Video Games, unlike all other art forms, deny you access to the art form when you are bad at it. The below sketch certainly made me stop and think about it for a second. (Warning! There are some crass terms/imagery in the video.)
I like video games but I am generally very bad at them unless it’s something like Simms where you just live the life of a person and the goals of the game are what the player decides. Art does not deny the viewer in the same way video games do. Games in general produce this frustration for many. Dancing adequately for an album to continue or understanding a books metaphors is not necessary to finish or enjoy the content.
To me there is no doubting video games as art. I do wonder if the idea that gaming is the only art form that blocks certain people from joining it is true. People often talk about easter eggs and homages in content that others might not understand or notice. While a book may not spontaneously shut down on someone who can’t list the main themes, a particular reader might not fully appreciating a work because they lack the skill to think deeply about the content.
Perhaps this exclusion might be something that helps define art in comparison to crafty endeavors. Art not only needs a particular amount of skill to create it also needs a particular amount of skill to be understood. There are so many people who scoff at various modernist pieces and say that they could have made a piece or that it isn’t art. In a way there scorn might be something that helps define what art is.
This is not to say that all art is of the same quality and needs deep thinking to be understood but that many art styles may exclude viewers in the same way that video games do in a less obvious way.
When I told my co-workers that my Friday night plans included dressing up like a robot and singing Christmas carols to Midnight Madness shoppers, I got a lot of blank stares. Nevertheless, there I went a-roboting.
#botchoir #onwardrobots
Botchoir – a night I look forward to every year – is what we call the holiday occasion when volunteers of 826michigan and the Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair Shop come together, don festive handmade droidal costumes, and sing robotic versions of holiday carols outside the store to drum up traffic during downtown Ann Arbor’s Midnight Madness. Robots in attendance included: Muffin Tin Robot, Jingle Bot, Bat Bot, Scoutbot, Eye-Robot, and Boom Bot. Favorite tunes of the night? Binary Carol of the Bells, Silent Byte, We Wish You a Merry Botmas, I Have a Little Robot (*Dreidel Dreidel*), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Robot, and Frosty the Robot.
Here’s how it works: On the hour, every hour from 7-10, we bundled up in coats and tin foil boxes and stepped outside with our song books. The BotChoir Master called out a song, and we searched our file memory for the song, calling out “loading,” “buffering,” to signal DON’T START YET, “network connectivity problems” or “error” if we really were struggling to find the page, and “upload complete” when we were all ready. This was true performance art! A crowd had gathered in front of the shop. 101, the Master calls out. And we began. The crowd enlarged as curious people were entranced by the silver shimmer of singing robot heads, and crossed the street to get a better look.
Other than a brief stint of choir in sixth grade, most of my singing comes in the form of private solos, in the car, in the shower, in my room, or in my head. But there’s something so joyful about getting together with a group of people and giving the gift of song to others. I sincerely think that singing with other people enhances your own voice. Maybe “goodness” of voice comes from a certain amount of confidence within. Maybe it was the cold that disguised the true sounds of our voice. But, in that moment, it wasn’t about how “good” the singing was. The songs were purely a vessel for happiness. We danced about, our cheeks sore from smiling, our throats scratchy from singing so loudly. Packs of young teenagers roaming the downtown scene danced by, high-fiving the volunteer wearing the Darth Vader helmet. Couples sang along to familiar tunes. In this little sidewalk spot, we made a pocket of peace and togetherness. A place where humans and robots from all walks of earth could stand together, and experience joy and comfort.
By far, the best part of the night was workshopping Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You” so it read as an ode to Star Wars instead, “All I Want For Christmas is r2d2.” Those robots will cease at nothing to take over all of Christmas. 🙂
Here’s a brief sample of our editing work:
I don’t want a Hutt for Christmas/There is just one thing I need, and I/Don’t care about the presents/on the planet Tattooine/I don’t need to lose my power/Way out there in hyperspace/Obi Wan won’t make me happy/With the Force on Christmas Day/I just want you for my own/More than you could ever know/Make my wish come true/All I want for Christmas is R2.
Want to learn Binary of the Bells? (Sing to the tune of Carol of the Bells)
101 101 101 101
101 101 101 101
100 100 100 101
000 11 000 11
101 101 101 101
I hope you all get a chance to sing your heart out with friends/families/fellow robots and help spread some cheer. You never know whose day you’ll make just a little bit better.
Sorry for the missed week, but final projects and exams for the semester have taken up all of my time. But here is the review of the second episode.
Summary:
This episode gives us the first real mystery where Ned, Emerson, and Chuck work together as partners, but it takes some time to get to the action.
We first start with a flashback to Ned’s childhood during his time in boarding school after his mother dies. After being annoyed with the bullying against him, he decides to help with that day’s science project, frog dissections, This obviously ends in disaster as he revives all the frogs, leading to chaos. This inspires him to keep his ability a secret.
We then flash-forward to the present where we learn of the living dynamics and inner feeling of Ned and Chuck. While the two wake and up and cautiously prepare breakfast, we learn that Chuck desperately misses her aunts and Ned has difficulty keeping the secret that he accidentally killed her father.
After this, we jump right to the mystery, as Emerson gets a call to investigate the murder of a hit-and-run victim, Bernard. The three head to the morgue with Emerson annoyed at Chuck’s presence and Ned nervous about accidentally touching her. After Ned revives Bernard, Chuck decides it would be better to ask the victim if they had any last wishes. Bernard requests, that they tell his coworker, Jeanine, that he loved her. Chuck agrees and the group learns that he believes he was killed by a crash test dummy, not being able to get any more information as the minute is used up.
Following a group discussion and some heartbreaking news to Olive, the three head to Bernard’s work, Dandy Lion Industries. While trying to deliver their message, Jeanine pretends that she doesn’t know Bernard. The three then follow the CEO to the crash test facility. Here, Chuck finds a dummy without a face or clothes and comes to the realization that the murder was using them as a disguise. This then leads us to another group meeting at the Pie Hole and a wonderful performance of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” by Olive after Ned and the group leaves to check out the company after-hours.
During this trip, Emerson finds dead bodies, which the company had been using as replacements for real crash test dummies. They also come across Jeanine again. They head back to the Pie Hole and Jeanine share the story of her love affair with Bernard. In the flashback, after Bernard becomes more distant with Jeanine, she decides to follow him after work. Jeanine agrees to take the group to see Bernard’s secret after she barters for some pie, but on the way, Jeanine’s Dandy Lion SX explodes, leaving her alive but incapacitated. While in the hospital, Jeanine tells them that there is a mass of bodies in a ditch, which she was going to show them. Once they arrive there, they learn that the bodies are crash test dummies and Emerson realizes that they made the switch to real people because the company was trying to hide data on the tests. Immediately after, a man disguised as a crash test dummy tasers them.
The trio comes to and they find themselves tied up and in body bags in a Dandy Lion SX in the crash test facility. We come to find that the dummy killer is the CEO and he starts to monologue, but group can’t hear him through the body bags and the car. During this monologue we learn that the Dandy Lion SX explodes under a specific, but not improbable set of circumstances. The CEO killed Bernard and used real bodies to hide the truth. The CEO tries to send the car on a collision course, but Emerson frees everyone and they drive off with the car. This leads to a chase, but the CEO gets captured by the police while the group narrowly escapes their own explosion.
At the end of the episode, Ned and Chuck enter Ned’s car and we see that he has built a plexiglass barrier between the two front seats so that Chuck can sit in the front with him.
Pros:
-The love story between Bernard and Jeanine is cute and feels genuine.
-We learn so much more about the characters. It’s unnecessary, but really makes the characters feel alive and unique.
-The performance of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” is great.
-We get to see impressive detective work by both Emerson and Chuck. This allows to better understand why they would work so well on the same team.
Cons:
-The villain and mystery aren’t really engaging. They’re not creative like we will come to see in future episodes.
-The story tries to focus both on the mystery and on character development, but suffers in both respects.
-The fun colors of this world aren’t as prevalent as they are in other episodes.
Overall:
This episode is good, but suffers from lack of focus and a sense that the story doesn’t take place in the same, bright, weird universe that we were previously introduced to. The mystery is a bit underwhelming when compared to other episodes, but is helped by the adorable relationships between Jeanine and Bernard, as well as Ned and Chuck.
By far, the best part of this episode is the introduction of the unique traits of the main characters, such as Emerson’s knitting, Chucks “cheese box” fridge and polyglotism, and Olive’s breaking out into song. This makes the characters interesting and fun to interact with.
At this part, the series is still trying to find its niche, which will be made apparent in later episodes. It’s a good start, but disappointing when one compares it to later episodes.
Do you enjoy getting sloppy drunk and moshing to indie music? If so, then Twin Peaks are the dudes you’re looking for. This local Chicago band is bringing back rock ‘n’ roll with a vengeance. Their sound is raw, their live shows are raucous, and they have fangirls like you wouldn’t believe. Since the release of their latest album Wild Onion in the summer of 2014, they’ve toured with Wavves, released some sweet new singles, and are recording their upcoming album in the wilderness of Massachusetts. Cadien Lake James, the group’s charismatic frontman, describes the recording experience as “camping without food or shelter for weeks and recording with the sounds of jungle cats and dragons overhead.” Make of this what you will.
Twin Peaks have been major players in the Chicago music scene for years, dominating DIY venues such as Feel Trip and Animal Kingdom, tons of house parties, and legit venues around the city. Their early sound was gritty and low-fi, lending itself well to out-of-control parties and singlehandedly chugging a fifth of Jack Daniels. Recent singles have reflected a transition to more melodic grooves while Wild Onion serves as a timeless example of .
Wild Onion is a must-listen for anyone who needs a dose of good old-fashioned rock music. Though the songs resemble garage-rock legends such as The Strokes in length and sound quality, they are deceptively complex and intimate. ‘Mirror of Time,’ my personal favorite track on the record, is melancholic in all the right ways, intellectual, and catchy as hell. ‘Mind Frame’ was used on the set-in-Chicago TV show Shameless, and ‘Making Breakfast’ is just a damn good time. You’ll see what I mean.
Though they’ve quickly risen out of the Chicago music scene’s enclave and into international stardom through sold-out European and US tours, they’ve stayed true to their hometown and continue to play underground shows with bands such as The Orwells, The Boxers and The Lemons when they can. Having spent last New Year’s Eve at a Twin Peaks show in an abandoned church, sweaty, drenched in champagne inside and out and bearing a fresh cigarette burn on my arm unbeknownst to me at the time, I have served as living proof of Twin Peaks’ debauchery.
These dudes know how to get down and have a good time while also cranking out some serious tunes and focusing on their art between bouts of partying and touring. They’ve been friends of mine since high school I can vouch for the sincerity of their musicianship and talent. In today’s cutthroat music industry, it’s refreshing to see people with such raw talent getting the recognition they deserve. They’ve worked hard to get where they are, and I don’t see them going anywhere soon. Don’t miss out the Twin Peaks train, because it’s a fuckin’ party.
I have a confession to make. Really, I owe it to you. There’s something I’ve never told you.
I love dance.
That’s right. I love dance. It’s something I’ve never said before, and yet it’s true.
Now, to be quite honest, I’m not a dancer. I took ballet and tap when I was little, but I never continued. I danced when I was in theatre, but beyond being able to do a jazz square, I was never anything special.
No, I don’t love dancing, though I will admit it is quite fun. That’s not what I mean.
I love watching people dance. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. My mom used to take me to the Nutcracker every year, and I think I saw the Jon M. Chu and Adam Sevani dance battle at least fifty times. Of course, I’m pretty picky about what I watch – I prefer hip-hop and modern forms to other classic types of dance, and I love a good jazz square (everyone loves a good jazz square). Which is why, when I found 1MillionDance, I knew immediately I’d love it.
I don’t think it’s a secret anymore that I like listening to music in other languages, and though most of their videos feature American music, I found 1MillionDance through their videos featuring Korean hip-hop songs. However, as I scrolled down the list of videos, I was surprised (and excited) by the variety of genres they danced to, with, yes, lots of hip-hop.
I marathoned the videos (and still do…whoops, sorry homework, you’re going to have to wait) and slowly realized I hadn’t watched this kind of dance, pure dance, no singing *cough* kpop *cough* in a really long time.
Which is why I want to share some of my personal favorites with you, to show that no, I haven’t forgotten about dance about an art form. Dance is beautiful, amazing, and expressive. Although I have no talent for it, I still empathize with dancers, even if I don’t know how to move and control my body as they do.
So, in no particular order, my favorite dances from 1MillionDance Studio in Seoul, and also why I love the dance so much.
Note: the dances feature multiple dancers doing the same choreography, learned that day (so there’s bound to be mistakes – nobody is perfect). The first dancer in the center is always the choreographer, with other highly proficient dancers or other choreographers sometimes joining.
Junsun Yoo is hands down my favorite choreographer for 1Million. His dances are always on point, and this one in particular blew me away. For starters, this is one of my all time favorite songs, and it’s not your typical dance song either. Sure, it has a really strong beat, but it’s not a hip-hop song, and yet the moves are so on point – the hand move for the bell is my favorite. Overall, this video is in my top 5 favorites from this channel.
If Junsun is my favorite choreographer, Bongyoung Park comes in a very very very close second. It was a hard to choose which one of his videos to post (His Maroon 5 dance is freaking amazing – warning, strong language in the song), but this one is hands down the most lively and fun. Bongyoung’s expressions throughout the dance also completely add to the dance, though the other dancers who don’t do expressions are also fantastic. Also in my top five favorite dances (which, by the way, these aren’t – just five I think you should watch).
To slow things down a bit, this is also one of my favorite dances. I love this video too, not just because Eunho is a very compelling dancer, and has freaking amazing body control, but because his dance can be transformed in so many different ways by the students. He performs alone, but two groups do it as a couple dance – and it works fantastically. But it also works in a larger group as well, towards the middle of the video. I especially love too how this dance tells more of a story. Warning – strong language in the song.
Lest you think this channel features only male choreographers, here’s Sori Na with a legit amazing dance. I love her too not just because she’s a fantastic choreographer, but because she doesn’t shy away from songs like these. Yes, girl power is super awesome, and dancing to female-oriented or created songs is super empowering. But dancing to something you love that might be considered traditionally male is also empowering, especially for me. Not to mention she just oozes swag. How can you not love her?
And last, but certainly not least, May J Lee creates an addictive dance to an already addictive song. Everyone knows it, yes, and it plays everywhere – I’m personally not a huge fan of this song. But honestly, her choreography is so on point that I’ve actually started to somewhat like the song due to how many times I’ve watched this video. Not to mention that I want to do the choreography every time I hear this song now. Watch for cameos from Bongyoung, from earlier, and also Koosung Jung, a fellow choreographer who’s also in The Hills video.
Go watch some of 1Million’s other videos, because they’re all fantastic, and who knows, if you’re a dancer and you’re in Seoul and you drop by, maybe you’ll be in one of their videos someday.
I never thought I’d like reading stories about other people’s lives. Fiction was fine, but reality seemed boring and uneventful. When I was younger, my mom read The Little House on the Prairie series to me, but that was about as close as I got to reading a book about a real person. It wasn’t until later that I realized the beauty of someone else’s story.
The first memoir I read on my own was written by a teacher I used to have. The book was called Signs of Life, and for a while everyone in my school was reading it. I remember getting calls from other students asking me what chapter I was on or whether or not I had finished yet. I attended readings with friends at the local Borders (*wipes tear away*). We talked about how impressive it was to know an author, to know a real person who had successfully published a book. I thought it was special to be let in on a story like that, but I assumed my real admiration for the book was due to the fact that I knew the author.
Then, another teacher of mine proved me wrong. He suggested that I read The Year of Magical Thinking and Bone Black: Memoirs of Girlhood. I was hesitant to take on a memoir written by someone I didn’t know, but two memoirs? Two stranger’s lives? That was downright scary. I didn’t care about those authors. I didn’t want to know their stories. What could have happened in their lives to warrant my attention? Well, after finishing both of those memoirs, I realized my answer. What could have happened in their lives? A lot. Why should I care about their stories? They’re great stories.
Since then, I’ve read many books about other people’s lives. I find myself going to the bookstore and perusing aisles I never thought I’d wander into. I still think it can be hard to be interested in a complete stranger’s life, but I take baby steps. I read books that contain an element of memoir, personal narrative, nonfiction, or autobiography. Sometimes it can be hard to know where these books fall, but if I’m not sure, I just try to read them and not to worry about it. Many books walk a fine line, but that doesn’t mean one is necessarily better than another.
So, some days I’ll pick up a book that can’t be defined very well. Other days I’ll try something that can. I’ve read David Sedaris’s Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim to experience a bit of his life. Currently, I’m reading Modern Romance, and its combination of social science, humor, and nonfiction makes it really accessible and fun to read. I read books by authors who, for whatever reason, I can pretend I know a little. I read Amy Poehler’s, Yes Please, because I had watched Parks and Recreation for years. I read one of my favorite YouTube star Tyler Oakley’s memoir, Binge, because I’d seen him online and it was cool he was from Michigan. These little connections helped me care more, but I’m realizing I don’t need them as much as I used to. Maybe not now, but soon I’ll feel confident enough to read I Am Malala, Unbroken, or some other critically acclaimed memoir or personal narrative that has been hovering at the top of my Goodreads list for months.
I’m excited, because I know one thing very important: everyone has a story.
