Jamie Beck e Kevin Burg – Cinemagraphs

So I have been a bit quite lately - came across this really great link to Jamie Beck's cinemagraphs. Open the picture below to view an example of this incredible art.

This is an absolutely fascinating gallery of cinemagraphs from creator Jamie Beck. Have a look at the HISTORY of this incredible art right here. This is sick.

SUPAKITCH & KORALIE Art

Did some early morning stumbling and came across this - truly exceptional. 

This is one talent I absolutely wish I had. In the video below we see Supakitch and Koralie - two French street artists - team up to put together this stunning masterpiece. There is a strong Japanese influence to their artwork and I must admit - I am green with envy - THIS IS GLORIOUS. 

Be inspired loved ones.

Happy Weekend

So we part for the weekend - play it safe - have insane fun chilling. And while some have great things planned - others will probably spend it in front of the television or playing STARTCRAFT II.

I love this song - it always gets me in the mood to party.

Afrojack

Now, I have seen South Africans dance to this!! So hott

Mesmerizing

Grammy Camp

So...I am hectically in love with music - my Facebook page pretty much says it all. I have grown from my days of bubblegum pop and now give me old school rock&roll, 1930's and 1940's jazz and I am in my happy place. 

Music as we know it has evolved tremendously - artists are becoming insanely creative in their design and delivery and to top it all off they are becoming younger and younger. YOUTUBE has provided this awesome platform to express oneself and we see people from around the world boldly stepping out and expressing themselves and some of them get noticed and find themselves on the road to fame and fortune: http://mashable.com/2011/01/23/found-fame-youtube/#nzh2UygPwDU (this is such a cool link!)

Converse has also come to the party with Grammy Camp - I love this initiative! Music in Schools is on the decline. We live in an era of information technology where creativity either conforms or accepts it's "outcast" status. But any true creative knows that there is no master plan to how and why we create - which infrastructures or tools we use to create or which platforms (like YOUTUBE) we use to get it out there and make ourselves heard. 

Grammy Camp is breaking the rules - going into Schools and making it count. What makes this such a great initiative - this not only looks at the glitz and glamor side of the industry but looks at a lot of the background not-so-glamorous side of things. This includes song writing, writing melodies, voice, sound set-up (I LOVE THIS)! I am absolutely pro this initiative and young people can benefit from the experience. 

We live in this instant world - where we expect to just "add water and stir." I think that this is such an eye opener as it reveals that all good things take work and HUGE amounts of it. 

I am from South Africa and I can honestly say I wish we had more initiatives like this. It's good to know that there are people out there who do this for the love of art. 

Stirring

Found this awesome pic, courtesy of The Cool Hunter - something about it just stirs me up.

Partners in Crime

I realized a few weeks ago just how weak many of my "friends" considered me to be weak. One in particular used the word "door mat" ... hmmm ... needless to say I was highly unimpressed. What she considered "door mat", I considered grace. 

See, I in no way believe that Grace is something that only God can accomplish - I believe it's breathed in our very beings. To give people an opportunity to be all they can be, to be slow to judgement and ready to provide a second chance - I think we all have that in us. Failure to exercise this function can not be blamed on personality or human instinct.

I think I realized very early on in life that first impressions aren't always accurate. Reactions under pressure or in anger do not necessary reflect WHO a person is. This is unfair. We are wired differently. To place people in precise boxes and to expect them to act accordingly takes away everything we fight for - IT TAKES AWAY THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE CREATIVE. 

Anais Nin once said, "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." I have spent much of my break looking at that quote with absolute discontent. Discontent because these "friends" that so claimed to "get me" or "understand how I work" set rules that don't apply to them. Make decisions on judgement that should not apply to them should they commit the follies that warrant such actions. BUT I think - the discontent for what Anais said lay in how I am starting to scrutinize my world. My partnerships, companions - friends. What "worlds" did they represent in me? 

 

For 2012 - I choose to surround myself with authenticity. This decreases the number of people in the camp - but I would rather have companions that will readily go to war with me, who understand my humanity, who stir my inner freak than be shallowly known by many who will jump ship at the first signs of fire. 

She Came Knocking

Insomnia ... I have never understood it - usually sleep takes me within minutes of my head hitting the pillow. But try as I may - it eluded me last night.

Upon further investigation I realized I was not alone - Creativity had come to pay me a visit. I guess it could have been easier to wrestle her away, but I am not one to silence the Lady when she comes. She always comes bearing gifts and often those gifts are rewards for heeding the call and deciding to respond.

So I picked up my pen and started to write - lyrics flowed. A masterpiece - a story of my best friend and I. A tap into the meaning of our friendship, the journey we had been on and it's abrupt end. So many things I had forgotten, I found myself grateful for finally understanding the meaning of friendship. A friend so long gone and so far away had become my muse.

Someone once said that it is important to honour the creative call. Failure to do so results in silence. She does not keep regular hours but her rewards are more than all the success and fame a person could hope for.

Maybe last night was not insomnia, maybe it was an awareness of something that could quench my yearning.

Baby Steps to Greatness

Just had an interesting chat to a very good friend around New Years Resolutions. Is it folly to believe or to set these? Do people really stick to these promises? Are we setting ourselves up for disappointment? In not accomplishing these goals - do we subconsciously do more harm than good to our self - esteem? And who are we ever truly accountable too?

While many of these questions could discourage the act of setting these goals - I firmly believe and love New Year goal setting. I think it signifies an opportunity to start again - to release the past, release mistakes and forgive compromises. I think it provides hope and gives you the bravery to face the night, the hurdles and bondage that try to drown you.

Do you have to wait until the New Year to set a goal? No. I think that if you are genuine about change you will implement it instantly. But some are weaker and it's ok. Baby steps to greatness...

So, we face 2012 - no fear - no regrets. We looks into it boldly and ready to face each challenge. And lets not forget the great moments...these too shall come

My name is...

It's January, 3rd, 2012...crazy how time flies when you're having fun.

My story begins in a little town called Rustenburg in the North West Province. Looking back now, I realize I had a dream childhood. I did not fear the world - just the opposite - it was one GI-normous playground.

School was...it was trying. Difficult at first - simply because I spent so much of it trying to fit in and conform. It was very difficult to do so - see I am a Christian girl and I went to a school that was in a Muslim community. So much of the thinking and dynamic was Islamic and lets just say - if you weren't Muslim - you did not matter. Much of primary school was spent trying to gain favour from Muslim friends and teachers and much of it was spent in tears. Pathetic ... I know ... but true.

High School was great - I kinda realized that I was awkward - SO WHAT! It didn't matter. School became on huge stage and I became the lead actress. I could be vivacious and daring. I could be mysterious and cheeky. And so began 4 years of the best performance of my life. I pulled it off excellently. Often chosen to speak on behalf of my peers for "issues that mattered!" I had created a world that needed me AND I LOVED IT.

I also got into writing - writing poetry, plays and then it evolved into music. Yip, Britney Spears influenced me - its insane but true and looking back I cannot believe I was into it. But I think in so many ways, the music was an opportunity to reveal what was really going on in my heart and in my mind. See living behind a mask became something I did at School and then it extended to my home life. My parents didn't really notice - I was a model student with great grades...and I think for a while I believed it.

My final year was scary - the real world called for the real me. And so I left my Utopia behind and I made a decision to live life to the fullest. Work hard - play hard! This defined the way I would do it for the next 7 years.

So I worked at a Leadership NGO called Partnership Foundation Trust - Eduland and studied. It was tough - emotionally. I found other kids who where just like me - trying to leave some kind of legacy in the world, not understanding that they could start again - it was never too late. My presentations became fierce - I was on a mission that simply stated, "It's OK, breathe, stop, think - now if you don't like it then start over!" Words I had ached and wanted to hear in High School suddenly became the theme of my discussions with young people - I started to feel a release.

I don't really look at Eduland as a job - it was more than that. It was therapy. It's were I could re-connect with God and re-connect with myself. I spent moments in solitude forgiving myself for compromises I had made in School to fit in and I spent moments in front of teenagers stirring myself up and getting ready to take on the world again.

I left Eduland for the Johannesburg - the City of Gold. A glorified version of High School - that pretty much sums it up. In a way I think this City was the Heavens way of putting my new found convictions and revelations to the test. And while there are days when i falter and fail - there are good days, when I overcome and my hope is renewed.

This blog is an extension of me - my therapy. An outlet to be real and opportunity to salvage my sanity in place where people compromise to succeed...these are my adventures.

Love,

Melissa