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fcg:

Rhi Rhi on the set of rude boy.  Dammit, this is cute.  The chick can’t sing but whoever is her creative team deserves a MAJOR raise every single day they put her on.  Also, gotta give the girl credit because she can carry whatever they throw on her.

You’re totally right. Sometimes I want to hate on her so badly but she totally works it out. Can’t deal with that voice but this looks absolutely fantastic.

fcg:

Rhi Rhi on the set of rude boy.  Dammit, this is cute.  The chick can’t sing but whoever is her creative team deserves a MAJOR raise every single day they put her on.  Also, gotta give the girl credit because she can carry whatever they throw on her.

You’re totally right. Sometimes I want to hate on her so badly but she totally works it out. Can’t deal with that voice but this looks absolutely fantastic.

Sometimes I think I take decent photos

seagull:

Then I look at real photographers’ websites and feel nothing but waves of discouragement.

Please tell me it’s normal to feel completely inadequate in everything you do cause my God the doubts that fly through my head are starting to eat me alive.

Truth. Hell, I’m trying to make into my job, at least freelance. Then I get to thinking that maybe I’m meant to work in customer service all my days and do photography as a hobby. I feel this way about making art in general. You’re not alone.

I felt a lot of times that like my problem was with music itself. As if music were this thing that was being really difficult with me. And I sincerely wish that music would be a person that I could yell at. Darren King, MUTEMATH

Brilliant guys. Brilliant performers.

Penpals make up for rainy days. I’ve sent mine off today. Hooray for Nastia!!
JHN7XY35H9J9

Penpals make up for rainy days. I’ve sent mine off today. Hooray for Nastia!!

JHN7XY35H9J9

(photo via:youmightfindyourself)
I know this has been talked to death already but seriously, what’s with all the lily white? So the future of Hollywood looks like 1940s Hollywood? Of course, there is nothing wrong with being white. The problem is with the magazine/editor choosing this as the only representation of what talent is out in LA. As someone passionate about photography, I’m also going to blame Annie Leibovitz for this mess. How about doing something different for the cover? And I’m not talking nudity. Go back to having fun with photo shoots and being creative rather than doing this whole pretty-girls-in-pale-dresses-frolicking-in-the-valley type photos. It’s one thing to have your own style in photo-taking, it’s another to do the same thing over and over.
Also, does the future of Hollywood only feature young people? Must it only feature women? And must it only be actresses? We just had the Director’s Guild acknowledge Kathryn Bigelow for best director, the first woman to take it! Let’s feature up and coming directors, producers, screenwriters, film editors and cinematographers. We also have Taraji P. Henson (a fabulous woman of color) who has been a total breakthrough these past few years who is in her late 30s. That doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s a fresh face. And then in the male department we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt who didn’t fall to the curse of being a child actor. It’s amazing how many boring people Vanity Fair decided to choose when there are many amazing and different things happening in Hollywood! *sigh*
And don’t get me started on an actress who had a really amazing year and that is Gabourey Sidibe. She came out of nowhere and is fantastic. One of the best things about her is the curiosity of seeing how she will fit into Hollywood after Precious. Are there films in which she can be in? All these women up here fit the mold of Romantic Comedy leading ladies or being quirky cute with doe eyes. That’s not different. That’s not new in Hollywood. Emma Stone is the only one I actually have hope for.
All in all, you wonder if it’s worth arguing about due to the fact that the magazine industry isn’t what it used to be. It’s easy to go online and look for the girl who’s different in Hollywood whom you can identify with rather than what’s fed you through the media. However, stuff like this isn’t helping. I feel Vanity Fair, along with a host of a bunch of other magazines, are alienating readers like me, like you who are tired of the same thing. It’s just not about fighting to put a Black girl up there. Asian, Latina, men, women, those behind the camera who are making a difference need to be represented. The most color this issue has to offer is on the top of these ladies heads. I guess we should all be thankful they’re not all blond, right?

(photo via:youmightfindyourself)

I know this has been talked to death already but seriously, what’s with all the lily white? So the future of Hollywood looks like 1940s Hollywood? Of course, there is nothing wrong with being white. The problem is with the magazine/editor choosing this as the only representation of what talent is out in LA. As someone passionate about photography, I’m also going to blame Annie Leibovitz for this mess. How about doing something different for the cover? And I’m not talking nudity. Go back to having fun with photo shoots and being creative rather than doing this whole pretty-girls-in-pale-dresses-frolicking-in-the-valley type photos. It’s one thing to have your own style in photo-taking, it’s another to do the same thing over and over.

Also, does the future of Hollywood only feature young people? Must it only feature women? And must it only be actresses? We just had the Director’s Guild acknowledge Kathryn Bigelow for best director, the first woman to take it! Let’s feature up and coming directors, producers, screenwriters, film editors and cinematographers. We also have Taraji P. Henson (a fabulous woman of color) who has been a total breakthrough these past few years who is in her late 30s. That doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s a fresh face. And then in the male department we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt who didn’t fall to the curse of being a child actor. It’s amazing how many boring people Vanity Fair decided to choose when there are many amazing and different things happening in Hollywood! *sigh*

And don’t get me started on an actress who had a really amazing year and that is Gabourey Sidibe. She came out of nowhere and is fantastic. One of the best things about her is the curiosity of seeing how she will fit into Hollywood after Precious. Are there films in which she can be in? All these women up here fit the mold of Romantic Comedy leading ladies or being quirky cute with doe eyes. That’s not different. That’s not new in Hollywood. Emma Stone is the only one I actually have hope for.

All in all, you wonder if it’s worth arguing about due to the fact that the magazine industry isn’t what it used to be. It’s easy to go online and look for the girl who’s different in Hollywood whom you can identify with rather than what’s fed you through the media. However, stuff like this isn’t helping. I feel Vanity Fair, along with a host of a bunch of other magazines, are alienating readers like me, like you who are tired of the same thing. It’s just not about fighting to put a Black girl up there. Asian, Latina, men, women, those behind the camera who are making a difference need to be represented. The most color this issue has to offer is on the top of these ladies heads. I guess we should all be thankful they’re not all blond, right?

Super adorable illustrations by Ashley Barron

Super adorable illustrations by Ashley Barron

Library Rental Film Review: OldBoy

Because most of us are poor and because this was an idea for a column I was going to put in a zine, I decided I’d post it up here on my blog and see how it goes. Hey, at least it’ll get me to write. So here is the first installment of films I checked out at the library poorly reviewed by me, Miranda Rae.

Sometimes I question whether a film is good simply because it was shocking and makes your stomach turn. Oldboy is one of those films. An intense revenge film directed and written by Park Chan-wook, I came to the conclusion that yes, although brutal, it was a good film. The story goes like this: Oh Dae-su, a fat alcoholic father of one is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years for seemingly no reason. Upon his release he is thrown into a cat and mouse game to find out who imprisoned him and along for the ride is a beautiful sushi chef whom he falls in love with.

While watching the film I had to question what kind of world we were in. Was it completely dystopian where everything is dark and miserable? Too miserable to notice something strange like a man being locked up for 15 years and no one making a peep? Of course a story like this could only happen in a world like this, you think; but with such strong characters and the way the story eventually tied together you felt as though, yes, this could happen. This feels very real. And therein lies why the film was quite painful to watch. Trust me, I’m the first to laugh at horror films even the ones where people say it’ll legitimately make you jump out of your seat. But there was nothing funny about a man striking down a hoard of thugs with a hammer, pulling out teeth and then cutting your own tongue out. Nope, it got real.

Once I met Oh Dae-Su’s captor, Yu Ji-tae, I also had to question why he looked so young. What could this young man have against Oh Dae Su? Did he steal his candy away? You could tell he was much younger. I thought to myself, what a poor casting choice. Eventually, it didn’t make it anymore surreal for me. It became understandable that a man held captive for 15 years would age considerably and that Yu Ji-tae, having enough cash to imprison someone for so long would have the means to take care of himself. Adding to that, possibly have peace of mind torturing someone.

All in all, Oldboy was extremely powerful. I am always torn about whether gore and violence are necessary to tell the story but in this case, it totally served a purpose. Hollywood thrillers and scare films should take note. The only thing I’m wondering about now is this film was part II in a vengeance trilogy. So if this is part two, how awful will it be to watch part III and how less awful is part I?



Awesome! So a while ago I posted photos from my short New Orleans trip here on tumblr and one of them featured Mr. Okra. He was really nice and let me take a photo of him. He asked my friend Chelly and I where we were from and told us to have a nice time in NoLa. I wish we had bought some fruit from him but we were vacationing on pennies already. Anyways, here is a short documentary about this colorful character. I guess I’m certified Southern because subtitles were unnecessary!