The best performance ever

I know that we all have had that gorgeous experience of listening to a song that explains exactly what we feel. It’s amazing, I know. But what’s even more amazing is that a person can have the admirable capacity of putting such feelings into words and, moreover, into a song! We tend to think that one cannot go beyond that. And yet, some do. There are singers that can not only write incredibly touching songs, but also interpret them as if they were dying on stage!

Once upon a time Elvis Costello wrote a perfect song. A true work of art. A piece with so much feeling that, sung by him, was thought to be glorious and unbeatable. But one day, he invited Fiona Apple to sing it and she proved everyone wrong.
The song is called “I want you”. It tells the story of a boy who is deeply in love with a girl but she betrays him, and the boy’s love becomes an obsession. He uses the words “I want you” in order to hide his “I love you”, which causes him so much pain.

Luckily, I have never been in that situation, but Fiona surely has. Or maybe she’s the best actress in the whole world and knows like no one on earth how to play a character. I have never seen someone get so much into the song. Her angelical flawless face starts to transform and she ends up looking as a total psycho. When the song is over, she can’t even smile at the applause of the audience.

I would really like you to take a look at this amazing video and tell me what you think of it. I’m also sharing with you the lyrics in a google doc.

Enjoy!

Popcorn: Don’t you love it madly?

Last Friday I went to the cinema to watch “Inception” (kick-ass film!) and that got me to think about why is it that we eat popcorn when we watch movies. Personally, whenever I go to the cinema I buy popcorn. For me, eating it and watching the film go hand in hand. And, while searching the net to find information about this awesome “tradition”, I found a great description of such an experience: “Somehow the movie-going experience is incomplete without that tub of buttery, crunchy goodness getting all over your shirt as you munch away in the dark”.



It all started when street vendors pushed their carts near theatres and found there a very good source of income. Theatre owners hated popcorn because it made a mess all around, and also, because people would go out in the middle of the shows to buy it. This was so until they realized it could be them who would profit from this sweet marvel.

In 1925 the first electric popcorn machine was sold to movie theatre owners and it was definitely there to stay. During the Great Depression, buying popcorn was one of the very few “luxuries” people could afford. Theatre owners even lowered the price of movie tickets, so, the result was that going to the cinema was the most economic night out one could have. Movie tickets and popcorn were two of the very few products that raised their sales immensely during that rough time. During WWII, sugar was sent to American troops, so there was not much sugar left in the country to produce candy. As a consequence, people ate three times more popcorn than usual. And in the 1950's the amount of money made from popcorn exceeded the amount made from movies themselves.



Today, selling popcorn and other snacks are far more profitable for theatres than selling tickets. One reason for this is that theatres have to split in halves the money of the tickets with studios. And the other reason is probably that popcorn is so absolutely delicious you can never get enough, can you?

Sources:
A History of Popcorn and Movies
History and Legends of Popcorn, Cracker Jacks & Popcorn Balls

What’s wrong about being alone?

I came across a video in which Canadian poet-songwriter-singer Tanya Davis performs and recites her poem “How to be alone”. And, after watching it and reading and re-reading every phrase in that genuine work of art, I couldn’t help but thinking deeply in this being-alone thing.

The poem can be said to summarize in more or less 50 lines what hundreds of self-help books have been trying to explain to people. It is like a simple manual to teach how to enjoy being by yourself, to see the positive side of being alone, to like your own company. The author shares with us a step-by-step guide to show ourselves alone to the world and be happy with it. Therefore, the piece is not only a combination of exquisite subtle rhymes, gorgeous ideas, and a realization of the hope of finding great modern poets, but also a group of words that go far beyond and may work as a life buoy when you feel you’re drowning.



There’s a part of the poem that says: “Society is afraid of alone though. Like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements. Like people must have problems if after a while nobody is dating them.” Isn’t this incredibly true? But why is that so? What is in being with someone that makes us more “normal”? Why do we all grow up with the idea of finding a partner? Do we really need it or is that what we are imposed? I’m not saying being with someone is not nice. I love being with my boyfriend as well as with my friends, family, partners, students, etc. But what’s wrong with me if I choose not to be with anybody?

Looking at some dictionary entries, I’ve found many different meanings of the word “loneliness”, and the one I prefer is:
“A feeling of depression resulting from being alone”
But I needed a word that shared the meaning of being alone, but expressed different feelings. So I thought about “solitude”, which means:
“When you are alone, especially when this is what you enjoy”
That’s why, I guess being alone is not the actual problem, but how we feel about is the crux of the matter.

I you have ten minutes to spare, do watch the video and read the poem. You never know if it can cheer you or a friend up.

Cartoon Time

I have always admired the wit and the inventiveness of many cartoonists, but what I admire the most is their capacity to draw. I guess that’s an inborn talent that I wasn’t provided with, and just have to face it. It has its positive side too, though: my students roar with laughter whenever I draw something on the board. That’s how terrible I am at drawing.

This tool I’ve recently learned to use rid me of the main obstacle between me and the cartoonists’ world. And I’ve discovered that, when making a cartoon, one can criticize in a softer way. We all may have some opinions that we choose not to share because we are afraid they might hurt others’ feelings. But through drawings, almost everything can be said. It seems to me that this is a face-saving world, isn’t it?



My cartoon is mainly about chauvinism. Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about gay marriage, and prejudices against homosexuality have abounded. But what I hate the most is that men’s sheer hypocrisy to protest against gay couples, while they are immensely turned-on by lesbians. How come that girl-and-girl couples are hot, and boy-and-boy couples are disgusting? What is with that sick and incoherent way of thinking men have? How does that work? Well, I guess we will never know because even they cannot explain it. What they can do is to do us, and themselves, a favour and zip it when it comes to discussions on homosexuality.

Anyway, I hope you like my cartoon as much as I enjoyed making it.
Thanks for reading!