Dancing Plague of 1518

 

July 1518, in a part of the Holy Roman Empire called Stasbourg, France the Dancing Plague outbroke when a woman, Frau Troffea started fervently dancing in the streets. If one person fervently dancing wasn't odd enough within the week the number grew to fourteen people, in a months time... 400 people dancing. Some of these dancer died from a heart attack, from a stroke, or exhaustion. The local physicians ruled out supernatural or astrological causes but thought the dancing disease was caused by "hot blood" and that is was natural. Rather than the usual prescription of bleeding they encouraged more dancing.  They encouraged my dancing by guiding them to a grain market, open two guidehalls, construct a stage, and even hire musicians to keep them dancing. This dancing mania was recorded in historical documents such as physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and the Stasbourg city council.

A possible reason for such an odd plague is stress induced psychosis. Some think the stresses around them, famine, disease, etc. was so intolerable that it could cause mass psychological illness. This dancing plague, or choreomania occurred on multiple occasions, the earliest known incident in 1020 and most recently in the 1840s.    

 

What.

Bo Burnham's new comedy special came out today! I may have mentioned it before but I saw his show last may and I must say I was laughing so hard that there was a point where my laughter would not suffice for what I was feeling and I started flat out yelling.

For this special he decided not to sell it or make any money off so he put the whole thing for free on his youtube channel and on Netflix. He jokes about it in the preview:

I find this a cool gesture but it is no surprise to me, Bo has always made connotations to disagreeing with how a lot of art is just for the buck, or to make some profit. The only thing he is really selling at the moment is his poetry book Egghead: Or You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone.

 

 One really great song he did about this very thing is called "Art is Dead" from his last show and I hope you listen to it:

 

I love Bo Burnham. He is my favorite 6 foot 5 child (not a child, 23 actually). He got started on Youtube and got picked up by Comedy Central when he was only 18. He can seem absurd on the surface but underneath there is so much knowledge to his work. I feel like Bo Burnham is really smart but sometimes it goes over people's heads or they believe too much in his stage persona. I had the pleasure of meeting him last May and I noticed he was a lot more introverted offstage. I personally liked that about him because I feel like I am the same way to some point. I am fairly introverted, but I feel that when presented with an audience that introversion goes away a bit or becomes less apparent. 

I look like a toe but take note that I am standing and he is sitting in this picture.

Compared to his past work I think What. is a lot more visual focused and more philosophical. Maybe if you like what you saw or heard here I would check out his earlier work too. You know, if you have the time. I understand hot commodity time is these days, believe me I do. If you don't have an hour to watch his whole special here is a clip from it. A song from the perspective of god.

 If you have an hour here is What. in its entirety:

Your Life Is A Lie

So yesterday I submitted a drawing for MGMT's poster drawing contest. They are having a concert tomorrow at the Barclays Center (that I am super excited to go to) and they have been hyping this particular concert up because it is the last date on the tour and they have not been to NYC in over 3 years. I don't remember what made me go with this idea but I went with a Metropolis theme (maybe NYC and Metropolis both cities).

 

I doubt I will win I am not so confident with my design but MGMT posted it on their facebook page which is pretty cool with. They are one of my favorite bands so I had to do a double take seeing something I did under their name. You had to submit it through tumblr or instagram and I did both but the sizing on the instagram one was off and looks worse. Of course that is the one they choose to put up! I commented the link the better version. Oh well!

My drawing on their page

Can't wait for tomorrow!

"To a new world of gods and monsters"

- Dr. Pretorius in The Bride of Frankenstein

     

    Wow I don't think I was emotionally prepared for this movie. All the acting in it was so fantastic, every slight movement, facial expression, even the smallest glance put me in awe. Sir Ian McKellen is amazing on screen I can't even imagine how it will be to see him next week in Waiting for Godot. Starstruck already? The film starts off as this funny, kind of perverted old man but as time goes on it gets so much deeper you begin to feel his every ache and pain (which again can be attributed to the acting). Even Clayton Boone's (who is fictitious) character development, starting off as a dopey gardener to seeing him crying on Whale's floor was really good. I kept finding the smallest details that can connect to something said or done or even just a visual image popping up on the screen momentarily. The way The Bride of Frankenstein was weaved into the plot was done really well and it makes you look at the the 1935 film in a whole new way. I feel like the film would be a lot different for somebody who has never seen any of James Whale's films... maybe the interest in Whale wouldn't be as strong? Even though the film was necessarily about Frankenstein it was really tied to it like  using the sketch of Frankenstein with the message "Friend?" to clarify to Clayton what Whale's real intentions were. 

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I feel like I still can't talk about this film properly. There was so much about that film that I still can't grasp into words. Maybe it is a poor memory or maybe it is what Joseph Cambell meant about the things we just can't talk about. Maybe I'll have it sit on the brain for some more time and come back to this.
 

The Dreamboys

I was looking around the interwebs at things related to Peter Capaldi (who some of you may as the next Doctor on Doctor Who) and although I had heard about it before I finally came across some audio from his old punk band in the 80s called The Dreamboys. Capaldi did lead vocals and Craig Ferguson was on drums. Peter Capaldi shows embarrassment when talking about it in interviews but I think it is kind of cool the new Doctor was in a punk band! Here are some of their songs:

 

 

All Was Golden in the Sky

All was golden when the day met the night

I was thinking about dualities and this song came to mind. It is about the personifications of the Sun and the Moon meeting and the moon falling in love with the sun. It is from Panic! at the Disco's second album Pretty. Odd. which is my personal favorite from them even though most prefer the cabaret feel of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (which is also amazing). I feel like a lot of the dualities we are making conflict with each other but with this even though it is day and night I love how they join together. So lovely.

Ryan Ross is definitely my favorite lyricist, this song isn't the best example to show Ryan's amazing writing (I wanted to let you know I wrote ryting at first). Some of his lyrics has had a deep influence on me which is I think what makes great music. One of my favorites from Northern Downpour being "I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches call it home". A lot of my digital drawings of lyrics (not 365 failure) come from Ryan Ross' brain. If I was anxiously counting the hours of sleep I can get before school I would go deeper into this but I will save that for another time.

To See With Love

It is getting late and I want to go into the myth chapter in more detail so I will blog about that in the near future.

The other video we saw today was

I have not seen this particular commercial but I have heard of this being done before (but I am not sure if it was done by Dove). I really like this. I really like this because a part of me wants to believe that I am not seen by others the same way I see myself. I think a lot of us think that way. Part of this is really sad because it shows how so many of us look at ourselves in such a more negative and more critical light. But on that same note it is somewhat hopeful because those people were viewed far more beautiful than they thought.

This reminds me of the quote.

“Closed his mouth. Then pressed a kiss on Oskar's lips. For a few seconds Oskar saw through Eli's eyes. And what he saw was... himself. Only much better, more handsome, stronger than what he thought of himself. Seen with love.”
― John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In

 This is from the book Let the Right One In, some of you may have seen the movie (hopefully the original version). I read the book I think... in my sophomore year? Maybe? And I remember this quote specifically. Probably the only quote I distinctly remember from the book. Definitely my favorite quote. Oskar was bullied a lot and did not think of himself as well as Eli did and because Eli's powers Oskar got to see himself for once in that view. If you haven't seen the movie I recommend you do and if you have any interest in reading it (it is a bit different) I do have the book if you want to read it.


I hope you too can see yourself with love one day.

Witchcraft I tell you!

I came across this story on PBS' website about the Salem Witch Trials. Eight young girls on trial were delirious, convulsing, had odd skin sensations and were in a trance. The only way to explain such symptoms would be... witchcraft! They are under a spell! Who in the community could have done this?! This is were all the finger pointing came about. Around 150 "witches" were taken custody,and by September 1692  20 men and women were killed with out even confessing and five more died while in jail. After the trials the townsfolk did not know how to explain what they have done. Why had they gotten into such a witch frenzy? One theory is that none other than a fungus caused this madness. Behavioral Psychologist Linnda Caporael saw the link between the symptoms and the effects of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD. LSD is derived from the fungus Ergot. Ergotism (meaning Erogt poisoning) caused by Calviceps purpurea affects rye, wheat and other cereal grasses The grains will then turn to sclerotia which is mistaken for discolored rye and contains chemicals found in LSD like Lysergic acid and ergotamine. If the sclerotia was eaten toxicologists say it will cause convulsive disorder characterized by violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms, just like the ones stated in the Salem Witch Trials! After all Salem was in a swampy breeding ground for fungus and rye was the staple crop so this theory does make a lot of sense. The article also says " The rye crop consumed in the winter of 1691-1692 -- when the first unusual symptoms began to be reported -- could easily have been contaminated by large quantities of ergot. The summer of 1692, however, was dry, which could explain the abrupt end of the 'bewitchments'". Spooky and also very cool to hear an explanation like that for something we have heard about for years!

Here is a picture I found of Ergot on rye.

Where all of these fun facts are coming from.

Under Pressure

*hums tune to Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie*
I feel like I have neglected this blog even when I had things I thought "I'll blog about that" I never did. Which bums me out, but I'll try to move past that.
      Lately all of this pressure seems to have slammed onto me at once. For a solid month I had little to no homework and now I am up til midnight working (and then another hour or so playing Pokemon X). I don't even have the time to make any art that I want which is really depresses me. Having an idea linger in your mind but not being able to express it with the effort you want to put into because of other responsibilities is frustrating in some ways. My first college deadline is soon so once I get that in I'm hoping the rest will come easier. I haven't even procrastinated any college work or school work (to a degree). I am hoping for this to settle down in the next week or two so I can take a small sigh oh relief and start anxiously awaiting for the letters.

      On the bright side my favorite holiday is this week! Halloween. The time of year I can indulge in all my spooky interests without it being weird. You may or may have not noticed that I wear Halloween socks all year round (that or socks with puppies, moose, or from Ireland). I was thinking about it and I kind of wish the older  you are the more effort you put into Halloween. I know everybody is busy and putting a costume together can be difficult (trust me I cosplay, I know) but seeing people put little effort into something that can be so creative is deflating. I mean imagine growing up with all these older people who had super cool costumes for Halloween rather than 'oh cool they put on a fun hat' how awesome that would be?! I definitely prefer the dressing up aspect much more than the candy.

In the Name of the Moon I'll Punish You!

This weekend I went to my yearly fun New York Comic Con. It is something that has just become a part of my year just like Christmas or Thanksgiving. I have been con going since I was in the 6th or 7th grade. I remember my first con I met Brad Swaile who voiced Light Yagami in the english dub of Death Note. I love the spirit of the cons even though there are an tons of different 'fandoms' I guess you could say, we all have this mutual appreciation for each other because we know we are both passionate about something that some categorize as "geeky". I don't know if I am just lucky but I have never had a bad encounter with people at a comic con. I even make friends there that I never see again after we part ways. Every time I am in a line I normally end of speaking to the people near me on line and find something to bond over, the same thing happens to me at concerts. Once we separate that friendship is over leaving only our memories. When I saw Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco I made friends with these girls on the line and even ordered a pizza with them. I don't even remember their names!
This New York Comic Con I not only did some shopping (a treat yo' self kind of day) bur I also went to the Archer panel, saw the first episode of the new season and the later on a DC panel and John Barrowman's Q and A. If you don't know who John Barrowman is he is an actor who played Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and even got his own spin off show Torchwood. He also does musical theater. John Barrowman's so funny I thought I was going to pee my pants. He told us a lot of funny stories of his life pranks and shenanigans he did with the Doctor Who and Torchwood cast, etc.  In the end his husband even came out as Superman and took him away.

 The next day I decided to get a photo op ticket and this happened:

I can't believe this happened Captain Jack Harkness is my favorite Doctor Who character in the whole series and here is little ol me get squeezed by John Barrowman.

I also like to cosplay.I feel like cosplay is the art of putting something together to look like somebody else. Michelle Li put it as "cosplaying is a real ego-booster". Which is pretty right. When you dress up as a beloved character and have people keep stopping you to compliment you or take your picture you feel like you mean something, and that people think you look good (negative effects of this is that it takes a while to get from one side of the convention to the other). It also makes you feel like you are doing that character you like enough to dress as them some justice.
This year as I mentioned in earlier blog posts I was Sailor Moon!

In the name of the moon I will right wrongs and triumph over evil and that means you!!

(note: Some of these wonderful photos where taken by Michelle Li)
Michelle was Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service:

Some other neat-o cosplays I came across and had enough time to take out my camera and ask them for a picture:

Bob's Burgers

I have a deep appreciation for Scarecrow cosplayers. Scarecrow is my favorite Batman villian and is not dressed up as nearly as much as the Joker, Batman, Harley Quinn, Posion Ivy.

I love this one

Another one I love. Sailor Venus as a Storm Trooper and Tuxedo Mask as Darth Vader.

I really love the anime Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan).

Hey there Ashley

More from the amazing game OFF

This guy was dressed as No.6 from The Prisoner (as show we watched in STAC). I looked at him got Shiana to look at him and then I went up to ask for a picture. He said we were the first ones go ask for a picture. He must be confused why two teenage girls know a British show from the 60s. At first we ask "Are your No.6" and he says yes. Moments later he comes back to us and so "no, I am not a number I am a free man!". 

Over all enjoyable as usual. I hope I won't be in college too far away next year and can still make it to New York Comic Con!

The Crypt, a House of Bones

While traversing the internet I came across St. Leonard's Church, a parish church in Kent (England) that has something very peculiar underneath. Underneath the church is located an ossuary or a bone house. For centuries skulls and bones were neatly stacked, from medieval times. There is about 8,000 long bones (mainly thigh bones) of about 4,000 people (men, women, and children) and there is about 590 skulls. The reason the bones where here rather than normally buried has been disputed over time. Some say it is foreign soldiers from a great battle (which doesn't explain the women and children) others have said it was the black plague (but those infected were disposed very quickly). Many agree that it is the bones of those who have died over a long span of years only to be dug up in the 13th century so the church could expand. Because there was only 20 to 30 burials a year in medieval times it is believe to have taken 200 years to accumulate this many bones. Scientists and doctors like to look at the old bones to see some characteristics of the people of the time. The average height is determined to be 1.65 meters for men and 1.55 meters for women. Dentists have notices that although the teeth were worn down by tough food, the teeth lack decay because of the little to no amounts of sugar in their diets. Other research shows some things about race, and evidence of disease around the eye sockets. All of these projects on this mysterious crypt will provide a better understanding of the people of that time. If I ever end up in England I hope I could look at these bones.

Do the Trick or Treat

A fun Halloween song for your ear holes.

Die Monster Die

Tis' the season to be spooky fa lalala la lalalala
As the self proclaimed patron saint of October I am very excited for this month. Just a few reasons why it is the best month of the year:

• Halloween
• New York Comic Con
• National Pizza Month
• My birth (October 18th don't you forget it)
• season of harvest
• it actually feels like fall
• Halloween 
• Halloween

Since I was absent on Friday I watched Frankenstein (1931) in the safety of my own home. Although film has really progressed from ten years earlier when Nosferatu was made I can clearly see the influences and see the expressionism in it. I mean look at it!

Watching this I found myself routing for Frankenstein's creation despite it being a dangerous, murderous creature. Something about him made me want to befriend him, not treat him like dirt as Fritz does in the photo above. Maybe because he is the outsider and everybody gangs up on him in the end or those small moments where he is feeling joy (such as throwing the flowers in the water). Is that normal of me? Or is everybody on the townspeople's side?

Maybe it is because the copious amount of times I watched Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein where the monster "Frankie" was at heart a nice being, just misunderstood. I kind of want to watch that movie again. That was really good.

On a similar note look what I  got for Valentine's Day this year!

I am in love with Barnes and Nobles fancy covers for classic books. I have one of Sherlock Holmes too.

We Are the Fiend Club

If any of you cared about why your pal Sarah was absent Friday it was because I left to visit Caitlin in SUNY Purchase a day earlier than I expected. I stayed there for two nights gaining what is called 'my first college experience' that wasn't a tour. I saw Megan Haug and Mike Hand there too. I have come to the conclusion that everybody just wants to know your name in college. They amount of introductions I made for college strangers is many. Just an odd observation I made. They want to know your name and meet everybody even if you never see them again. Maybe I felt this as an introvert odd and unnecessary. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so introverted. I think I tend to come off as really shy or scared to be social when really I just don't talk unless I feel like I have something to add to the conversation. I don't feel like making useless ramble just for the sake of conversing. I think shyness and introversion are two different things.

The real reason I visited Purchase was because I wanted to go to a concert in the surrounding town, White Plains and Caitlin provided me with a place to stay. Misfits were playing at a tattoo convention in White Plains that Saturday, so I went and dragged Caitlin along with me. I definitely mentioned it before but the Misfits are one of my favorite punk bands. I love the theatricality of them, most likely because I was raised on Queen. They are also the progenitors of the punk subgenre Horror Punk. If you don't know this about me I am obsessed with Halloween, probably because I'm born in October (mark your calenders October 18th is coming sooner than you think). Their songs have a horror and science fiction film theme. Some examples of this are the songs: American Psycho, Astro Zombies, Die Die My Darling, Teenagers from Mars, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Night of the Living Dead, and Hollywood Babylon. Their iconic logo is taken from the film Serial The Crimson Ghost which is also used as a title for a song. They themselves are considered to be icons for punk music and culture.

When I saw the Misfits concert there was not a lot of people there. I think this could be because it was in upstate NY rather than NYC.The venue itself looked like a high school auditorium which gave the show some funny juxaposition. Somehow I was at the barricade the entire show. The sound guys for the show were kind of horrible, so bad the second band got really mad at them (I still can't hear), but they got it together for the most part when Misfits performed.Going back to the theatricality of them the stage went from:

to

and

 Something about concerts makes me feel very much alive. I was singing every word and at first I wasn't sure if it was just his eye makeup but Jerry Only was watching me for most of the show. For those who don't know, Jerry Only started the band in 1977 with Glenn Danzig and has played bass for all these years while so many band members came and went. He is the only current member that has been there from the start and now provides vocals for their shows. Right after the show Jerry Only came out and did a meet and greet. When I saw him he immediately puts his hand up for a high five saying "You were singing every song! You're awesome". Going into a hug for a picture he sang 'my girl' to me and kissed my head and then had me kiss his cheek. I felt like I met punk royalty and felt rather starstruck! The merch guy then gave me one of the signed posters for free. I feel like luck could not be more in my favor that night. I  was thinking about putting "Jerry Only thinks I'm awesome" on my resume but I decided against it.