My Contribution to a Documentary about my Favorite Pinup Model

I am so excited to be a part of the Bettie Page Reveals All documentary about my favorite pinup legend! She is the often-imitated icon whose life was complicated and controversial, and who unintentionally helped inspire the feminist revolution of the 1960s after her mysterious disappearance into seclusion in 1957. Before she passed away in 2008, she spilled the full story in her own words through a series of interviews with Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Mark Mori, who is now directing and producing the documentary.

It's not like me to be star-struck but Bettie is one of only two exceptions. So when I saw a posting on a Bettie Page newsletter asking for Photoshop experts to work on her film, you can imagine my response. I am honored to help out with such an exciting project and all of the images I have been working on only serve to make me more excited to see the final film, which premiered at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender yesterday.

I made this video while I was working on one of her photos as a "teaser."



Of course, it is a real tease; you can barely see any of Bettie except for a tiny thumbnail on the right at the end... but hey, that's fitting with her personality, too! I can assure you the full shot is just lovely.

True Innovation: Spotlight on Google

Today, April 1, 2011, Google is experimenting with some new typefaces for its search results pages (typophiles delight, the Comic Sans font is just lovely!!!) and announced a new program which allows you to navigate your Gmail account using body motion instead of typing with your fingertips.

"Someday, people will be moving their bodies and creating a whole world of things bending to our will, rather than our bodies bending to the will of technology."

- Dr. Klayman, Gmail Motion Scientific Advisor

Important update: April Fools! My cousin sent me one of these, and I found the other through further research as well as a host of others. For more tech-related jokes that big names played on their poor and unsuspecting audiences this year, check out this great list by TechCrunch. Sorry, and you're welcome ;-)

A short story: Great Leaps for Susan

Suzie leaped across the rooftop, flailing her arms beneath a long green cape and landing precisely on the building opposite, the silky “S” stitched into her leotard glimmering in the sunset. She dared look behind her to stare in the face of her enemy: a plastic headless Barbie doll named Midge.

“Susan, get down here and help set the table for dinner,” mother interrupted from the bottom of the stairway, “It’s almost 6 o’clock already.”

“Mom, it’s Sue,” Susan yelled back. “I’m thirteen years old now!” she huffed, shoving Midge and Suzie Doll behind her dresser in one corner of her bedroom before hurrying down the stairs.

Click here to read the story behind the story.

Being Lady GaGa

I finally decided on what to be for Halloween. Ok, the choice to be Lady GaGa was the easy part - the rising pop star of 2009 parades around in extravagant costumes on a regular basis. So the hard part was deciding which of her costumes to recreate. With about four costumes per music video, even more during live performances (recently, she changed looks four times at the MTV Video and Music Awards and twice on Saturday Night Live), and a host of unique "everyday" outfits, I finally decided to use the red outfit in her "Beautiful Dirty Rich" video.

Why? I love the song, which was released as a promotional single on September 16, 2008 but never got the radio play that Just Dance, Love Game, and Paparazzi have. The outfit won't be too labor-intensive. And I already have some banana-yellow-colored pumps.

I'm also hoping that my version of Lady GaGa won't be the most popular selection this year, so I can party with the other GaGas without feeling like a clone. If I had more time, I can think of some other great GaGa costumes for the occasion (perhaps her VMA performance of "Paparazzi" with blood dripping down her stomach, or her fantastical bubble costume that she wore during her Fame Ball tour).

At any rate, as a dedicated fan, I decided to outline below some of the basic steps you will need to recreate GaGa's signature style, whatever outfit you choose.

• If you don't have platinum blonde hair with bangs already, you'll probably want to grab a straight blonde wig. The bob cuts I found in the store were a bit too short (Lady GaGa's new 'do is more shoulder-length) so I bought a long wig for $10 and I'm planning on trimming it myself. It's also going to need a good brushing. You could play around with replicating her curly styles as well, using a Marilyn Monroe wig. Just make sure to pair it with a ridiculous outfit so you don't get your pop icons confused. If you're really daring, you could also try her afro puff look like the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine.
• Some stunna shades like the classics seen on the face of the lovely lady.
• You'll also want some black eyeliner and mascara, fake eyelashes, dramatic eyeshadow, and shimmery face powder or a cream skin brightener for that pop star glow. You may also need some cream makeup to create a lightning bolt over one eye for certain looks, and rhinestones never hurt. Check out this cute YouTube tutorial by user MichellePhan for inspiration:

• "we just like to party, like to p-p-party, yeah / bang, bang, we're beautiful and dirty rich"
  Opaque black pantyhose, or in my case, flesh-colored (it is October, after all, and Lady GaGa is infamous for her no-pants trademark).
• Fortunately, Lady GaGa keeps her kicks simple. You probably already have a pair that will do. The black bootie style is very popular this season and seen in many of her videos. Anything lace-up, patent, or otherwise embellished will do.

Have fun!

Playing Nice in Web 2.0

Read this post if you like sharing and getting credit for it.

I just love Web 2.0 -- it means more free goodies for all. Creativity and inspiration become infectious, and I find myself downloading more megabytes of photos, vector images, Photoshop brushes, textures, and tools than I will ever have time to find a use for. Part of this culture was made possible by the nonprofit organization Creative Commons, which has been around since 2001 and helps artists/creators choose an appropriate copyright notice for their work.

Web 2.0 sites like Flickr, however, allow everyone to share this work with the public.

As both a creator and a user of content created by others, I was very excited to find that two of my own images from Flickr had been re-purposed on the web. Check out how they were used!

An entry dated May 5, 2009 in SaunaScape features my "Weigh" image from last August.

A May 27, 2009 entry in Everybody’s Invited! features my "Fondue Fun" image from Laura's 19th birthday.

As a final note, I was able to discover these images because the authors of these blogs so kindly mentioned my Flickr user name, whoaitsaimz, under the photos. Which brings up an important point about the sharing culture: provide credit where credit is due. It makes the experience fun, fair, and everyone will be more likely to continue sharing in the future.

Normal Conversations Now that Twitter's in Our Lives

My roommate and I both got into Twitter. Neither of us really knew why we started (do any of us really?) but our mutual following and real-life conversations have kept us in the nest, so to speak. Here are some of our more interesting offline conversations that would have seemed really strange a few months ago:

1. "CNN posted an article about Lance Armstrong today regarding a cycling incident. I checked his Twitter account to see if it was true, and he hadn't posted about it so I dismissed CNN's accusations until I saw his Tweet."
2. "I had 99 followers, and I really wanted 100, so I made my boyfriend a Twitter account and followed myself. I don't think he knows yet."
3. "Did you see my Tweet today?"
4. "We're Tweeple now."

What offline conversations do you have now that you didn't before? Do you ask people to "follow" you in real life, as you once asked them to "friend" you? Would your daily conversations be acceptable or weird to a non-Tweeter? What else has changed about the offline world with these online social networks? Will we ever go back...?

Where the (pardon my French) hell is Matt? Proper Sponsorship Gets You Going Places.

Stride Gum Spearmint, originally uploaded by StrideGum.

This epitomizes the perfect working relationship between a company (Stride gum) and an individual who demonstrates qualities of their brand (Matt).

Matt posted a video a few years back (2005) doing a silly dance in exotic locations around the world. Being a travel-loving creative myself, I appreciated the concept and apparently a lot of other people did too. Here is the original video:

Because of his quasi-internet success, the Stride gum company (Cadbury Adams USA LLC) approached him in 2006 about taking a second trip and making a new video. Regarding the sponsorship, Matt has posted on his FAQ section. His response is honest, straightforward, and speaks volumes about the people at Cadbury Adams and how they went about this endeavor:

"Help?" I hear you got a sponsorship. What's that about?
The folks at Stride gum were nice enough to support me on my second trip.

Why haven't I heard of Stride before?
Because it's new.

What's so special about it?
The flavor lasts a really long time.

Come on. How long?
Ridiculously long.

Are they paying you to say this?
Nope. Honest.

Did they make you chew gum on your trip?
They didn't make me do much of anything. They are very good people.

Did they tell you where to go?
Nope. They said, and I'm quoting here:

"We like what you're doing. We want to help you. We don't want to mess with you."
These words charmed me, and they stayed true to them.

Did they edit the video for you?
Nope. I came home, put it together, sorted the music out, and slapped it up on the internet. That was pretty much it.
Like I said: good people.

Do you get lots of free gum?
I get lots of free gum.

How did you find them?
They found me.

How do I get sponsored to travel?
I really can't help you with that. Wouldn't have a clue. Sorry.

The results of this sponsorship? YouTube's ratings as of right now speak volumes:
Added: June 20, 2008
Views: 18,277,619
Ratings: 66,312 (five stars average)
Responses: 187 (these are videos posted by others after seeing this one)
Comments: 54,369
Favorited: 114,635 times
Honors: in 34 categories
See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&feature=channel

As for Stride, they have a devoted section on their website for his videos, and had their name on a few clips from Matt's second video, as well as numberous links from Matt's content back to them. I have no idea about the impact on their sales, but it certainly got their name out there, got people talking, and even inspired people all over the world. And what more could you hope for in a partnership? It beats brand-sabotaging, individual-sacrificing, corporate-feeling failures. No cheesy taglines from Stride as far as I can see. So props to Cadbury Adams, and to Matt. Way to make a brand really come alive - you both make a traveling marketer proud! :-)

GREED: The Tale of Enron - Official Stuff

They posted some press comments of the (as I call it) techno ballet I reviewed a few posts back. And here are some official pictures, make sure to check out the 344-350 series, towards the end, because you can see the cool shadow effect they did. I'm sure you'll enjoy these pictures of business-suited dancers!

Techno Ballet Performance - GREED: The Tale of Enron

Last night I went to a modern ballet performed by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company in center city, at the Prince theater. What intrigued me the most was Rebecca's background as a dancer / Fox School of Business undergrad here at Temple. It's really inspiring for me to see creatives who get a business education in order to further their work.

But enough about me. I have mixed reviews of what her site claims to be "The most original and relevant dance performance of the season." While parts of the performance were truly genius (not to mention the theme behind the whole project itself), there were a few things that missed the mark.

Act II, part one. The whole Christmas scene. "All of the employees gather at Ken Lay's home for the annual holiday party." Maybe that did happen, but it's the end of January and I didn't come to see the nutcracker, and the Christmas tunes like "Ukrainian Bell Carol" didn't jive with the rest of the performance.

Act I, The Baxter Family. Danielle Grimm, playing Cliff Baxter's daughter, sure was cute and can definitely dance. But it would have been nice to see an actual little girl, not an undersized 20-something. And the fact that her mother, played by Jillian Mitchell, is the size of a toothpick made the whole family dynamic thing a bit awkward. No offense to these beautiful and talented women, but it would have been nicer to watch a family that looked something alike.

Enough negatives. Here's what I LOVED about the performance:

Metaphors of blindness, for example the Baxter's protecting each other by covering each other's eyes, whereas in parts it was used as a symbol of ignorance.

The movements that made dancers look like puppets, as though they were being controlled by some larger force. Perhaps the market?

"Smoke and mirrors" and "black box" imagery that made the whole performance work. The radio voiceover in the beginning helps us to understand the motivation for a ballet / visual performance involving an energy company.

The music. Other than the Christmas scene. Coldplay's "Violet Hill" and 311's "Love Song" were the ones we recognized. Would have been nice to have something in the program about the other songs.

Favorite scenes:

"Executive Meeting - Enron Corporate Headquarters" because Andy Fastow, played by Charles Russell, brings out the "books" for the first time. And he can really move! Also, we begin to see the Enron storyline and understand the situation better, as opposed to the first scene "The Skilling-Mark Power Struggle" which was a little dry and made Rebecca Mark, played by Vanessa Woods, look like a prostitute.

"Skilling & Carter - Outside Lay's Home" because this duet was intense (Coldplay accompaniment) and I loved the setting on stage. A full moon on the screen with low lights.

"The Boardroom, The Downfall, and the End of Enron" which are the last three scenes and culmination of everything modern ballet that I would admire. Funky choreography, techno music, use of strategically located shadows on the wall for dramatic effect in one part. The techno in one scene even had me tapping my feet! Good acting, good dancing, and some great numbers overall.

Davis' ability to take a critical look at Enron through both the eyes of a business major and an artistic director is surely commendable. She's taken a risk through her company by portraying real-life situations such as this one in an entirely new and unexpected way. I thoroughly enjoyed this performance not for the overall production but for the theme and concept behind it.

How and Why America Chose a Black for the White House

Searching for my Italian textbook on international bookseller sites, I noticed and translated this title in my head:

"Barack Obama. Come e perché l'America ha scelto un nero alla Casa Bianca" or "Barack Obama. How and why America chose a black for the White House"

I think it's so interesting how Italy, and Europe in general, perceives this occasion. I had been getting a bunch of emails from Italian contacts right before and after the election.

From: e-mail with professor
Rome, Italy

Penso spesso a Philly e mi manca.. spero di tornare la prossima estate, ma prima dobbiamo aspettare le elezioni del 4 novembre, che paura!!!!!!!!!!! Tutto il mondo si aspetta un cambiamento ed io sono ottimista.

From: my translation
Philadelphia, PA

I think often of Philly and I miss it... I hope to return next summer, but first we must wait for the elections of Nov 4, how frightening / worrisome!!!!! All the world waits for a change and I am optimistic.

On the one hand, they are about as happy as many of us who are glad the Bush era is over. On the other hand, I always wish people would stop referring to him as "The First Black President." I think it was more about inspiring a nation than about him being "black" why he was elected. I might actually add this item to my book for class and take a stab at translating it. See for yourself.