a week and a trip.

This week a was sick for two days so I missed the prisoner and editing of commercials, however I got to editing with Viviana when I got back. I feel like after this commercial editing I learned a lot about i movie so hopefully editing in the future will get quicker and easier. On Thursday we had STAC art. I like having STAC art on the day before weekends or trips because drawing for me is relaxing ( if that makes senses). For my holiday card, I am at the point that I remember that I am really bad at coloring and I start getting scared if I will mess up. Maybe if I color my daily practice drawings I can better at that to.

The trip:
First we saw the Neue Gallery. It was small but still really interesting. I don't go to art museums often so seeing a painting or anything of an artist that you know about is amazing. Because I like drawing people a lot I really liked the self portrait Shiele drew. The Guggenheim was cool. I have never been there before so seeing a building built that was really something new to me! I remember sitting on a bench and feeling a bit of a tilt. I loved the feeling of laying down to look up at spirals of art. After the Guggenheim we looked for food for quite some time and found a little Italian restaurant. after eating we made our way to Magnolia bakery for a cupcake. When we sat outside to eat and we a saw a homeless lady with her dog. I felt bad so Allison and I gave her some change. We then went to see the tree and went into the NBC store. Then our group went to H&M and soon realized we were running late... so we ran there. A Brief Encounter was great. I thought they way they used the screen to show something that may have been hard to show on a stage was cool  and a good idea. I think the thing I liked the most about the play was how they had the cast involved or doing something on stage even if they are not in the scene. Thankfully the train ride home I got to sit down and think over talk with friends about what we did that day. When I got home and looked on facebook, I saw people expressing unhappy and negative thoughts on the trip. I was surprised to see that because my group got along quite well and that behind that people still weren't "what STAC used to be." I wouldn't know. It made me sad seeing my friends unhappy. I love everybody in STAC, not a person I hate, so seeing that what is going on is not good, I just really hope whatever is stopping us from being what STAC is supposed to be like. That probably  just sounded really corny but I don't know how to put it any other way.

A short week... thanks pilgrims!

This week was short but we still got stuff done. The song we heard for STAC live was really cool. I think it is a good song that can show not only some of what we can do but in a way what we are about. I also liked how everyone can sing it, so it won't start off as 'well here are the musicians and after is the actors and so on' it is saying 'hey this is STAC, this is what we do'. The ideas my group came up with are great. I think it started with Jill's idea of hearing foot steps that gave us all ideas and we kept on adding more to it (The best group work is like that.). Can't wait to work more on it!

The prisoner this week was really entertaining. I guess it is number six getting a little revenge by torturing number two. The actor who played number two was really great not only his voice but how you really see a change of personality or mental state from strict or stern to scared almost acting like a little boy. It is really funny how for all this time a village takes control over number six's life and now six has control and is tearing the place apart by making number two fell betrayed by everybody!

The feast... or is it just feast? It was a little awkward at first walking into a room with many people you do not know, but everybody else seems to know. But, when everything got settled and it was time to feast, at the food was amazing! I think that might have been the most chicken I have ever seen in my life at once. It was cool hearing from the alumni and their college experiences. It makes me wonder what I am going to do when I go to college. Hopefully something in the arts!
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My Daily Practice!

A long week.

Because of being sick last week, I was only in school for two days! So what I did last week was a bit of a blur. However, this week could not feel any longer. Not only was I not sick, but there was no days off for some holiday.
This week I had a lot of the portfolio left to do, and because everybody in the class did bad on the social studies essay, I had to re-write the essay. Of course after hours of work, my printer's ink decides to run out leaving me in a panic! Thankfully, in the end, when I handed the work in I could take a huge sigh of relief.
Talking about the Empty Space was interesting because of how many people can relate this book to themselves and situations they have been in that could relate to what Brooks was saying. I have to admit though, I caught my mind wander a bit after a while.
Thursday we watched the prisoner episode "Checkmate." I swear, if I were number 6 I would have gone crazy by now because every time he tries escaping it ends up in some plot twist that makes my brain go mushy. They we talked about ways to show we don't go with the STAC stereotypes and ways to make people want to audition. Someone told "Oh STAC? Yeah, all they do is get high or something." and "So STAC is a cult or something right?", so hopefully our attempt of making thought like that go away comes out well!
For my Daily practice I want to do a drawing everyday so I can improve [and avoid drawing like anime/cartoon style]. I will put my daily practice blogs in a different blog than this one, so I will give a link when I get it up. As for the hallway designs, I am thinking of maybe drawing one of those thinks you hold puppets with and stings so you act like a puppet on strings[Just an idea.].
Happy second quarter guys! Wait... should I be happy or scared of that... I guess I will find out.

Blue and Green.

 Throughout the movie Tell No One I noticed a lot of symbolism. One thing really stood out to me throughout the film. The scene with the little boy trying to find the green block was representing in a way a puzzle or a problem, and the when the boy picked up the blue block, I was thinking because Alex gave the boy the answer, it was representing a problem solved. As Alex is running I noticed his pants were sorta green [That or I am color blind. But i thought it was a gray green mix...]. I thought that symbolized that the problem is going on right now and we are trying to figure out what is going on. Later on the police officer [or was he a detective] on his way to Gilbert Neuvelles' house I noticed a blue car freshener in his car. I foreshadowed or thought because it was blue he will find out, solve, or be told the answer to the problems [which in the end he did over the wire that was in Alex's shirt]. Later on in the movie when Alex walked into Margot's father's house the couches were green but both Alex and the father [I really need to catch up on these names...] were both wearing  blue, so it was like all the problems being solved. Lastly, when Alex walks in the woods where the tree is its like all the plants which are obviously green for the most part, is representing all the problems that faced them came to a happy ending when Margot reunites with Alex.

Well, this is what I was thinking. Maybe too much thought put into that [maybe too little?]. Or maybe because blue and green are my favorite colors... but I hope not...

From a french thriller to a dance party?

Every week I learn something new in STAC this week was no exception.

First I figured out that when we are supposed to write a script and we are in an area with distractions... its harder to get done than we thought. Also, its easier to write a script when you have a main idea out, instead of trying to figure it out as we went on. I think that was a big struggle with our group but I believe [well, more hope.] we finally got over that little bump in the road and can finish the script much easier.

Wednesday had an interesting surprise! New STACie?! Then we watched another episode of The Prisoner. I don't know why but for some reason I liked this episode more so than the other episodes. I think it could be because the setting wasn't just the village we are used to seeing. Even though I knew he wasn't going to escape successfully, it still killed me to see the pilot say "Be seeing you"

Thursday I learned something I never expected I would do anytime soon! I started learning how to make a book. I can't say I was great at making it throughout the process, I kept on ripping paper, some manage to be short of 3 sheets of paper. But in the end I am glad I can make something like this!

As for the French thriller movie, it is amazing from what we have seen so far, but of course so force does everything it can to stop us from watching a movie. Really? A fire drill, freezes, then disappears! Thankfully that didn't stop us from having fun. Cue in dance party music!!

even though I'm 13 minutes early HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

I actually carved my own pumpkin for the first time [my dad normally carves and I just tell him what to do.]! I decided to let out some inner nerd and made a Pokemon pumpkin. I carved Celebi my favorite Pokemon.

 

And I drew a random Halloween drawing

Just a quick sketch. Maybe I'll color it. Maybe not.

the city and the swans

The first thing my group did when we got to the city was spending a good amount of time in this little interesting cafe. The guy said "I can look into your eyes and see what drink you want" he told most people in my group what drink was meant for them, but for me I just said "Hot Chocolate please?". Of the avenues in alphabet city i liked Ave. B the best.
In alphabet city they had interesting things around, from graffiti, gardens, to inter sting shadows I liked. I just got a new camera for my birthday and I'm glad I got to fill it up with cool pictures!~

Once my group felt we were done with alphabet city we wanted to make our way to Bleeker St. but we didn't know how to. We thought we knew how to but we were lost going in the wrong direction. Thankfully a lady asked "Where are you trying to go? I can help you with directions if you need them". We told her were we wanted to go and she made a face "Well, you are no where need Bleeker. You probably need to take a subway to get there from here". We finally got to Bleeker St. and went to a couple stores and walked around that area where we came across a little market. I got a new cow hat there for only $10 [My other hats were 15 to twenty dollars]! After wards we found a little ramen restaurant and ate there. Then my group got lost again. My group figured that our phychogeography should be places we get lost. I forgot to mention: every time we got lost we found a place that was really cool. Eventually we got to the Pratt gallery and saw the physcogeography exhibit. It was cool seeing other people doing the things we are doing now. I liked the scent one the best because I got to interact with it and I thought the whole idea of that one was interesting. From there we saw the flat iron building and went to a park. Then it was time we start heading towards the theater. We then met up with part of another group [Shiana, Ellen, Elisa, and Ilana] and ate a diner. We walked to the theater afterwards.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake was not what I expected. I was actually awake! As far as comprehending what was going on I kept up with the main parts, the prince's sad life and his encounter with the swan. I personally think I understood the scenes with the swans more than the scenes at the castle. I am certainly no dancer, so I was really impressed with not only the choreography but the fact that all the dancers could pull it off! I read in playbill that a big misconception was they thought the swans would be in some kind of ballet drag with tutus and feathered head dresses! I think the costumes the swans had on were perfect, they weren't flashy but I could tell they were swans. Plus if they had on crazy costumes it would take a lot away from the dances itself. Overall it was amazing and the ending was so sad that I almost wanted to cry! I personally think its better with male swans!~


[I'll probably post the pictures in a different blog post because this one was lengthier than I thought it would be...]

dear me, oh my, how this week has gone by!

Sorry that this blog is being posted so late! I had birthday festivities to tend to...

So thanks to Christopher Columbus this week was short [and thanks Columbus, I got a new mattress this week because of wonderful sales!~] but a lot went on. On Tuesday we had STAC art, which is always fun for me because i love to draw. This week I learned how to shade better than I did before, well with the ebony pencil [which I have never used in the past.]. On Wednesday I learned what the 'Be Kind Rewind' videos were all about. My group tried making our film a drama, and I had to die in it....
It was so interesting how we all had so many ideas but somehow ended up agreeing on one. I think it was Ashley or Sabrina that said "lets a have a circle like they have in That 70's Show" which brought up loads of ideas. Because they always come out funny [from what I heard] we chose drama because we thought making it comedy would be trying to hard to make somebody laugh. On Friday when we only had an hour to film, we were running around the building for each scene! Some teacher told us "Cardiovascular activity is not good for you". It was funny watching people wondering what we were up to. When we had to film the scene where I was in the nurse 'dying' it kinda worked out because we were running around so much my asthma caught up to me making it hard to breathe and such. Once we finished filming and started watching all the videos, I notice all of the other videos included way more humor than ours. So maybe next time I'll try something different!~

Everbody wants to change the world, but no one wants to die.

I do not know why I titled this journal that title, it popped into my head [Sorry if you thought I had something very deep to say.].

When I watch our weekly dose of The Prisoner, I feel like my mind melting just trying to figure out what the whole situation is , and what will happen next [ it is probably not healthy to so! So at first Number 6 is Number six the he turns into Pedro[ well he looked like one, with that mustache].... I mean number 12 and who would have guessed! Number 6 has a doppelganger! It kills me every time Number 6 gets so close to escaping and finding himself back at The Village.
--

STAC art was awesome this week. Busby Berkley's choreography blows my mind every time I see his work! Even though he was a perfectionist, being a perfectionist was a good thing in this case, because those dances are phenomenal. I can't dance [well I can dance like nobody is looking...] so maybe that's why I admire his work so much.
When we started drawing, at first I did not know what to do, or what my overall theme for the picture to be. Then i remember a song's music video and one part of it had hands going in a circle i guess you could say and that reminded me of of something you could see in a Busby Berkley dance.
Here is the song:
Watch "Fear Garden" here~
It is very sadistic, gory, creepy,  and morbid but I like the song....

First STAC Trip!

So this week a lot went on! I feel that every week the prisoner gets more and more bizarre. When the foreign lady started slapping number six saying "Tick tick! Tick tick!", really freaked me out, in the best way possible of course. I was wondering if Number six will ever escape because if the episodes where filmed in a different order would the final escape still be the last episode they filmed? But, maybe that episode and the first episode was the only episode aired in the order of being filmed [but, I don' t think I want to know about that just because that means i would have finished the prisoner!].

This week I also learned a lot about Cezanne, Gauguin, Signac, and of course Matisse. This really changed my experience at MoMa on Friday.
Which brings me to talking about the trip. I had an awesome time on my first STAC trip on Friday! The Museum of Modern Arts was amazing! I saw so much new art that I have never seen before and art ive seen so many times before, but  seeing the real thing right in front of me was almost unreal! I used my spy skills and got some pictures of the Matisse paintings in the exhibit! Afterwords my group went to eat at T.G.I. Fridays and from there we went to Nintendo World and Kinokuniya singing the "Bed Intruder" song and saying "YEAHYUH", "OHKAY", and "WHAAT" from the Dave Chapelle show [ I don't like writing in caps very often because I feel like people are yelling at me when I see caps... but for this we were yelling it so lowercase lettering would do it no justice.]. Once we got to the theater to see "La Cage Aux Folles" I got to take a picture with a drag queen. The play was amazing! It was not only funny, but the story itself was good.
I Took so many pictures but here are just some [I uploaded all of them on facebook if anybody is interested].

Love this wish!

We match!

She told me to tag her on facebook as "Lili White-ass"

Febia and I loved this guy [and his outfit], so we took a picture of him... oh Europeans

~

Psychogeography 2.5 [I tried again!~]

So this time I think I understand liminal psychogeoraphy  more so than last time. The pictures here are have somewhat of contradictions or differences, they are near each other but there is a a space between them that can mental or physical. For projects like this I find things that I wouldn't take notice or take the time to think about on a regular basis. Some of the photos here have a similar theme to it, some don't. I saw some cultural influences, fake and reality, good and bad, etc.

I know the directions said "no plants" but here I was not focusing on that. This here is Life vs. Death

You wouldn't expect this in my room right? This here is Nightmare vs. Dreams

On the left is family photos and on the right is a mirror. This is representing in my eyes past and present.

I actually found this like that! It is School problems vs. real problems.

I have a full size bed so this was a bit hard to capture in the rule of thirds. My bed is the space between the real world and the dream world.

My sister and I are polar opposites. The space between that keeps our rooms apart is that wall there [I love that wall for that reason.].

Again me trying to bend the rules are far as not taking pictures of people. This is supposed to be real life vs. fake TV lives.

Gravity vs. me. My legs are the space between.

5:30 AM- dawn. The space between night and day.

Let me explain this one. This is a bamboo branch with wishes written on paper. This was made for the star festival, which is a Japanese festival in July. I made it with my friend who came here recently from Japan when I went to her house. Because she is learning English she wrote her wish in Japanese, when I  wrote mine in English because that is my language. I felt that was a space between two cultures.

The green one was my wish that I wrote in English. The blue one is my friend's wish she wrote in Japanese.

I am I spaced out? Or is it just my psychogeography project?

For my second psycho-geography project I had to think a bit harder about what I should base my project on. I looked around my house and my room trying to think in a different perspective. I noticed that everything is spaced out (I had to space out to figure that out.... not really.). Whether we can see it psychically or feel it mentally everything is spaced out. Because I can't photograph mentally being spaced out [I can draw it but not for this project.] I took some physical pictures of things that are spaced out in my room.

Ramune is my favorite soda. (I like the melon flavor the best.)

 Isn't my bullitin board cluttered! And yes. I am wearing pants.

Game Cube is the best video gaming system ever.

It is as if my manga is avoiding Johnny the Homicidal Maniac[ The comic book with Z? on it...]

The lights are not pleased.

They are all the same but different.

The coins on this are in the same pattern but spaced apart.

Yes I have festive lights in my room.

Even my handy dandy tablet has its icons spaced apart!

The posters on my ceiling.

 

 

 I am not exactly sure if I did this project correctly, but I am not sure if I even if there is a way to do anything correctly though.
                

A War of Spies.

So this Friday, I believe that our game hit its breaking point. Instead of being sly and quiet, hell broke loose and I think it was more of a war than spies silently getting their way around. It was very obvious who was on which team who people were trying to kill and how they wanted the opposing team to lose. I could see in some faces that there was mixed emotions about this game of spies. I think most of us had an interesting experience with this, and I can not say I did not enjoy it. Though I must say, I am glad the game is over and my paranoia can end!

As for learning about Busby Berkley, Those dances were amazing! They were so different from not only the dances then but now! I don't even think Lady Gaga would attempt something like his choreography in her insane (insanely awesome, that is.) music videos!

By the way, if anybody wants to see my drawings and such I always post them here:  http://tsunadeboo22.deviantart.com/
They aren't the best~ but I'm getting better and better every day (I hope).
I mostly post anime art but that doesn't mean thats all I draw. I draw a wide variety of things!~

STOP! HAMMERTIME!- psychogeography

             When we learned about psychogeography, I started thinking about things that my mind attracts to or pulled away from, whether I think about it or not.
              Then, I realized I have a tendency to look at my feet when I'm walking. This causes me to walk into doors, walls, people, car mirrors, and even signs. A couple years ago I walked in to a street sign , and got a bruise shaped like the sign. So when I walk when I see a street sign I try to keep so distance. Because my cousin lives nearby and the street fair was today we meet up and started walking. That gave me the idea to take a picture of every stop sign i walked by [using the Rule of Thirds of course!]. If you think about it there are many stops in life before you reach a destination!

                                                         Stop! In the name of love!

Stop? For what! I was only walking...

Better listen to that sign. Its in capital letters [and caps mean business].

Hope nobody in that house back there was watching me!!!

Its seems this sign entered the dark side.

If you think that sign is watching you. It is. Congratulations.

 

The people living around here must have thought I was crazy.

This sign is made of fail. They screwed it on wrong!

The shade is shady.

I swear on my life that this is a real stop sign! Somebody has been vandalizing all over East Williston the word Hammertime on all the stops signs... AND I LOVE IT! MC Hammer would be proud.

......

 

                                                 Oh! And today i won two goldfishies!
                                          [ Yes, I am wearing a sticker that says "I am special"]                      

first full week- Pantoum fail?

 So this weeks episode of The Prisoner made me want to go crazy! When Number 6 opened the door and saw The Village, he was so calm relaxed and almost sarcastic when he goes "Be seeing you". I had to go to resource room that day and it was so hard to think! I was so focused on The Prisoner it gave me a headache!
 The next day I tried to write a pantoum. Some were really good, some where funny, and for mine... I don't even know what I did! hopefully next time I write a pantoum it will come out much better!
    For somebody with British heritage [my dad's side of the family] I am very bad at spying! Thankfully I can get a fresh start with the spying again on monday[ and this time i'll be UNSTOPABLE!...hopefully..]!
   Today when we learned about the French spy who was working for the British and the Germans, it reminded me of this show I've watched when each character is personified as a country[Takes place during WW2]. Ironically, one episode England and France went to go spy on Germany and Italy. I don't know if that has anything to do with that but I just made that connection and i felt like sharing [because everybody knows sharing is caring!].

Here is a screen shot from when the characters England [he has huge eyebrows for some reason] and France [has the longer hair] spying~ 
~Sarah

1~

So here is my first blog for STAC! I will also have a daily practice blog(coming soon! :D). So for my first blog entry,I think i'll talk sbout the first episode of "The Prisoner"

In the begining of the episode I wasn't very sure what to expect! It was quite interesting, from the plot, the actor's actions, to the concept itself. I like in this show how everything around them added to the setting of this place: from the signs, the maps, the activities going on(like the band), even the music! Just from watching the first episode it made me think of what i would do if i was ever put in a situation of being stuck somewhere with no escape(Well as far as i know!). I noticed throughout the episode that even though the setting seemed so opptimistic, it was eerie and somewhat creepy at the same time(or was that just me?)! Like how at a funeral they played opptimistic marching band music(If there wasn't a coffin I would have thought it was a parade). Another Thing I noticed was the way they got food they wanted in an instant, like when they had breakfeast. For a first episode, it really showed alot!

well... I think thats it for now for this blog entry~