weird

when I first started taking pictures it wasn't a big deal to me, and when I looked back on my first picture it really didn't make me feel any way. as I got better and more creative my work made me so overly excited that I had to show everyone what I did. -Fancy

"I feel as though my work could inspire not only me but a lot of people. Thinking and not limiting yourself can bring a lot of good things to your life. And if being different, creative, and weird makes you stand out then your minor goal has been completed." -Fancy

  LOVE LESSONS

IS THIS TRUE?

I'm glad I'm a woman, yes I am, I don’t live off of Budweiser, beer nuts & Spam. I don’t brag to my buddies about my erections. I will not drive to Hell before I ask for directions. I don’t get wasted at parties & act like a clown & I know how to put the damn toilet seat down! I wont grab your hooters, I wont pinch your butt, my belt buckle is not hidden beneath my beer gut. I don’t go around "readjusting" my crotch or yell like Tarzan when my head-board gets a notch. I don’t belch in public, I don’t scratch my behind.

I'm a woman you see, I'm just not that kind! I'm glad I'm a woman, I'm so glad I could sing. I don’t have body hair like shag carpeting. It doesn’t grow from my ears or cover my back. When I lean over you can’t see 3 inches of crack. What's on my head doesn’t leave with my comb. I’II never buy a toupee to cover my dome. Or have a few hairs pulled from over the side. I'm a woman, you know. I’m got far too much pride! I honestly think it’s a privilege for me to have these two boobs & squat when I pee. I don’t live to play golf & shoot basketball. I don’t swagger & spit like a Neanderthal. I wont tell you my wife just does not understand. Stick my hand in my pocket to hide that gold band or tell you a story to make you sigh & weep then screw you, roll over & fall sound asleep!

Yes, I'm glad I'm a woman you see you can forget all about that old penis envy. I don’t long for male bonding, I don’t cruise for chicks, join the Hair Club For Men, or think with my dick. I'm a woman by chance & I'm thankful it's true. I'm so glad I'm a woman & not a man like you!

I'M A MAN!
I'm glad I'm a man, you better believe. I don’t live off of yogurt, diet coke, or cottage cheese. I don’t bitch to my girlfriends about the size of my breasts. I can get where I want to north, south, east or west.

I don't get wasted after only 2 beers & when I do drink I don't end up in tears. I wont spend hours deciding what to wear, I spend 5 minutes max fixing my hair & I don't go around checking my refection in everything shiny from every direction. I don't whine in public & make us leave early & when you ask why get all bitter & surly. I'm glad I'm a man, I'm so glad I could sing. I don't have to sit around for that ring. I don't gossip about friends or stab them in the back. I don't carry our differences into the sack. I'll never go psycho & threaten to kill you or think every guy out there's trying to steal you.

I'm rational, reasonable, & logical too. I know what the time is & I know what to do. I honestly think its a privilege for me to have these two balls & stand when I pee. I live to watch sports & play all sorts of games. It's more fun than women after all. I wont cry if you figure out it's not going to work. I wont remain bitter & call you a jerk. Feel free to use me for immediate pleasure. I wont assume it's permanent by any measure. Yes, I'm glad I'm a man, a man you see I'm glad I'm not capable of child delivery. I don't get all bitchy every 28 days.

I'm glad that my gender gets me a much bigger raise. I'm a man by chance & I'm thankful it's true. I'm so glad I'm a man & not a woman like you!

SMELL MY FINGER

SWEET AND NICE

February 6, 2012

Music = Material Over Time. 

Video = Material Over Space.

What an idea.  This notion, a stripped down statement, builds some interesting parallels between systems that are wildly different.  Art, any kind of art, is simply material over a grander fabric of time and space.  They can, of course be argued into each other: video can not exist in a place with no time, and music can not exist in a place with no space.  Especially if that place with no space is space, in which case WOAH.  WOAH.  Why are you playing music in space, and WHY WASN'T I INVITED?  The point, of course, being that all things are bound by time and space, and our art is designed for a place and a time.  I would argue that we create in order to be proven: I was here.  I existed.  Remember me. 

What interests me, though, as a live visual improviser, is the blending of these two systems.  Audio has a rich and well-documented history of performance and improvisation, but video has been left behind.  While music has lept forward into the realm of live synthesis and manipulation, the blending of electronic and acoustic, visuals have been stuck on the silver screen.  Even the computational prowess of modern computers demonstrates the ridiculously uneven footing--Want to mix 24 channels of audio live?  No problem!  Want to mix 4 video sources?  Might want to consider upgrading that RAM. 

Progress, though, is being made, and it's being made quickly.  I think of VJs playing to clubs, or visual artists hired to travel with bands and create what essentially equates to a live music video.  The increase in parameters controlled by aural triggers, mapping sounds to visuals.

We are creatures of stimulus, we startle at noise and are captivated by color.  There was an era of visuals in which sound was the outcast.  Where 'silent films' weren't know by that name, they were just 'films.'  Now we have a plethora of tools with which to merge fields, and no guidebook to reference.

Bruce McClure's Donostia is a great example of a very primal audiovisual connection.

Luke DuBois' Digits takes the simplest form of video performance (live visual feedback) and uses manipulations of time and color to enhance the audience experience.

Amon Tobin uses a VJ-style and 3-dimensional visual mapping to transform a space, synched with audio.

February 4, 2012

Damien Hirst: On the Spotfrom Matt Black on Nowness.com.

The Industrious Art Star Occupies Gagosian Galleries

Worldwide with His Complete Spot Paintings

Via: Nowness

Welcome to my performance diary.

It is here that I'll be recording my thoughts, reflections, and progress in the pursuit of my Master's degree at Queen's University.  This ezine is being created to fulfill the requirement of a diary for my performance module, where I will be working to create a large-scale audiovisual performance.  My hope is to expose, in some small way, the difficulties, successes, and inspirations that are inevitable prices of admission when creating new work.

Disclaimer: Fair Warning

-The works presented here will be equal parts mine (amateur, self-indulgent, and perhaps, if we're lucky, successful) and professional (artists that actually know what they're doing).

-The thoughts put forth will be also be equal parts mine (judgemental, opinionated, and completely and unabashedly biased) and expert (academics who actually know what they're talking about, with footnotes and other fancy things real adults make use of).

-Finally, my personal reflections on inspiration and process may be random, jumbled, and/or profound beyond my wildest dreams.  I make no promises of coherence, relevence, or any other value of worth, other than this: I'll do my best to not blog while drinking.  Let's get started.

February 3, 2012

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Model : Ira Chernova    top 2 Photos by: Nikolay Biryukov

 IRA  CHERNOVA

Brooklyn  based 

Photographer / Model

and this is some of IRA CHERNOVA's PHOTOGRAPHY 

source: weheartit.com  /  Ira Chernova's photography-public shared album in Fb

model: Ira Chernova, Photo by Tony Stamolis, NYC'11

source: weheartit.com