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January 31, 2006

Stay [We Missed You]

While I am not a fan of reality television, I have found one that is genuinely funny and endearing. I'm talking about #1 Single, a delightful half-hour starring Lisa Loeb,the bespectacled singer/songwriter who's looking for the proverbial "One".

Airing Sundays at 10 PM on E!, the show chronicles Lisa going through the ups and downs of being single and getting out there looking to meet her "#1". The highlight of Episode One involves a blind date with rather tepid results. Steve, a tall goofy guy with a severe dislike of vegetables, serenades Lisa with a painful karaoke version of Stay. Cut to Lisa, sitting on the couch, looking as gracious as possible yet thinking "Not!"

#1 Single is funny and poignant, as it shows us how even celebrities (even those who have slipped out of the limelight) are ordinary people with the same flaws and insecurities as everyone. Yes, there may be some subtle promoting of her current Greatest Hits album, but overall it is an ego free zone. We, the viewers, are along for the ride, seeing the little moments of her current life adventure.

The other plus is I remembered how awesome a singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb is. It's been about ten years since her breakthrough hit "Stay [I Missed You]" hit the airwaves and reminded me of my junior high days and belting that song out in my room. Even if she may have faded away from the mainstream spotlight, she is still an accomplished wordsmith following her own instincts.

If you have some time to kill, you should catch an episode. Her humorous observations are refreshing and uplifting. It sure beats VH1's Flavor of Love.

Posted by eva on 7:47 AM

January 24, 2006

Por una cabeza : the anatomy of a tango

Slow...Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

The basic five counts of the tango, an ever repeating rhythm in my head as I listen to the dramatic accordion music playing in the dance studio. As I stand in position with my instructor, he adjusts my dance frame, aligning hips and shoulder, and making sure my knees have enough bend to them. Then he positions my head and neck, always checking my overall posture in the mirror, quick to point out where my posture had gone astray. More bend. More resistance. When my fearless leader has ironed out all the kinks in my dance frame, we prepare for the first steps.

The basic. Back...Back...Back. Side. Together... Slow...Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

My knees bent and frame strong, I stretch my legs as far as they go, matching my instructor's long strides.

Slow...Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

Our legs in a constant state of connection; he leads and I follow, never rushing. The second he senses that I have gone to fast, he cocks his head to the side and says, "Slow......", gently coaxing my foot back into position.

Again, we start from the beginning: Back...Back...Back. Side. Together. Slow...Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

We glide across the dance floor, moving to the strains of Gotan Project's Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre). Satisfied with my progress, he decides to lead me into promenade. A few alignment changes to my frame and a review of staccato head movement and once again I am stretching my legs to follow and keep up, a constant connection being kept between my right hip and his left hip, knees leading knees, momentum building as we charge through the steps.

Side...Side...Turn. Back. Together... Slow... Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

Our moves are sharp and precise. He looks at my posture, remarking on the elegance and beauty of my posture. Now I am ready for the cambio. For a change, I must go forward and low, practically straddling his left leg and yet keeping my legs and frame in perfect extension and alignment.

Forward ... Back... Back. Side. Together... Slow... Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

Here I struggled a bit. My shoulders and hips started to misbehave and I kept moving the wrong leg as I felt the gentle forward tug on my shoulder. But we kept practicing, driving through the choreography and starting over again until all my appendages behaved in the proper way.

By the end of our 40 minute lesson, we were a single unit, moving in unison. Tango is a power struggle. I surrendered to the music and just followed the lead. There was no room to think, but just to feel and embrace the moment and revel in the freedom and passion of the dance. I was not panicking about what would come next. I asserted myself, answering each challenge my partner set forth and pushing back just as hard.

All this with five simple counts: Slow...Slow... Quick. Quick. Slow...

Posted by eva on 10:34 PM

January 19, 2006

How can you lose a 38 ton sculpture?

Quite easily. According to the BBC, a Richard Serra statue has gone missing from the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain. Granted, it is not unknown for museums to lose track of pieces, especially if they are small and compact. Also, catalogues of the museum’s holdings are labor intensive and hard to manage, especially if you are constantly acquiring items and updating databases. There are often stories of priceless works being found during renovations, sometimes hidden in old closets or behind other pieces of work. What makes this exceptional and "rant-worthy" is that this particular piece of art is comprised of four large steel slabs, which collectively weigh about 38 tonnes according to the BBC.

The apparent story is that the company, which was contracted to store this item, went under in 1998. What surprises me is that the museum was not on top of something like this. One does not commission an enormous metallic sculpture and pays the artist $200,000 (figure from the 1980s) and then proceeds to forget about it once they decide to reinstall their galleries and send the item into storage.

It makes me wonder how many other artworks they may have misplaced in such fashion. What if the Reina Sofia Museum had other items with this storage company? It also brings us to the question of the company's professionalism. One would think that perhaps it would have contacted a major client of theirs and advise them of the changes going on to the business.

Needless to say, both parties in question are at fault for not properly taking care of their assets. Let’s hope they find this sculpture and that it hasn’t found itself a place in scrap metal heaven.

Posted by eva on 6:45 AM

January 17, 2006

Don't forget to pack your Geiger counter!

Yesterday morning, while I was at the gym I watched a rather disturbing news story. Apparently the hottest extreme ecotourism spot is none other than Chernobyl, site of the catastrophic Ukrainian nuclear meltdown in 1986. The reporter followed around a tour guide who used a Geiger counter to measure the radioactivity of an apple tree. The woman proceeded to pluck an apple and take a big bite, saying that the apple was bitter. Really!!!! I never thought that the vegetation in a nuclear wasteland would have a strange bitter aftertaste.

I know that our society has a tendency for thrill-seeking, but vacationing at a village that was so completely devastated is absurd. It is disrespectful to all those who lost their lives and have been affected greatly. Life is slowly coming back to Chernobyl but I think this drastic jump to ecotourism hotspot is not the right way to begin to rehabilitate the region. This is an area where men only work two weeks in the year, repairing the shield protecting the nuclear reactor. Bringing people in for short periods of time and exposing them to "safe" levels of radiation is an odd way to bring money into the area.

But what do I know! I suppose if you like living on the edge, and x-rays are too tame for you, book yourself a ticket to the nuclear wonderland of Chernobyl and live dangerously. Call me a warm blanket, but I think I'll stick soaking up some solar radiation on a beautiful Caribbean beach while sipping an ice-cold drink and listening to the crashing waves.

Posted by eva on 8:13 AM

January 8, 2006

Reality killed the television show

Initially I was going to write about a new reality show I had stumbled upon on my Sunday morning, but I decided that instead of raising your curiosity about it, I would put in my two cents on the state of television these days, more precisely, the alarming takeover of reality television.

What started out as a lark in 2000 with a little show known as Survivor has now exploded into a veritable platinum mine for the networks. Mark Burnett must be laughing all the way to the bank. A quick IMDB query for Mark Burnett lists a total of 34 shows under his belt; The Survivor franchise, The Apprentice, and Rock Star are some of his more successful ventures.

Each year brings an ever-growing crop of new reality shows, which compete directly with the numerous sitcoms and dramas released. New seasons mean new spins on the reality show, as it mutates and evolves.

The reality television has been around longer than we think. One could argue that reality television started with An American Family, the landmark 1973 weekly series which chronicled a turbulent period in the Loud family, which included an on-air demand for divorce and a gay son coming out to his parents.

In the early 1990s, MTV brought us The Real World, a show which put together a group of eight complete twenty-something strangers and videotaped their life over a couple of months. Still on the air after thirteen years, it has become a part of pop culture.

Is the viewing audience turning to reality to indulge in voyeuristic pleasures? Are these average Joes more relatable? Are we getting kicks seeing how the other half live? Do we enjoy seeing others being put down in cruel and unusual terms and revel in their personal embarrassments? Is it the proverbial rooting for the underdog, reflecting the Seabiscuit within?

Whatever the reason for its success, reality television is right at home and doesn’t want to budge. It is hard for struggling series like Arrested Development to find support when networks feel they can make more money and get more viewers with some reality show. There is a reluctance to allow shows to grow and mature. Will we remember the days of free of this phenomenon? Will they still exist in another ten years or will the airwaves be overwhelmed with constant doses of reality?

Posted by eva on 12:24 PM | Comments (1)