Three Videos

Here are three videos to watch before bed. All of them contain dancing. One of them contains many smiles.

"Showreel" by James Welsby

"Window in the Skies" by U2

"Story of Bess" by Rossi Lamont Walter

How's that for an injection of creativity. You've seen what others can do, so do it too.

do it to it,

rossi

DEJAN TUBIC

Today is Tuesday, the slowest of the days in the week for us because it often goes as follows:

French class (3 hours), return to the Villa Jasmin, lunch, nap, beach, read (or not). Very nice, if you do it right.

However, today I did not nap. I wasn't feeling particularly tired. Instead, I decided to YouTube a formidable handful of songs by the "folk music project" Timber Timbre (ding) which just finished downloading, starting with "Woman". Check out the pretty artsy video that comes with the song. I expect to listen to their newest album, Creep On Creepin' On, later with my boyfriend. He is a musician. His name is Kyle. He is obscure e.g. from Delaware. He is a stud.

So things are going along nicely and the (*counts*) nine YouTube tabs open are set and ready to be heard but as things tend to go with the Internet, I wind up between Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube (1) and eagerly watching the choreography of the one and only Dejan Tubic. And I have to say, I am "wow"ed every time.

Dejan is a hip-hop/funk/body choreographer living in Los Angeles (2) and, apparently, often bleaches his hair, making him edgy and recognizable. I can image this is good for his dancer-students in class (3). Here are four pieces he has choreographed, the ones I've seen, but you can find all of his fun videos on his website here.

Choreographed to "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith

Choreographed to "Bloody Mary" by Lady Gaga

Choreographed to "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool

Choreographed to "Outta Your Mind" by Lil Jon and LMFAO ["vulgar"]

You can see for yourself how talented Dejan is and how many people he inspires to move.
Here is his fan page.

Honestly, dance in general is a great way to keep active while having a great time, meeting lively people, and appreciating popular music with a depth not many can achieve, especially since popular music gets the blunt end of the stick from a lot of people a lot of the time. Consider giving a dance class a try, be it hip-hop, swing, funk, jazz, tap, ballet, modern, African, East Asian, Bhangra, anything. Dance comes in so much variety and captures such a wide audience, it's amazing the kind of culture and history you can experience and become apart of just by dancing.

These last few hours just leave me thinking, "Inspiration overload: good thing or bad?" Obviously, both, but there is no time to sort out why. You just have to "go and do something with you life" (Dejan Tubic).

I myself will finish listening to Timber Timbre.

tree falls in a forest... and it lands on my head,
rossi



UNDERSCORES
(1) Facebook, Gmail, YouTube: WARNING. Commence the devouring of at least two hours of your time. Be aware.
(2) I wonder how many people actually say "Los Angeles" with what is probably the correct accent "L-OH-S AHN-JE-LEZ".
(3) Info on classes found here: "Come Take Dejan Tubic’s Class at IDA Hollywood. EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 730pm - 9:00pm. www.idahollywood.com"

"CHUNK OF CHANGE"

So, admittedly, I really enjoy the use of the word "blog" now, contrary to what I wrote in the first post since I re-commenced BTG. Part of why is because I have awakened to the usefulness of blogs to get in touch with individuals in what could be one of their purest moments: what they choose to put online to reflect them, what they do, who they are. Despite it being still a funky word, blogs really do bring me enjoyment. The other part is because I've kept the pleasant habit of listening to music to start off my moment. (Here is one of those pure moments that let me reflect who I am to everyone outside of me!)

I'm the kind of guy who thinks that you should listen to the music I am listening to now, as I type, because it will bring you that much closer to me in this moment,  feeling me. 

If you want to try, I am listening to Passion Pit's EP "Chunk of Change" and there is a nice breeze at sunset and the mosquito bite from a few hours ago doesn't itch. Feeling pretty good... 

(Just returned from a petit hiatus: just stormed through la Rue de Pietons with a blindfolded girl with all eyes on the parade. More about that later.)

Sorry, a little inconsistency there. I am not French, but I am in the French riviera, by the way. Specifically, I am in Menton ("chin") a morning's jog away from Monaco, or Italy if you go in the opposite direction. It is a quaint (read: small, as evidenced by the fact that it almost never appears on a map; see below) town-village that is composed rather exactly by all of the casually glamorous photos found with a quick Google Image search. I have become quite fond of it, but I think to me this means looking at it rather that living in it. That's okay. 

. . .

I just recalled that before joining the parade of colleagues--we are here studying i.e. beaching, drinking, generally living--I was looking out over the balcony of my room and on the old-style shingled roof there was a bird fumbling with his feet. Maybe her feet, I don't know. Birds are less obvious than humans to me. S/he was walking down the slope of the roof and kept slipping. It was amusing to watch not because I don't like birds but because this was a formidable looking bird. When I mean formidable, imagine a large hawk with the detailed grey feathers of a forest owl competing with seagulls for food. (I did a quick Google search hoping for just a photo; but good luck with this.) Watching birds look silly is nice. I often look at them and see some sort of majesty, freedom of flight and all that, so seeing the opposite is pretty fun. Makes you wonder what ridiculous human behavior city birds see all day long. Endless humor...

. . . 

Anyway, I have been living here since 4 Juin after spending 1 June traveling from Paris to Nice via TGV (thanks Eurostar!) and indulging in the beautiful Nice for a few days. Stayed in a great hostel i.e. free breakfast and soft bed and water, temperature-indifferent. Sat on the beach objectifying and philosophizing with the Mediterranean. Then, I thought about keeping up with my experiences, typical as they were, perhaps, on the blog, but I had already begun a written journal invested with drawings and doodles. I like what's contained in it-- probably will like it much more in a year or two, provided it doesn't burn away (note: scan page-by-page into computer ...) After being established here for some time now and gaining a reasonable work load for class, I don't write in it as often. Translated, that means that it has transformed into the occasional poem and a handful of ink sketches. This pleases me; it shall continue. 

I will put up two more comprehensive posts for those patient enough and wanting to "put themselves in my shoes". Selling point: my father has issued me a "1000-photo" challenge, as he knows that I am rather bad about documenting with photographs. I now have a reason to carry around my phone, it having been on "airplane mode" pretty much since I got off of the plane. So, you can rest assured that any post concerning France will be as engaging as an illustrated book. 

Random last note, check the website this rather beautiful photo was taken from. LOL.

written by the re-inspired,

rossi

Break Down No.1: Kaba Modern/Body Rock 2010

Not too long ago I resurrected my YouTube account and starting a half-organized effort at keeping track of music videos and videos in general that I found interesting or memorable. Eventually, this meant that I started rather exclusively hoarding videos of choreography and dance troupes. Keeping track of anything is just the brain and body's way of saying, "I will return to this" and all too often we don't. But hurrah! I have returned to a video sent to me through Expressions Dance Company at Harvard. Aside from the flashy stage, there is some sick choreography in this 4:44 piece, and some details that easily worth noting. You may end up watching an interval 2 or 3 (or 50...) times. Whatever. You will enjoy.

---

"it's gonna be the day" 0:07-0:10 - I think it was a superb choice to have all dancers isolate their shoulders like they did. It was super soft and super effective. I think that was definitely a great way to start off the piece (can you believe it's only 4:44?). With so many dancers on stage your eye is immediately drawn to the three showcased ones in the center. Not only because of numbers and lighting, but the levels help create the dynamic texture on stage. While most dancers are kneeling, several are standing legs hip-width apart and--here is my favorite observation--they aren't just in the back row! They are in the middle row, too, making the layering almost 3-D instead of flat. 

hard house music 0:10-0:32 - So, for those who don't already know, I am really a fan of house music and techno in choreography for any style of dance. It is entrancing and persistent, and makes a good canvas for repetitive motions executed canon style, like in choruses. These dancers did the music justice by virtually staying in place instead of bouncing all over the stage-- they really made it easy to see all the cool body extensions and playing they were doing. Oh, and the two moments were a horizontal line forms across the front of the stage? Brilliant and visually very effective 

"the hoochie leg" 1:01-1:03 - I just really like this move. They executed it well, again, with all dancers doing it.

four part ensemble 1:16-1:31 - So, not only is this approach pretty visually effective, it's very easy to do and do well as long as the groups of dancers know their choreo step for step. But what made this even more awesome was the subtle thread of the dancer in the grey jacket and scarf moving imperceptibly from group to group until the very end, when everyone rotates over their left side. So dope.

formation(s) 1:31-1:39 - For me it was a little messy. I could tell what they were going for, but their right/our left side was a bit late and off-spacing for, like, a second, but then everyone gets back into it at 1:39, which does indeed look hella cool.

footwork! ahhh! 2:02-2:05 - I LOVE ISOLATED TORSOS AND BOUNCY FEET, AHH!

and right after that, the audience goes vocal for the first time, ACTUALLY, where the beat drops at 2:05, after "Mr. Hugh Hefner," and I think I've finally figured out why. 

So, the beat picks up, maybe even double-times, and the girl SMACK in the middle with those ridiculous boots really brings out that quickness because of how her head sort of rocks back at forth as almost an after-shock result of what her legs are doing (stomping one at a time). It really is a nuance that she nailed down hard. Almost all of other dancers do it too, but to a less crazy degree. The girls that do it best are the middle girl and the two girls at the top of the formation, closest to the stage, not quite on the outskirts. A girl that seems to not do it is the one in the white jacket on the far left/our right: her head doesn't rebound as hard, and the double-time effect is that much more lost. Fortunately, the young lady in the center has enough rebound and stage crunk for everyone.

It's all just super baller.

And, note the music:

Intro: Peanuts Enhancer (Mobbing Remix) - Benny Benassi

Walking on a Dream (Treasure Fingers Remix) - Empire of the Sun

Losing My Mind - Cold Flamez

Bitch You'll Gag - Jay Karan Pendavis

Closer: Cheap and Cheerful (Fake Blood Remix) - The Kills

It's funny, really, because a friend of mine just sent me "Ohm-O-Genik" by Alle "Mobbing" Benassi, Benny (Marco) Benassi's cousin. 

This is all around a really, really great video.

always rock your body,
rossi

Timing and Cards

Try something on for size: Yann Tiersen, French musicien and celebrated good-looker. And a photo of him that looks nice and was found very conveniently on Google and some other "Letters". Listen for a bit to some of his compositions made for Amélie, like "J'y suis jamais allé". Let it settle on your ears.

As it rises and falls in the beginning, it almost makes you think start to think of Paris, and love, and love letters and St. Valentine's Day cards and chocolates and wine and everything that is gentle and nice and unrelated to this particular letter. Here is Yann remixed by Smoku to chew on, for the pain.

As sounds à la Tiersen calm your nerves because you "ROFTL" (past tense) or pushed your nose so far into the air at the somewhat humorous let down, you might be wondering "injury? timing? cards? what is this getting to, some injured French guy in a colored neck brace waiting to get out of the hospital and passes time by gambling?" Mm, clever synthesis but not quite. I am really just shooting the breeze. No pressure. Like many readers of Letters, you and I encounter a lot of cool stuff out there. We are all basically walking sponges for cool and interesting stuffs going on. You know why, the Internet and all. Just today, I had my cool Google Chrome all revved up with seven tabs, you know, some YouTube videos that I tile all over Facebook, some other blogger blogs, a fashion blog, and a British Jazz blog, which says some really nice things about Y.Tiersen. But I wasn't writing then. Instead, I'm writing now, and making lukewarm jokes about France and French stuff. There seems to be a discrepancy.

Timing for these things really is a thorn in my side, because if you happen upon something very interesting, even inspiring, maybe you should write about it, and you will write about it. Oh yeah, Blogger.com is up. That's right, I'm making a New Post. Hell yes, this shit's gonna be awesome... DUPED. You have nothing to say and are awkwardly staring at a photo of Yann Tiersen's face as he either, like you, wonders what you were thinking or, better than you, knows you New Posted too hastily. In all sincerity, it can feel deflating.

Though I have no experience in hurling aside senior citizens to get out of an opera house and into my car to speed home and sit wide-eyed at my laptop screaming "OMG" with flared nostrils and beady eyes, I assume that posting immediately after an event or performance is much easier. Concerning timing, this habit of writing seems much more reliable, but unfair to the arbitrary cat memes and other legitimate forms of entertainment and contemporary culture that exist. Again, the Internet thing. And what about stupid and/or arbitrary memes-n-things that have cultural undertones? What about them? Am I more limited communicating my enthusiasm for cats dancing than dancing with cats than the actual book Dancing with Cats?

Well, no. I can write about all or none of these things as much or as little as I want. True enough, some questions have simple answers, and a lot of good questions do. Example: "Is that all that this letter is about?"

"Disco."

"And this has nothing to do with cards?"

And, to avoid controversy, I agree.

As an aside, please do keep listening to Yann Tiersen, "he's a great guy." You can probably find that quoted by looking for it in a blog someplace by some person Tiersen has probably never, ever met.


tt is written,
rossi

"WE ARE BORN"

The word "past" is a great word for encompassing exactly what our pasts are, very real but since then more has happened and more will happen. Even abstract and non-human entities have "pasts," like Bucket in The Garage here. Fortunately, more has happened indeed and, after having rejected it for a year, BTG has been revived into something new, more relevant, and personal. BTG is truly my web log.

But even with a new coat of coding, "blogs" for me still carries the annoying association with teenagers ranting about friends, opinionated women about their lovers and bad dinners, and gay men dwelling pensively (or not) on all three. I hope to avoid this. I aim for commentary about the art that other create, dance that others make, people I meet, and moments when I meet myself. As things would have it, all this will probably be synthesized into rants about friends, lovers, and bad dinners, but the point is BTG is not a "blog"; it is one letter of life. And there are thousands more. Let's just say, then, that this will "suffice".

Since we are putting words in quotes, how about we quote "conviction".

“He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” Louisa May Alcott 

Conviction is one of those words that seem to be used most often by people who actually have it. For example, you cannot tell me that Louisa May Alcott does not have conviction. Sure she didn't think very highly of her "Little Women" but damnit Alcott had enough conviction to write a 900 page novel and three sequels ("Good Wives," "Little Men," "Jo's Boys"). For some people, this is a very feasible task-- I can think of some now. But if trudging through over a thousand pages of this is what it takes to have conviction, then I am unfortunately ousted from the club.

Regardless, making this Ode to Life (Ode = more or less a letter) takes conviction, which I have. But, to make the whole thing feel a little more complete, just Clap Your Hands. Sia will like that. She will like it very much.


written with conviction,
rossi