Saturday, April 25, 2009

Beyoncé Knowles

Sometimes I forget something I like for a while.
Tonight I remembered one: Beyoncé Knowles.

Beyoncé has pretty much everything going on. Her resumé reads like Lil Rail's best flyers:
Singer
Actress
Dancer
Designer
A-Lister
Married to an rapper (namely: Jay-Z)

Not only is she, like, insanely talented vocally, but she is also awesome. Seriously.

She's on the list of top ten people I would want to be. Maybe top five.

But check it. What girl doesn't want to be...

...classy and sexy...


...sweet and sexy...


... or a little bit crazy and sexy?


Want to know the answer? Come on. You know already.
Every girl wants to be like that.

She doesn't pull crazy tabloid shit.
She's responsible and knows what she wants.
(I am writing this after reading about her dreams for Broadway and about how she's waiting to have kids until she can be a responsible mother, not focused on her career.)
She's crazy-talented and has a distinct sound and style.
And last but not least, she's gorgeous. And hot.

From the time she was "jumpin' jumpin' " with Destiny's Child until her recent turn as Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé is essentially irreplaceable.

(P.S. If anyone knows where I can get a bra like the one she wears in the "Irreplaceable" video, let me know. I want it.)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Kids With Cameras

I think the hardest thing about photography is capturing unabashed human emotion (which is why I almost never take pictures of people).
Often sought after but difficult to attain, only people with a thirst for life will find it.
This is why I adore the children of Kids With Cameras.
Sure they live in less than desirable conditions, but they understand life and the emotions that come with it more than I ever will.
They are examples of pure triumph on a planet that has forgotten them.
And armed with only a basic camera, they are setting out to share their story with the world.







(Top to bottom: Cairo, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Calcutta, Jerusalem, Calcutta, Jerusalem, Haiti)

These photos and many more breathtaking works can be found at Kids With Cameras, along with information about the organization.
Some pieces are available for purchase with proceeds going to programs which will held educate these talented kids. So if you have $200+ to drop on a print, by all means, please do.
They certainly deserve it.

Jam




I love Jam.

Something about it's down-home goodness really warms my heart.
I was inspired to write this ode to jam because a few minutes ago I spotted a jar of strawberry preserves that my grandmother had sent off to me just after Christmas. I was instantly transported back to the wonderful early summer days of my childhood. I would always go at the beginning of the season with my mother and grandmother to pick strawberries to make into jam for the rest of the year. I was a sneaky little child. I would pick a few strawberries to put in the pallet, but every so often when I found the perfect strawberry, I would secretly eat it while my mother and grandmother weren't looking. I'm sure they knew, but at the time, it was my little secret- those strawberries and I. After the jam was made, I would have a piece of toast with strawberry jam nearly every morning for a month after. And so, as I return from my childhood daydreams, I would like to show my appreciation for the wonderfully comforting and deliciously delectable memories jam has preserved in me. (Pun.)



la Confiture
par Hannah Boldt

Confiture, oh ma confiture
toutes que tu possèdes
toutes que tu étais
que tu serais
que tu avais été
que tu sois

que tu auras été


Tout ça- Rien ne me fait plaisir
comme
tu me fais plaisir.
La jouissance de tes fraises,

tes framboises.
Le goût sucré de tes fruits

qui avaient mijoté à la perfection.
Oui. Tu avais atteint la perfection.

Oui, la perfection.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Thing FlyHunniez Hate: The Paul Bunyan Room

Special Post Alert!!!

We, as a collective, do not support disliking things, 
but here is an exception: 
The Paul Bunyan Room in the Memorial Union at Wisconsin.

This is the worst room in the history of time.
There have been several meetings for a committee we are all on here, and it sucks.

The temperature in here is comparable to the center of the earth, 
the murals are baffling and overwhelming, 
and the layout is terrible for any kind of group discussion.

Here's an example of the wall decor:


There is also a fish-cat thing. I don't know either.

We need to get out of this room.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Ballerinas

It's essentially my greatest life-long dream to be a ballerina.

(My cousin Morgan and I were cute and in puzzle form.)

For a long time, I was sure I had some really serious talent and would put on shows in the house for paying customers, including my parents and indulgent aunts and uncles. I often even coerced my brother and cousin Christopher into wearing leotards and tutus. There is evidence, but I am not cruel enough to share it here.

After a decade of dance lessons and a lot of work, I finally came to an understanding with my body that I was never made to be a ballerina.
If you know me, you know that I am not tall, do not have long, graceful limbs, have little to no coordination, and in short, would never be a talented dancer, no matter how many piqué turns, relevés, and grand jetés I did in class.

Let's be real here. I sucked.

So I settle for being a fake ballerina for Halloween and loving art featuring dancers, especially ballerinas.

I do love me some Degas, but I also love me some mid-century photography.
So here!

Enjoy some lovely dancers, a lovely music video of a song about dancers, and then download said song. Then go see the band performing said song at the High Noon in the coming weeks.


Degas...



Edward Clark...


Norman Parkinson...


Patrick Baldwin...


Alfred Eisenstaedt...


Lois Greenfield...


Kim Camba...


Backstage with the Modern Dancers - Great Lake Swimmers



Enjoy the dancers. I will continue to live vicariously.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Henry Miller - Tropic of Cancer

Warning:
This post contains a photograph of female sudoriferous glands.
Avert your eyes lest the boobs cause impure thoughts!

Dear Henry Miller,
You are a raunchy old man and I love you for that.
XOXO,
Danielle
PS - Call me


I really don't know how to give this book the due it deserves.
To give you a sense of my appreciation for it: Quotes from Tropic of Cancer take up four pages of my book quote notebook. Quote-book?

In short, Tropic of Cancer is a novel about finding a way for life and decadence to thrive in the most dire of situations. Miller exposes the savage nature of mankind through a series of semi-autobiographical accounts of people (namely "working ladies") he encounters while living in a grim and filthy 1930s France. Sex and squalor, basically.

Some have called Miller a misogynistic bastard for depicting women as sexual objects and many have argued for the ban of the book because of its X(XX)-rated accounts of certain rendezvous. Those people should really stick to reading Twilight.
And now for quotes although I highly, highly recommend you read this novel novel.

"Passed me men and women ignited with sulfur, porters in calcium livery opening the jaws of hell, fame walking on crutches, dwindled by the sky-scrapers, chewed to a frazzle by the spiked mouth of the machines."

"We have no need for genius - genius is dead. We have need for strong hands, for spirits who are willing to give up the ghost and put on flesh."

"Do anything, but let it produce joy. Do anything, but let it yield ecstasy."

And, how could I forget:
"A laboratory cunt and no litmus paper that could take her color."

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Schwinntonation

With a name like "Schwinntonation" can you really go wrong at all?
Schwinntonation could be some kind of bike gang of white boys that releases bad rap mixtapes, and with a name like that, I'd still probably defend them to people.

Even better, though, is that Schwinntonation is actually awesome. I've been describing the sound as "ambient sound experimentation made using bikes," but that sounds ridiculous and pretentious, so let's see what the Schwinntonation MySpace has to say.

"The project that is Schwinntonation takes the various sounds that bicycles can make and turns it into music."

Does that sound like something that could be bad? Does this look like something that could be bad?


I don't think so and neither should you.

These dudes are from Chicago, and I think they're going to be at the Bicycle Film Festival in Minneapolis the summer, so hopefully I'll be able to head up to that with Brenna&co. in a few months.

They released their album for free, so I'm going to share it with you in it's entirety, guilt-free.