Art,childhood and school

While I was home for Christmas, I found some old drawings I did from the age of 5 until the age of 13.I always found children's drawings very interesting because they don't try to make them perfect they just draw whatever they feel like.They write random words on them and then smudge them all over and then sign their names and they're very happy about their little pieces of art.
I wish I'd taken painting and drawing lessons when I was a kid because we had nothing like that at school.In public schools in Greece, Art is not an important subject(at least it wasn't when I was a kid in the 1990's).In primary school we usually had art on Fridays at the last hour of a school day so the teachers always told us to draw whatever we want while they were correcting our homework or something.We used to call it 'fun hour'because nobody really sat there drawing.At the first ten minutes there was an attempt to draw something but after a while everyone was running around,playing,shouting at each other,smudging each other's faces with colour pens.At the end when the teacher used to have enough he'd tell us to pack our stuff and go home.
When I went to Middle School or Junior High or whatever they call it,we had about 10 art lessons.Our teacher was pregnant and had to leave and of course nobody ever replaced her.Instead we had two hours of wandering around at school doing nothing once a week.
In High School,there was no Art.There was no time for that.There were so many important subjects to prepare us for our 'future' and Art wasn't that important.There was Art History in the final year of High School as an elective but the only problem was..there was no teacher.Well there was a teacher but she had been very ill the whole year and she only showed up the last month of the school year.
Anyway,there are so many unemployed people(including me)with useless degrees so why should schools in Greece or anywhere take Art or Drama(which we didn't have either despite the fact that it comes from Greece)or Music(and no Music of course)more seriously???
Well,in my opinion even if someone doesn't want to have a career in any of those things it's nice to study something different between all those hours of Maths,Physics,Chemistry,Ancient Greek and Latin.Even if it's not going to help him/her to find a good job when he/she is older.

Revolutionary Road

I didn't have the chance to watch 'Revolutionary Road' when it came out.I only watched it the other night and I was amazed.Before I watched it I heard that a lot of people didn't like it and thought it was boring and over the top so I didn't expect it to be that good.The film is set in 1950's America, in the suburbs of New York but I think people in 2009 can relate to this story probably more than people from the 1950s.Most young people today are stuck in jobs they hate telling themselves that one day they're going to leave,they're going to change their lives..but it never happens.They get too comfortable to try and start from the beginning again.The two main characters meet when they're young,fall in love and then get married and have kids.They both believe that they're different from everybody else(like most young people do)and that they'll never going to end up like those boring families who live in the suburbs.As they get older they realise that unfortunately they can't avoid this kind of life.Frank Wheeler(Leonardo DiCaprio,who gives a very good performance) works in a company that his father used to work and he hates it.He never liked his father's job and he never wanted to end up like him.Frank,like most young people, started working there to support himself and thought that it was going to be temporary but then ended up staying for a long time. Frank slowly realises that he is probably going to be working there for the rest of his life,just like his dad.
April Wheeler(Kate Winslet, whose performance is exceptional) who wanted to be an actress but didn't succeed,despises being a suburban housewife.She wants something different,something exciting and after a big argument with Frank she realises that they both need a change.
When they first met Frank talked to April about Paris and how people there really know how to live.April decided that Frank must quit his job and they should all move to Paris.She is going to work to support them and Frank is going to have time to think of what he really wants to do.The idea of escapism excites them and for a while it stops them from arguing.Frank and April are a happy couple again.
Unfortunately their happiness doesn't last long.April discovers that she's pregnant and Frank's boss offers him a promotion.The pregnancy doesn't stop April from wanting to go to Paris and she's even considering having the child there.However,Frank thinks that it's better to stay in America now they're going to have another kid and he's going to earn more money.April is even thinking of having an abortion.
A very interesting character that I haven't mentioned is John(Michael Shannon who I hadn't heard of before but I found him really good in this),the son of the realtor (Kathy Bates,one of my favourite actresses).

In my opinion, John,a former mathematician who is now under psyciatric care in a mental institution,is one of the most important characters in the film.He is very honest and sees things in a completely different way.John is the only person who likes the Wheelers' idea of moving to Paris.Everyone else thinks their decision is immature and unrealistic.John is regarded as the person who is not 'well' and shouldn't be taken seriously but he is the only one who speaks the truth.When the Wheelers tell him that they're not going to move to Paris after all, he feels dissapointed.The Wheelers probably gave him hope.He gets very angry with them and starts insulting them.He tells them things that are true but Frank and April could never admit to themselves.

There are many arguments about this film and the book that it's based on.A lot of people I spoke to think that Frank was logical and more down to earth and  April was immature and should have taken antidepressants and needed psychiatric help.I think that April's decision does in fact sound unrealistic and immature but at the same time it sounds interesting and exciting.Apri hasn't been anywhere.She got married and had kids at a young age(like most women back then)and didn't really have the chance to do something else.She failed the only thing she showed interest in(acting),she didn't really want to have children and her and Frank argue constantly.So April wants something to happen that will make her feel alive again.I know,it's true that everyone has to conform.It's life.Everyone has to do things they don't like to survive.Some people are good at this but some people aren't.Some people can find enjoyment in something they don't like.They can easily forget about things they dreamed of doing when they were younger and just think of them as immature thoughts.They become exactly like the fake,no-personality people they used to hate but they don't care because they earn enough money and pay the bills and think that one day they might even get promoted.On the other hand, there are people that just do the things they're 'supposed' to do.Even when they get older.Some people are strong enough to escape(it depends on the situation)but some others are stuck in their situation and can't find the way out.

I think that April is ahead of most women of her time and even women of our time.She sees beyond everything that she's supposed to do.Unfortunately despair made her quit..

Magic

I don't know why I suddenly felt like listening to Dresden Dolls again.It's been 3 years since I listened to them.This performance of 'Sex Changes' is so strong that it makes want to get a piano and just pretend to play(because I can't really play)for hours and then at the end destroy it.It makes me regret once again for not learning to play an instrument.I wonder what it feels like to perform like that.

Unmade Beds

i wanna watch this

You need PoP

I can't stop watching these videos!!If you haven't heard of them(just in case anyone ever reads this)The Speedies were a Power Pop band from Brooklyn which formed in the late 1970s and broke up in 1981.They were influenced by TV cartoon theme songs and 70's glam rock.There's more information on their website www.speediesremix.com/
I wanna be in those videos dancing with them!!!

Is that All there is?

I just watched Martin Scorsese's 'After Hours' and I loved it!
It was really wierd and funny and it was shot in New York in the 1980s.All my favourite things.I wish I was friends with all the characters.Their craziness inspired me.
The soundtrack was great too.


At the end of the film Paul(Griffin Dunne's character)dances with an old woman who always sits on her own at an underground club and nobody ever notices her.He tells her that he just want to live.They dance to this Peggy Lee's 'Is that all there is?'.I've been listening to it for the past 3 hours.


I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't,
and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment,
for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

3 women (1977)

I did this drawing of Shelley Duvall because I loved her character in 3 women.I've always wanted to draw her and I didn't think it was gonna be hard because her face looks like a drawing anyway.She has one of the weirdest faces I've ever seen.People used to call her the 'Texas Twiggy' because she is really skinny with huge sleepy eyes.




I watched 3 women about 4 months ago and I can't stop thinking about it.I was surprised that I had never heard of it before.It reminded me of Mullholand Drive and Ingmar Bergman's Persona.The pain and loneliness that a woman can feel in different stages of her life was shown in a bizarre but beautiful way through breathtaking acting and amazing cinematography.I know a lot of people think that these kind of films are just pretentious and that they don't mean anything but I think that everyone can have their own theory about their meaning.For some people they mean something and for some others they don't.I think it's the same with any kind of art.