I don't have internet at my home at the moment so I'm at my parents' place. Not that I'm complaining, because there are many advantages of not having internet. Whereas normally I would have spent the evening surfing the net while listening to music I ended up drawing and painting and this morning I was reading Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides To Die instead of visiting websites I visit on a daily basis to see if there are any updates. And as a result I have now finished reading Veronika (!) after having lost some interest in the book because I happened to not take the time to read it. But this morning when I was reading it while lying in bed I refound an interest in the story and characters and I really enjoyed the ending even though it didn't come as a surprise to me. Also, last night I went to the first lesson of the photography workshop I started taking. We're 7 in total, two very pretty girls, one 24, the other 26 and four elderly women! :) Our teacher is very kind and he will try to help us so that by the end of the workshop we will all be able to take pictures the exact way we imagined them in our heads. He'll help us get control over our cameras so it will obey to our wishes! Overall this week has been really fun and I feel like I've met so many new people. Just the other night I went to see a movie at the Leids film festival and ended up talking to this guy afterwards for like an hour until he went to see Lars Von Trier's Antichrist. I finally have the feeling of having a life of my own again which is something I had not really felt in quite a long time. Next week I'll be going to a concert on Wednesday, I'll have my second photography workshop, plus this guy from Germany will surf my couch for one night, him being my second couchsurfer so far! And of course there's always school tomorrow :DD
Oh, and I love love LOVE this picture:
Not sure who shot it, but the model is Daul Kim and she's cool ;)
'Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.' - Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai
I'm about to get a cold I'm feeling it :( It's summer for {%$#$&*(&*&*(!'s sake!
I just watched the new Beyoncé video. Stereogum was posting about it so I thought let's check it out. It's hilarious. It's so awful and super cheesy. But I like her for it 'cause I know she doesn't take things too seriously and this is just her entertaining her fans. She does deliver. She does exactly what people expect from her. I bet her fans love it and this will make for a hundred more of those videos of fans doing their own version. The part at the end is the best. She's pretending to be a golden robot or something and her chest... can't explain. Just watch it! :) But be prepared for a big glittery mess :D You might want to put on some sunglasses. Or perhaps these things:
You have to click this link to watch it though, cant embed it:
By the way do you know her remix album or whatever it is is called 'Above And Beyoncé'!! Normally someone would go and say, naaaaah, that's way too easy. But she just goes with it. Doesn't care. Brilliant
I keep thinking it's Friday but it's not... I keep wondering if things are omens and whether I've come across some of them in the past. Maybe it's better not to ever come near a Paulo Coelho novel again. he messes up my mind!!!
Guess what my thesis supervisor enjoyed reading my latest version of my thesis and told me I could send this version to my second reader!!! He said that I could be able to add maybe another article, 'cause I still have the time, but that it's not at all necessary 'cause he thinks it's more than okay already the way it is right now. Woohoo! I'll read everything again tomorrow 'cause according to him there were still some grammar mistakes, little things like that. But I'm done! I'm DONE!! It's really official. So happy. Such a relief. It's good to be me, at least for now :D
So I went to Rialto a cinema in Amsterdam to watch Unspoken by director Fien Troch. She's Flemish but the title of the film is in English and the film is entirely in French even with French actors such as Emmanuelle Devos. Previously her films were in Flemish but this one she did in French. I read an interview with her in which she explains why this one is in French, but right now I can't remember her reasons. Anyway, about the film. It's style is so well chosen. It's like one long close-up, because almost everything is in close-up and it fits the story so well. As a spectator you feel so involved. You really can't escape and are forced to undergo this grieving of the characters with them. I found it a very beautiful piece. Very consistent in style. After the lights went on and the film was finished some of the other people in the cinema were telling each other how bad they thought the movie was which really doesn't make any sense to me. I can see what they didn't like, but that doesn't mean the movie is bad. Don't ever say that, 'cause it isn't. It's the complete opposite. It's a very effective film which the slow pace of the film and its many silences only contributes to. I find it very extraordinary how I myself aren't bothered by such things at all while other people are. I liked every second of this film. It's so strong. And seriously who wouldn't want to look at Emmanuelle Devos's face in close-up for minutes! She's got such an amazing look, so unique. If I were to make a movie right now she would be in it, no doubt. And I'm so proud for the way this film ended. Sometimes you experience a moment in a film that makes you think, if the movie would end right now it would be perfect. But then it continues. And sometimes the actual ending ends up worse than the moment I would have liked to see the film end. Here I also had one of those moments. But Troch did it. She ended it the moment I felt it would be great to end it. I said to myself if this film ends right now Troch will offically be on my list of favourite directors. Well she ended it exactly at that moment I felt the film would have it's perfect ending. So she made it on the list. I'll definitely keep an eye out to see what she comes up with next. So glad I went to see it.
I'm searching for omens all the time, all the Alchemist's fault!! My hopeful side apparently wants to believe
Oh and here's a picture of Emma Watson at that rainy premiere of hers for the latest Harry Potter installment. I didn't know she was already 19! So I don't at all have to feel bad for posting pictures of her. I mean, I thought she was still something like 17! She's a grown-up! At least for Dutch standards. I got nothing to worry about :)
I should re-fresh my Harry Potter memory though. I'd better start reading them books again!
Apparently the whole world was weeping tears for Michael Jackson yesterday and this morning I saw those tears coming down like a big wet shower falling from the sky. Where's the sun when I need it? How can I go and ride my bike into the landscape and lie in some open field with grass surrounding me everywhere? How can I take pretty pictures of the most delicious rays of sunlight when there's no sunshine? When I was still busy finishing my thesis I had no problem staying in. Even when I wasn't working on it 24/7 I felt I couldn't go out and leave the house during the middle of the day to hang out in town for all of the afternoon. But now that I'm basically done and I'm free to go, which I've been actually for months, I don't know what to do anymore! I didn't have any summer plans and seemed to felt content. I wouldn't have mind not going on a vacation. But it seems that the way things are going right now by the end of this week I'll be screaming for a summer holiday and craving for a trip that takes me to places I've yet got to discover.
I finished The Alchemist yesterday. Read it if you haven't done so yet. It might not change your life, but it at least gives you some thought on how to live your life differently and look for things which can help you further and might help you fulfill your so-called destiny. I enjoyed reading it. It's very clearly written. At first I felt a bit dissapointed about the ending, because I was hoping for something different. But when I thought about it I was okay with how it ended, although I expected something bigger and more surprising. The book apparently will be adapted for the big screen and Veronika Decides To Die which stars Sarah Michelle Gellar aka Buffy The Vampire Slayer, another of Coelho's novels, has already been finished. I never knew Paulo Coelho was an author of such spiritual stories. I'll definitely check out some of his other books.
Tonight I'll be going to Rialto in Amsterdam to see Unspoken. I've just decided. And I'll plan something for tomorrow. An art gallery of some sorts probably. Actually what I need most is a good gig, but the next one is still some days away. July 13th seeing Passion Pit. Til then no concerts. :(
I feel like posting pictures, but I've got nothing to post right now. I'll go search for something.
Found something! Daria Werbowy for Prada. Apparently co-directed by Ridley Scott and seriously this looks all kinds of amazing. Those shots on the escalator. Whoa! This is really good! Glad I found it. Plus Daria always looks so lovely. Some women can be so beautiful it can be intimidating, but Daria seems just such a sweet and graceful lady.
Btw you can embed YouTube videos?! I didn't know. The thing is my YouTube account is in Dutch and apparently I never knew the word 'insluiten' is Dutch for to embed! All this time I used websites as SaveTube so I could save the video first and then upload it. Ahaaaaaaaaaa. So know I now. It's indeed possible. I already thought it was strange you could not embed YouTube videos. My account is in English now. No more mistakes!
I was looking for the video on Vimeo, because I like the way Vimeo looks. But when I searched for Prada I found this commercial below. I saw the pictures but not the commercial. I didn't know there was a commercial. It's nothing groundbreaking, but Ymre Stiekema one of the featured models, she's Dutch, is such a beauty. Stunning!
Also thanks to this website See Like Me I found these pictures from photographer Steeve Beckouet. For more pictures go to his website. I find his other works a bit plain though. However these two pictures I really like.
I just love back shots, especially in black and white.
This one just looks so captivating. Love the pink
Sometimes you wonder how a painting or other work of art was made. This video below shows you just that by using time-lapse. I'm amazed by all the layering. Wow. Makes me want to try too!
I have to say for a while I've been wanting to do something with graffiti. Looks so cool. maybe I should just buy some cans and start spraying it all over my room! :))
I recently re-watched this Fleet Foxes video for their song Mykonos. And now I noticed there's a making of.
There's this simplicity to this pictures of photographer Jessica Backhaus which just really fascinates me Her pictures have some real weight or presence. Hard to explain
Again I'm about to go to bed way past my supposed bedtime. I wonder if I'll ever be able again to go to bed before 12 pm 'cause this hasn't happened to me for already some weeks now. And I keep waking up really early. Anyway, I've started to read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist and I don't know if it was such a healthy decision. 'Cause this whole story and the ideas it throws at you really get to me. I feel it kind of forces you, or at least you can't help but connect everything you read to your own life so far and your own experiences. And I even happen to see some similarities between what is told in the book and what I've experienced myself. It's annoying, because it easily makes you want to believe in it all, but at the same time I keep thinking this might just be another story. Do not just get caught up in all its philosophical thinking! This is a story I feel would be really wonderful to believe if true. But you don't know if it's true and noone really knows. Even if you're life ends up going exactly the way this book tells you it will be going you would still be left with uncertainty 'cause it might just be luck that has made your life going exactly the way the book predicted. But I haven't finished yet so let's wait and see what else it will bring me. It's definitely an interesting and very enjoyable read so far.
Gonna surf a bit before going to bed. Just wanted to make a wander around Dazed And Confused's webpage. :)
LOVES Music, Cinema, Fashion, Art, Writing, Photography, Drawing, Acting, His Skateboard, His Tambourine, His Polaroid Camera! <...> GUS Van Sant I Want To Be In Your Movies! + In Alexis Dos Santos + Cam Archer Ones Too :) <...> WANTS To Move To Utrecht
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