aaa2zee:

On the subjects of Purpose, Passion & Personal Growth…

“Why so serious?”
- Joker 

It has been a scary minute (almost 4 years now) since I hit the brakes on my fast moving car of career and business and found myself a total mess on the dashboard. Since the asking of “Who am l & what on EARTH am l doing here?” I had gotten crickets in response, or at least that is what I thought I was hearing.
 Well it turns out the message was simply PLAY, yup annoying isn’t it? 

“What do you mean play? Play what, the Cello, Monopoly… Play? I have bills to pay, a life to live, a family to care for. Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

Yet the bleeping word chased me everywhere. So naturally I ignored it and kept searching for that super serious life that would afford me medal of honour for fighting to good hard fight. Didn’t work out so well. And just when I had had enough of the ass whooping life was handing down I surrendered (I know most of will hate this word) and PLAYED. Before I knew it I remembered what it was like to feel that freedom and giddy joy I felt as a kid, the curiosity returned, and everywhere I turned opportunity was to be had. 
Yes it is still a work in progress. I haven’t ascended into Never, Never Land. I still have bills to be paid; I still wonder about what to do next. The difference is I am learning to see my life as a joyful place where I can accept the good and spread it through me; accept the bad, bless it for its lessons, and then redirect it. I go to bed with a smile a mile long and wake up excited EVERYDAY. I play all day long, with my studies, my job, my doctors, my family, my money, with my food, the news (yeah *ish is going down, I know) on walks, in the metro, at the park, at the market. I make a living playing and I find ways to be paid for it. And now I dedicate my passionate purpose to helping others learn to play again.

Today is a great day to start, in MTL here it is a MONDAY AND SCHOOL & WORK ARE OUT! 

For those still with me (I am verbose today): PLAY and be JOYOUS and then see how the “hard work” feels. And as you notice the elation in your limbs and core, imagine then the bursts of satisfaction as you later bask in the fruits of your labours.

If you need help finding your way back to happiness there are many routes, but a nice quickie would be to try an Inner Fitness class through the Ismology FB group with David Lion (dude make a recording already and go global):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/479221868781297/

In the interim I want to thank as many of my favorite playmates as I can remember. Des très gros bisous à my sister from another mother Princesse Zee (get a FB page already you snob). Love you all deeply, thank you for playing.

 —

aaa2zee: On the subjects of Purpose, Passion & Personal Growth…“Why so serious?”- Joker It has been a scary minute (almost 4 years now) since I hit the brakes on my fast moving car of career and business and found myself a total mess on the dashboard. Since the asking of “Who am l & what on EARTH am l doing here?” I had gotten crickets in response, or at least that is what I thought I was hearing. Well it turns out the message was simply PLAY, yup annoying isn’t it? “What do you mean play? Play what, the Cello, Monopoly… Play? I have bills to pay, a life to live, a family to care for. Ain’t nobody got time for that!”Yet the bleeping word chased me everywhere. So naturally I ignored it and kept searching for that super serious life that would afford me medal of honour for fighting to good hard fight. Didn’t work out so well. And just when I had had enough of the ass whooping life was handing down I surrendered (I know most of will hate this word) and PLAYED. Before I knew it I remembered what it was like to feel that freedom and giddy joy I felt as a kid, the curiosity returned, and everywhere I turned opportunity was to be had.  Yes it is still a work in progress. I haven’t ascended into Never, Never Land. I still have bills to be paid; I still wonder about what to do next. The difference is I am learning to see my life as a joyful place where I can accept the good and spread it through me; accept the bad, bless it for its lessons, and then redirect it. I go to bed with a smile a mile long and wake up excited EVERYDAY. I play all day long, with my studies, my job, my doctors, my family, my money, with my food, the news (yeah *ish is going down, I know) on walks, in the metro, at the park, at the market. I make a living playing and I find ways to be paid for it. And now I dedicate my passionate purpose to helping others learn to play again.Today is a great day to start, in MTL here it is a MONDAY AND SCHOOL & WORK ARE OUT! For those still with me (I am verbose today): PLAY and be JOYOUS and then see how the “hard work” feels. And as you notice the elation in your limbs and core, imagine then the bursts of satisfaction as you later bask in the fruits of your labours.If you need help finding your way back to happiness there are many routes, but a nice quickie would be to try an Inner Fitness class through the Ismology FB group with David Lion (dude make a recording already and go global): https://www.facebook.com/groups/479221868781297/In the interim I want to thank as many of my favorite playmates as I can remember. Des très gros bisous à my sister from another mother Princesse Zee (get a FB page already you snob). Love you all deeply, thank you for playing.  — High-res

Are you scared of dying?

Gil: Were you scared?

Ernest Hemingway: Of what?

Gil: Of getting killed.

Ernest Hemingway: You’ll never write well if you fear dying. Do you?

Gil: Yeah, I do. I’d say probably, might be my greatest fear actually.

Ernest Hemingway: It’s something all men before you have done, all men will do.

Gil: I know, I know.

Ernest Hemingway: Have you ever made love to a truly great woman?

Gil: Actually, my fiancé is pretty sexy.

Ernest Hemingway: And when you make love to her you feel true and beautiful passion. And you for at least that moment lose your fear of death.

Gil: No, that doesn’t happen.

Ernest Hemingway: I believe that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well, which is the same thing. And when the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face like some rhino hunters I know, or Belmonte, who’s truly brave. It is because they love with sufficient passion to push death out of their minds, until the return that it does to all men. And then you must make really good love again. Think about it.

From the movie: Midnight in Paris

The Artist’s Process: 

Section of interview with Derek Cianfrance, Director and Co-Writer of The Place Beyond The Pines (courtesy of Alliance Films)

- Interviewer: Let’s talk about your design team.

- … The DP (Director of Photography) was Sean Bobbitt. I originally had planned on using Andrij Parekh who did BLUE VALENTINE, but he had this vision one night that he was going to die if he did PINES and so he dropped out. I’m not kidding. So I met a number of DPs and when I met with Sean, he was telling me things about his process, the way he approaches his work and how he prefers using handheld cameras and natural lighting, and his theories on camera movement, etc. I had come to find out that Sean was a war photographer and I asked him if he thought he was going to die doing Pines and he said, “No, he had been to war many times.” He was just fearless and he helped us all be fearless in the film. We knew the first shot of this film should be an epic shot. It should take us, like a dream, from the space of Luke’s trailer, through a working fairground, and into a circus tent where HANDSOME LUKE AND THE HEARTTHROBS would begin riding their motorcycles in a metal globe of death upside down. And Sean had wanted to go inside of that globe (where the motorcycle riders race). He suited up in armor and we did the whole 5 minute shot and he went in the center of the globe and it was a beautiful shot and I’m watching the monitor and I hear a crash. The monitor that I’m looking at goes fuzzy and I look over at the globe and I see Sean on the bottom of a pile of 3 motorcycles. He was run over. The paramedics run in and everyone’s asking if he’s ok. Sean gets up and he’s not okay – he’s angry he didn’t get the shot!! And he says, “Let’s do it again.” And I said, “Sean, don’t do it again.” And he said, “I’m doing it again. We must get this shot and go to the center of it.” So we went back, filmed from the trailer all the way into the center of the globe of death, and again at the same exact moment, the monitor goes static and I look up to find Sean under a pile of motorcycles again. This time he was even more shaken up and even angrier at himself for not getting the shot. We cancelled the shoot for that night. Then later, at around 3AM, Sean woke up in the hotel and didn’t know what country he was in. So we took him to the emergency room and he had a concussion. And the next night we did it again, and I forced him not go inside, but he is a warrior. To me, Bobbitt has such a strong composition and I wanted this to be like a story book. Like flipping through the pages of a mythical storybook.

The Artist’s Process: Section of interview with Derek Cianfrance, Director and Co-Writer of The Place Beyond The Pines (courtesy of Alliance Films)- Interviewer: Let’s talk about your design team.- … The DP (Director of Photography) was Sean Bobbitt. I originally had planned on using Andrij Parekh who did BLUE VALENTINE, but he had this vision one night that he was going to die if he did PINES and so he dropped out. I’m not kidding. So I met a number of DPs and when I met with Sean, he was telling me things about his process, the way he approaches his work and how he prefers using handheld cameras and natural lighting, and his theories on camera movement, etc. I had come to find out that Sean was a war photographer and I asked him if he thought he was going to die doing Pines and he said, “No, he had been to war many times.” He was just fearless and he helped us all be fearless in the film. We knew the first shot of this film should be an epic shot. It should take us, like a dream, from the space of Luke’s trailer, through a working fairground, and into a circus tent where HANDSOME LUKE AND THE HEARTTHROBS would begin riding their motorcycles in a metal globe of death upside down. And Sean had wanted to go inside of that globe (where the motorcycle riders race). He suited up in armor and we did the whole 5 minute shot and he went in the center of the globe and it was a beautiful shot and I’m watching the monitor and I hear a crash. The monitor that I’m looking at goes fuzzy and I look over at the globe and I see Sean on the bottom of a pile of 3 motorcycles. He was run over. The paramedics run in and everyone’s asking if he’s ok. Sean gets up and he’s not okay – he’s angry he didn’t get the shot!! And he says, “Let’s do it again.” And I said, “Sean, don’t do it again.” And he said, “I’m doing it again. We must get this shot and go to the center of it.” So we went back, filmed from the trailer all the way into the center of the globe of death, and again at the same exact moment, the monitor goes static and I look up to find Sean under a pile of motorcycles again. This time he was even more shaken up and even angrier at himself for not getting the shot. We cancelled the shoot for that night. Then later, at around 3AM, Sean woke up in the hotel and didn’t know what country he was in. So we took him to the emergency room and he had a concussion. And the next night we did it again, and I forced him not go inside, but he is a warrior. To me, Bobbitt has such a strong composition and I wanted this to be like a story book. Like flipping through the pages of a mythical storybook. High-res

theatlantic:

In Focus: China’s Toxic Water

On World Water Day, I’d like to share with you a strong collection of images from southern China, showing local activists fighting against industrial pollution in their waterways, and cancer sufferers in so-called “cancer villages”, linked to pollution from hazardous chemicals. Earlier this year, China’s environment ministry released a report officially acknowledging the existence of these villages for the first time and signaling its willingness to address toxic water pollution. Greenpeace reached out to World Press Photo award-winner Lu Guang and other photographers to bear witness and has allowed me to share their images here on World Water Day, in an effort to bring this environmental and human tragedy to the world’s attention. Photos and captions were provided by the photographers and Greenpeace.

See more. [Images: Greenpeace]

(via darksilenceinsuburbia)

“An erosion of self-esteem is one of the commonest symptoms of dispossession. It does not occur only at the naive level…; even more troubling is when it comes in the company of sophistication and learning. It may then take the form of an excessive eagerness to demonstrate flair and worldliness; a facility to tag on to whatever the metropolis says is the latest movement, without asking the commonsense question: later than what? Let us imagine a man who stumbles into an alien ritual in its closing stages when the devotees are winding down to a concluding chorus of amens, and who immediately and enthusiastically takes up the singing with such loudness and gusto that the owners of the ritual stop their singing and turn, one and all, to look in wonder at this postmodernist stranger. Their wonder increases tenfold when they ask the visitor later what kind of modernism his people had had, and it transpires that neither he nor his people had ever heard the world modernism…. [E]ccentricities such as his can liven up the gathering and may even save it from righteousness and solemnity; but in the final reckoning the people who will advance the universal conversation will be not copycats but those able to bring hitherto untold stories, along with new ways of telling.”

Chinua Achebe, from Home and Exile, 2000, posted by The Awl. (via yayitsrob)

(via yayitsrob)

“Storytellers are a threat. They threaten all champions of control, they frighten usurpers of the right-to-freedom of the human spirit — in state, in church or mosque, in party congress, in the university or wherever.”

Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah.  (via alixlambert)