WEEK2- DAY7
1. SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY
Source: Youtube video
ABBA - Waterloo Youtube video
ABBA Live Wembley Arena Youtube video
"We praise being good instead of being famous. Yet, out of the famous people, some of them we like very much..." Source - Letter º 14
" Of course I dreamed of being a great singer. But at that time my aim wasn't to become a world famous star. I didn't think for a moment that I ever would be. But I hope to make a record. Maybe get into the Swedish charts. The important thing to me was to stand on the stage and use my voice" Agneta Fältskog - ABBA, The winner takes it all
In my opinion ABBA became famous because they were good. I mean they were not famous just because.
Today we have that inexplicable category of people that are famous because they are screen/stage oriented - they put on a show where ever they go, good or bad, that does not matter, as long as they get the others attention. They are on TV, on the cover of magazines, on internet, on the clubs. They open their mouth and we get no ideas or any kind of brilliancy. Sometimes we get shocking revelations instead. Some have good looks. They hardly can sing, dance or even speak proper Portuguese. Yet, they are famous. They are on reality shows but there's nothing real about them. Real persons are interesting and genuine. These are atificial and fabricated. This is not an exclusively national phenomenon, of course.
Today we have that inexplicable category of people that are famous because they are screen/stage oriented - they put on a show where ever they go, good or bad, that does not matter, as long as they get the others attention. They are on TV, on the cover of magazines, on internet, on the clubs. They open their mouth and we get no ideas or any kind of brilliancy. Sometimes we get shocking revelations instead. Some have good looks. They hardly can sing, dance or even speak proper Portuguese. Yet, they are famous. They are on reality shows but there's nothing real about them. Real persons are interesting and genuine. These are atificial and fabricated. This is not an exclusively national phenomenon, of course.
ABBA were the first band I remember listening to. I was a child of 12 when they won the Eurovision Contest. The song was so catchy. We had a dictatorship running the country. We had censorship. We were a closed country. Portugal was closed to outside culture, innovation. I had a black and white TV and a radio at home. TV had 2 channels. There were a few hours of broadcasting per day! When I compare my life at the time to the one my 11 old year nephew's has today there is no possible comparison. For a couple of years I enjoyed ABBA. Then it stopped. I started to listen to other bands. E even kind of grew a certain disdain for their music. Many years later and after many hours of music listening of all kinds I reviewed my opinion.I also watched this documentary about ABBA - The Winner Takes It Al - it helped me to realize that they were, in fact, very professional. ABBA were not just famous, they were good.
Source: Youtube video
2. PLACES TO KNOW
Mirny. Eastern Siberia.
The world's largest diamond mine - Mirny mine is 525 meters (1,720 ft) deep and has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), and is the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine. Currently, the mine is operated by Alrosa, the largest diamond producing company in Russia.
Outside and inside Mirny diamond mine.
3. PEOPLE TO DISCOVER
The unknown Genious of Nikola Tesla - a Discover Channel documentary
How I discovered Tesla? Yes, it was only in 2006, when I watched Christopher Nolan's The prestige. Watch a bit of David Bowie's Tesla in this short Youtube video.
4. QUESTION OF THE DAY
5. INSPIRATION
Stefano just bought an ipad mini. Well, watching this video just reinforced my idea that I don't need a smartphone, I need an ipad or a tablet or sorts. But this week I made a sketch of myself with a real pencil and in real paper. It was scary. It was an adventure. But I liked it also. I should buy myself more paper and more pencils. If possible I should buy myself more time. Not an ipad. Why an ipad? Why Paper 53? A digital sketchbook? Is there something new in it? Really? Why not being good at one thing I love? An ipad is just a tool, it will not improve my skils. It will not make me better at drawing. Or am I wrong? Nevermind. Ipad is cool, it's modern, it's trendy. And it's expensive and I don't have time for it right now...So why don't I make a return to the future?
Autodesk Sketchbook Pro app - this sounds fun thow!There's a video. It looks lik Photoshop.
What's CRITICAL DESIGN? Critical Designers generally believe design that provokes, inspires, makes us think, and questions fundamental assumptions can make a valuable contribution to debates about the role technology plays in everyday life.
Critical design FAQ by Dunne and Raby. Anthonny Dunne and Fiona Raby use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of current and emerging technologies.
Let's build a good damn Nikola Tesla Museum project
6. HANDS ON
What did I enjoy the most - I enjoyed exploring the links the instructores provided. I tried to look into all. Sometimes I even searched for more information. I discovered many new things, persons, artists, designers, places, music, stories. This takes a lot of time also because I am keeping links and notes on a blog so I can get to it later, read more or add more stuff. I liked the discover. But it's a bit too much!!I feel English is sometimes a barrier.
Homeworks - One hour is not enough for the course. I did not enjoy doing homeworks very much because I am always running against time. So I try to do it simple instead of doing what I imagine. I guess I enjoyed drawing my portrait because it was something I don't usually do. As a consequence I am trying to establish a drawing routine every week from now on. I got many Likes for it (personal page). That was BIG incentive. I must say I am not sharing any of my works on FB, just here on the platform. I joined FB. But then I have been thinking about it and I don't want too.I know I'll get less exposure/interatcion. I comment a few works in the platform for every homework I upload. I got feedback for two of my homeworks. Maybe interaction isn't so good but it's the official platform and I can't be all over.
The homework that came out better was the one we were asked to take a sheet of paper and represent ourselves as an origami bird.
About the animated postcards - Stefano's animated notebook, 1st week, Saturday! It was informative yet so funny! I really liked it! I also liked the one with Saul Steinberg speaking about women and their mask smiles, it was Week 1, Day 5. The postcard for Week 1, Day 4 was the one I liked the least, the Dim Sum one.
7. FLOWERS FOR FRIENDS
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