B.B.

A tribute to Brigitte Bardot via a few of my favorite black and white photographs. In my mind she is still Marianne, the true symbol of France with all its beauty and chic:

Calling Cards

Another interesting idea is the growth of popularity of social calling cards. They are definitely staging a major come back. What once seemed like an elitist and snobby necessity now is a playful accessory of self-expression with many practical uses. Here are a few reasons to order a pack of social cards (S.C.):

• S.C. can be more artistic and fun than your regular business cards.
• S.C. come in various bright colors and designs and are customizable giving opportunities for self-expression.
• S.C. are great in casual social gatherings where business cards would seem overly business-like. 
• S.C. can contain such informal details as your blog address or website and, thus, showcase your various hobbies.
• S.C. speak volumes for their owners and make an impression without saying a word.

I caved in and ordered my first pack after doing extensive research on designs and colors...surprisingly, there are hundreds of websites ordering beautiful products at various price points.  My main reasoning for buying social cards is that I hate scribbling my number down on unsightly pieces of paper or waiting for a new acquaintance to punch the digits into their phone. In my case, it was plain and simple practicality and a flair for chic design and traditional good manners. I can’t wait for my pretty cards to arrive!

As a side note, I read on some historical origins of the social cards and found the material quite intriguing. Apparently, in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries there was a social ritual of “calling” upon acquaintances, friends and relatives. This form of “visiting” was a staple of the middle and upper class social interactions and was governed by deeply treasured traditions and strictly obeyed rules. According to visiting etiquette of the time, every gentleman (it started as a man-only accessory) kept a number of calling cards on him to distribute upon his visits. When calling upon someone’s house, a gentleman gave his card to the servant at the door, placing it onto a silver tray that was offered to him. The servant then would take the card to the owners of the house, if they were home, or leave it for when they returned. Pretty dignified social interaction system indeed!

*Image of the cards is taken from the "Red Stamp" website… Their cards are très chic and I can’t wait for my package to arrive…counting the days!!!!

Flowers!

Today as I was having my morning tea, I finally got a chance to look through the book I bought six weeks ago in my favorite Rizzoli bookstore in NYC. The book is called “Flowers For The Home” and is written by Grayson Handy and Tracey Zabar:

Besides showcasing some incredible photographs of floral arrangements inspired by the world (i.e. sections of the book completely dedicated to France and India), there is some thoughtful reading as well. One of my favorite excerpts from the book:

“By bringing in fresh flowers, we bring in the earth, and nurture life at home. We move beyond the material to the living form, creating balance. [Home is our mirror]. The space we create around us reflects our personal vision, and when our vision is realized, it mirrors back a sense of wholeness and refuge. Flowers channel beauty and power into our lives and invite us to find, reflected our own form of self-expression. As we move through life, different flowers speak to our beings. We search for and identify flowers and house them in ourselves.”  

Here is what I am housing in myself in terms of flowers right now: 

Rizzoli Bookstore:

31 W 57th St

New York, NY 10019

(212) 759-2424

Hermes defends its soul

Today I came across an interesting article in the New York Times. The focus was on LVMH attempt at acquiring Hermes and Dumas' family battle to save its traditional values and aesthetics. An interesting read that highlights many corporate and globalization effects on luxury craftsmanship and "vulture-like" tactics of universal conglomerates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/business/06luxury.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&sudsredirect=true

Je t'aime!

And as long as we are on the topic of film, my favorite topic as you will soon learn…(consider yourself warned)…here comes it…A few personal selections of the Greatest Movies of All Time, in my book, at least!

French Cinema, je t’aime!

Love me, if you Dare

Why???

Stunning visuals – Amelie-like bursts of color – think cotton candy, donuts, tons of chocolate ice scream and strawberry bubblegum equivalents of color!!! Did I mention watermelon?!

And to top it all of with a good measure of adult plot full of mind blowing sarcastic words of wisdom and musings on the importance of imagination in the world of typical middle class adult.

cotton candy+sarcasm+mind-f… games…please, can I see it for the 6^th time already!?

La Fidelite

Beautiful film that left me musing about it for weeks…as a matter of fact I am still thinking about it to this day, even though I saw it two years ago – it just fades in and out of my memory. A free-spirited photographer marries the "right" man just to realize he is not that "right" for her…but she has made a promise she cannot break…the promise that if everyone kept with just as much vigor as she does, the divorce rate in this country would not be close to 50%. Sophie Marceau is at her best here – sensual and ephemeral yet passionate in her values - all of that piled on top of the storyline of journalist dirt, organ trade and corporate competition. French cinema, I love the way you juxtapose universal emotions and doubts on top of political undercurrents and never fail to deliver. Merci!

Irreversible

Now this one makes me sad and scared and more scared…of underground underpasses. The movie, moving in reverse similar to another great film Memento, recites the story of one man’s revenge on the criminal who took the life of his girlfriend, brutally assaulting her in the beforementioned underpass. The movie, I warn you, is graphically violent yet should not be criticized for it. It pictures what many movies try to stir clear from – the real raw crime, the rape of an innocent woman unsuspectfuly fleeing from the fight she had with her boyfriend at a party. When I have a daughter I will show her this movie just to make her see that is what our parents warn us about, that is why we don’t walk home alone at night, why we call a taxi. The movie is a cinematographic masterpiece, from the sounds to the puzzle-like elements of the plot coming together. If you can handle the brutal matter of the script, the movie is a must see.  

Biutiful

Even though I have been very busy in the aesthetic field (drawing, painting, making collages as a part of my school work) I had literally no time to feed my other creative passions…those of observing art in the making of other people. However, I was fortunate to squeeze one exquisite film in between my lectures.

Seeing Javier Bardem during Oscars and hearing a lot of praise for the movie, I have finally watched Biutiful. I am a long-time fan of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed Babel, 21 Grams and, my all time favorite, Amores Perros. I had certain expectations for the set-up of the plot since Inarritu always seems to go back to his fascination with three fates of separate people coming together in one fatal accident. In Amores Perros it was, literally, a car accident. In 21 Grams it was a fatal crash as well centered around the heart transplant. So going into the movie theater on a rainy Wednesday, I expected a certain degree of familiarity with the specifics of technique. This time, however, I was surprised to see that Inarritu did not follow through on his recognized plot pattern. The fates intertwined were still there - the life of Chinese and African immigrants in Spain forever bonded with their savior and assassin in the face of Uxbal (Javier Bardem) - but the feeling attached to them as separate entities was blurred.  

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a reflective director who focuses on deep internal battles of his characters. Since those battles are never of a lighthearted variety, if battles can ever be, he creates some pretty dark movies. Biutiful, I would say is beyond dark…it is darker than darkness and after a week it still haunts me with its scene of Chinese workers dead in the basement from the gas leak from defective heat generators. The film is gut-wrenchingly graphic in its representation of the universal pain showcased through a simple man trying to survive in a corrupted and indifferent world:

• Uxbal’s physical suffering from prostate cancer (graphic blood urine scene in the bathroom)
• Uxbal’s battle with his conscience (guilt for his criminal activity combined with a universal love for all the needy and debilitated)
• Uxbal’s love agony for his bipolar wife and kids who are doubtlessly fated to suffer after his death

The movie speaks of love, faith and cathartic effect of suffering on the character. The poetic symbolism is combined with raw realism in a contradictory yet naturally flowing manner. A must see! (At least to beat you out of any negative thinking because your life is never as bad as what you see in this movie…makes you want to welcome each day with a big smile and a bigger “thank you”!