Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Vox Hunt: I Love This Part

Video: Show us your favorite movie scene.
Submitted by Caroline.

Little Mermaid- Part of Your world (Reprise)
Little Mermaid- Part of Your world (Reprise)

     It may be funny that my favorite movie scene of all time is from a film I have loved since the age of nine. The Little Mermaid is my favorite movie. Many of the elements that appealed to my nine year old self still appeal to me now: great music, a well-written, well acted heroine, absolutely beautiful animation, and more. So what is it about this one scene that gets me?

    It is in this scene that we get our glimpse of just how determined Ariel is. This is a stranger she has rescued, fascinated that he's a human, but feeling the spark of potential for more. Still mostly just curious, she makes a promise that she'll return and at the same time, that is a promise to explore that potential she sees in Prince Eric.

     This is no longer the sad "wish I could be part of that world"; the curiosity that is the human world with which she has never interacted. It is "that" world in the previous song. This is where it's sealed that it's become very personal. This is a genuine promise, made partly out of naiveté, but partly out of genuine determination on Ariel's part. "Someday, I'll be part of your world." Her curiosities have taken root, not just because she's finally interacted with the human world, but because she's found someone that intrigues and attracts her at the same time. And all these factors taken together have sealed her fate.

    The part near the very end of the scene is my absolute favorite movie shot of all time. We see Ariel watching, pondering, and then  Ariel is singing upon that rock, wind blowing through her hair, and at the moment she brings herself forth, the wave crashes up behind her. It still gives me a bit of a chill, both for its beauty and for the meaning in that moment. For that is the moment when Ariel truly makes that promise and shows us what she's made of.

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A Romantic Song – What does that mean to you?

Recently, I was on a message board that I frequent, and someone asked about a few songs and whether we found them romantic, and what other suggestions we might have for such songs. I didn't contribute any new ones to the thread at the time, but the following day, I heard a song that I'd liked for years and whose lyrics I loved. The song was "Desnuda", by Ricardo Arjona.

Desnuda

No es ninguna aberración sexual

Pero me gusta verte andar en cueros

El compás de tus pechos aventureros

Victimas de la gravedad

Será porque no me gusta la tapicería

Que creo que tu desnudez

Es tu mejor lenceria

Por eso es que me gustas tal y como eres

Incluso ese par de libras de mas

Si te viese tu jefe desnuda y detras

No dudaria en promover tu cintura

Deja llenarme de tu desnudez

Para afrontar los dizfraces de afuera

De una mejor manera

Desnuda

Que no habra diseño que te quede mejor

Que el de tu piel ajustada a tu figura

Desnuda

Que no hay un ingenuo que vista una flor

Seria como taparle la hermosura

Desnuda

Que la naturaleza no se equivoca

Y si te hubiese querido con ropa

Con ropa hubieses nacido

Deja llenarme de tu desnudez

Para vestirme por dentro

Aunque sea un momento

Now the message here is clear – 'I love you, and you're so beautiful as you are that I love watching you naked as you were born. Even though I've noticed your little flaws, I don't care, and they only enhance your beauty to me'.

To me, these lyrics are incredibly romantic and beautiful, even though they're not describing typical romance or the general goings on of a relationship. Face it, there are many of those songs, with many more veering toward the saccharine than not. Granted, I love sweet and sometimes cheesy love songs too (Your Body is a Wonderland, anyone?), but there's something about songs whose writers and performers rise to a certain poetic level.

Here's the video:

Desnuda-Ricardo Arjona

Lyrics courtesy of Ricardo Arjona Online

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Vox Hunt: By My Favorite Artist

Show us something by your favorite artist.
Submitted by Miss Parker. 

My favorite artist, Marc Chagall, was unique in his style. He came after the impressionists, and his work almost seems to contain some surrealist elements at times, but he's pretty much in a league of his own. The reason why I love his work so much is that it's so inspired by deep personal passions, yet at the same time, is accessible to almost anyone.

Throughout his work (and there was much of it, including paintings, drawings, and even designs for buildings like the ceiling of the Paris Opera), certain themes and figures remain constant. The depiction of love is constant, with the male lover always Chagall himself, and the female lover always a likeness of his love of the time. Until her death in 1944, it was his wife and longtime love Bella, and it's from this period that my favorite of his works come. Though I love his work overall.

Another important theme is his rural beginnings in the village of Vitebsk, in what is now Belarus. Linked with this was his religion and heritage as a Jew. His family lived in the ghetto of Vitebsk, and his Jewish identity, which sometimes restricted his opportunities, was a lifelong theme.

Something else that permeated his later paintings is exile and loss. While his earliest work was done in Vitebsk and St. Petersburg, it was after coming to France that he ultimately began getting real notice and training. France became his home, and sadly, one that he had to leave when Hitler invaded.

He and Bella went to New York for several years, but he longed for France and for freedom.

There's much more to his story. He lived for nearly 98 years. But onto a few examples:

"Love", "Bonjour Paris", "Lovers' Dream"

Chagall-LoveBonjour-parisChagall-marc-loversdream

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A-d-d-i-c-t-i-v-e

The word is "addictive", people. A-d-d-i-c-t-i-v-e. Not "addicting". I admit to being more than a bit of a grammar nazi, but boy does this one bother me. And it's popping up everywhere now. I saw the use of "addicting" on a commercial for some ABC TV show. That's really why it's become so bothersome, along with the usage of "bias" instead of "biased", as in "That guy is so bias."

Now, I am fully aware that language is a constantly evolving thing, but there's a difference between evolution and things that would make anyone with respect for the English language cringe. Where did these people go to school? It's bad enough that phrases such as "his album drops on Tuesday" are making it into formal press wire releases such as the AP.

Just remember, folks, when something is so good it pulls you in, it's addictive. Addicting is not the word.

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QotD: Well, I’d Never!

What did you think you would never ever do… but did? 
Submitted by Murky.  

I had my hair cut in early summer. Now that may not seem like a big deal to most people, but mine was down to my thighs and it had been sort of in a plain one length style for many years. I'd trimmed it myself here and there but I hadn't let anyone else cut my hair since I was nine years old.

Why? When I was nine, I went with my mother to the children's hair place we'd gone to many times over the years. I think we'd asked for a cut around chin length or just below. When I was a kid, my mom always preferred my hair short and my dad always preferred my hair long. I sort of tended to waver a bit, preferring it longer much of the time, but my mom would eventually win, and my hair as a kid was usually never past my shoulders.

This time, however, the final result was way too short. I hated it. I was nine years old and of course, hair grows back, but when you're a kid, it's devastating. And it seems to take absolutely forever. I cried about it a lot. It was roughly to my ear.

I was so traumatized by that incident that I didn't let another person cut my hair for sixteen years.

In the meantime, I enjoyed it once it got long. I loved all the new things I could do that I couldn't before. And so after a while, my mother relented and let me keep it, as long as I brushed and took care of it. I did just that.

It was alternately pretty and versatile and partial security blanket. I grew up a pretty shy girl and I suppose that was a natural progression. so when it came time to consider cutting it, I was scared. I hadn't had hair that short since childhood! It was almost a part of my identity. I tied it to how pretty I was and all sorts of oddities. I was literally terrified to get my hair cut.

I was afraid it would turn out badly and I'd be traumatized for another 16 years.

In May, I noticed an ad in a magazine for an upcoming charity event that would take place in June. It was sponsored by Redken, and all proceeds from the day would be given to b.cause, sponsoring America's Second Harvest. So I made the decision to go. I was really scared (my poor boyfriend, trying to reassure me that it would be okay), but I went. I figured I'd get it cut and also donate the hair to a charity afterward.

So that's what I did. I didn't get much sleep the night before (for a number of reasons), but I walked in there, stated approximately what I wanted (mid-back with some long layering) and even before they washed my hair, my stylist snipped off a good 15 inches or so. In a few seconds, there went a lot of hair and the rest of my fear. People kept coming around to see me and talk to me because I was obviously getting something dramatic done, and donating to two charities at once. Plus, I think my hair was kind of admired since it's never been permamently dyed or altered.

It came out a bit shorter when dry than I'd expected, but I was fine. No trauma, just the knowledge that it would grow in eventually. Now it has, and I still have all this versatility and more than before, since it's no longer nearly as heavy.

I never really imagined having my hair cut again, let alone being happy with it, but I have.

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Puppy Love

I'm a huge animal lover. I always have been. I enjoy visiting cute animal sites and blogs like Cute Overload . Sometimes when I'm feeling down, these sorts of sites can bring me right back up again. This was the case the other day when I had an argument with my boyfriend. It wasn't anything major, just a normal couples thing, but for a short time, I felt the accompanying upset and stress.

So I turned to Daily Puppy.

I had only been to the site once or twice before, so I obviously hadn't seen the overwhelming majority of the entries before. I browsed through the cute pictures of several puppies. Little by little, I started to feel better. Jack russell terriers, samoyeds, pomeranian mixes – all had begun to help ease the stress and make me calmer. And then I saw him. His name is Teddy and he's a daschund.

It was puppy love at first sight.

One look at those eyes and it was over for me.

As for the reason I was upset, it's mostly resolved. Plus, in the greater scope of things, it's very trivial.  Once Teddy had made me feel a bit better, I was in a better position to relax and begin to put it behind me.

I showed Teddy to my boyfriend afterward and he found him just as charming. He found those eyes to be quite pretty too. I  can't wait until I can have my own dog someday. It's something I've been waiting many years for. But the day when it will happen is closer than ever. And maybe I will have my own dog's pretty eyes to look into when I need comfort in the future. But for now, I've got Teddy bookmarked.