Fendy sunglass earmuffs. They're so hot right now!

So far I’ve shied away from discussing fashion. I hesitate to grant it its own unique identity or pass it off under the umbrella term, “art.” However, if art is the physical expression of one’s soul and creativity, art it must be.

Fashion has the potential to balance at that perfect intersection between superfluousness (the details that make life a little more thrilling and beautiful) and practicality, making it one of the premier art forms in my opinion.

It’s an expression and commentary that follows you around every day, and that you have the power to change at the drop of a hat-quite literally. I was inspired when I leafed through some old magazines I’ve hoarded during the last year (yes, I’m one of those…if I see a photo that strikes my fancy or a perfume strip that smells particularly lovely, I’ll keep an entire magazine for the express purpose of enjoying these things in future in the form of a collage.) One quotation caught my eye in particular, drawing my attention to the concept of art as a business. (Click here to read more…)

People claim that tough biker dudes gotta have ‘em, a pirate isn’t a pirate without ‘em and you wouldn’t be able to identify a convict without one. Or so some people assume. No, I’m not talking about swarthy sideburns or a shank. I’m talking about tattoos.

Due to aforementioned stereotypes, tattoos were forbidden under my parents’ roof when I was growing up, but one incident shocked me into eternal curiosity. While at Disneyland a burly man wearing shorts and a sweat-stained T-shirt caught my attention. You wouldn’t expect to find him in that amusement park. However, his choice of tattoos completely disbanded this notion. Donald Duck beamed from his bicep. Goofy grinned from his deltoid. Minnie Mouse peeked over the top of his raggedy T-shirt at the base of his neck. The Epcot building highlighted his massive calf and Peter Pan sailed across his bulging quads to meet Dumbo. It was horrific. It was fascinatingly colorful. It was convenient that I didn’t have to wait in line for three hours to see my favorite characters. 

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I agonized over a pun headline for this post–”Let’s Twit It On,” “You Only Twit Once,” “Tweet Home Alabama,” “Twit Up, Twit On Up” . . . you get the picture. The point is, the Daily Californian Arts Department has its very own twitter!!!!

Follow us, and you’ll find: (Click here to read more…)

For anyone who missed Cal Performance’s presentation of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet Company Saturday evening, this afternoon’s performance is the last chance to see the legacy of the “father of American ballet”. Farrell was legendary choreographer George Balanchine’s muse for nearly ten years, and her staging of “The Balanchine Couple” offers a unique opportunity to experience the pas de deux from nine different ballets.

As the artistic director with an intimate knowledge of the man behind the movement, Farrell presented each piece with an elegant analysis of what the audience was about to witness, creating an aura of accessibility to the stereotypically “stiff” spectacle. Both the cheering crowd that anxiously awaited the first three pas de deux–from “Apollo”, “La Sonnambula”, and “The Unanswered Question”–and first-time ballet goers were equally moved by the breathtakingly beautiful scenes unfolding on stage. (Click here to read more…)

Having thought I had fractured my foot with a fifty pound suitcase, I found myself with a leg stretched up in the air as I lay on a check-up table in the Tang Center. Very few medical check-up facilities are what I would describe as cheery, but as I tried to feel as natural as possible as the nurse made small talk while examining my foot, I let my eyes wander to the ceiling and almost giggled by the cute decoration dangling above my head. Here it is, discreetly shot with my cell phone:

Drifting in the ceiling vent’s current was a little blue-spotted cow, leaping over fluffy white clouds and a golden sliver of smiling moon. (Click here to read more…)

Well, well, well. Look at that, two of my favorite words, in the same place. Free. Theater.

In case you haven’t seen the ads on BART, the second Free Night of Theater 2009 ticket giveaway will be happening this Wednesday night at 6 p.m. At that time, the general public (that means you!) has the opportunity to claim free tickets to hundreds of productions around the Bay Area. No, you won’t get a ticket to “Rent” or “Wicked,” but there are numerous great shows (for example, Shotgun’s “This World in a Woman’s Hands” and Aurora’s “Fat Pig”) that are putting up free tickets. Here’s how it works:

1. Go to tixbayarea.com

2. Click on the Free Night of Theater banner on the right hand side of the page.

3. Create a account to see the full listing. It is free of charge and takes quite literally 30 seconds.

4. Check out all of the fabulous shows, and choose the one you want to go for when the time comes (you can only get tickets to one show, so choose carefully.)

5. At 6 on Wednesday, rush madly to your computer, log back into tixbayarea and claim your free tickets!

See you at the theater—and no excuses for not showing up this time, alright? I mean, come on, it’s free. And hopefully you’ll like it so much that you’ll come back.

Image Source: East Bay Express

Tags: aurora, free theater, Shotgun Players, tixbayarea

The first episode of season six rebuilt House as a reformed character. The second episode, “Epic Fail,” is the focused on the opposite process; instead, it destroys House’s team so that by the end of it you’re left with a situation that looks oddly familiar. Or, as House says in the episode four preview: “Oh my god, it’s three years ago … Does that mean I’m still crazy?”

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP
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This weekend I got to see a production of “A House in Bali” at Zellerbach Hall. This opera is based on the journey of Colin McPhee, a Canadian composer, who traveled to Bali and studied the music there in the 1930s. The opera was weird enough to make it impossible to tell whether or not Director Jay Scheib’s interpretation of it was successful or not. With a claustrophobic set and sometimes-awkward multimedia incorporation, I couldn’t help but wish I were attending a simple concert of Balinese Gamelan music and dance. Take away the long-winded anguish of the Western visitors, (who take a good hour and a half to realize that they will never blend seamlessly into Balinese society,) and we would be left with an incredible display of Indonesian performance sans all the anthropologizing. Thus I give you a sample of what I heard Sunday night, fo free:

And here’s some dance, if your mind isn’t sufficiently blown.

Links: YouTube

As a child, I thought it was the coolest thing ever to play with a Polaroid camera and watch a photo develop right in front of me. Then there was the family camera, an old Olympus point and shoot contraption. My parents would snap dozens of photos of my sister, the dog and me. It was always quite a feat to get all of us–generally in a restless blur of motion–in one clear photo. We wouldn’t know how the photo turned out until after we retrieved it from the neighborhood Kodak lab. Since my dad invested in a digital camera, however, we get results in a jiff! Not only that, my dad could edit a pet unicorn into family photos or change the background to exotic locales, much to my sister’s and my delight. The technology for digital photography has come a long way since then, transforming what was once simply a convenience factor into a high art.

Take a couple seconds to admire the luscious images below:

Eric Larson-”On McAllister St.”

(Click here to read more…)