Persepolis is a Must-See

Persepolis is a poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. The film is French, animated, and almost completely in black and white. It was nominated for an Oscar and received another 15 wins and 21 nominations. Persepolis is that perfect combination of political commentary, excellent storytelling, and cheeky humor. By the end of the film you will wish Marjane, the heroine, was your best friend. There is a particularly great moment when she breaks out singing "Eye of the Tiger" in her adorably funny Iranian accent. What more can I say? I'm going to go buy the book now.

More Like First String...

The Second String Quintet rocked my world a little tonight. The fact that I've been deprived of the live music experience for a while had nothing to do with it. This local band is a perfect blend of folk, soul, and blues as well as original and covered songs. Their sound comes from a smooth blend of banjo, guitar, ukulele, keys, bass, harmonica and drums. The band features Esteban Aguila, Antonio Borrego III a.k.a Snap Jackson, Tony Avila, Nick Johnson, Justin Anderson, and Mike Klooser (who plays keyboard for the band, Smashmouth). They also just released their first self-titled album. They have some shows coming soon to the San Joaquin County that you won't want to miss.

The name says it all...

Weekend Plans: Euphorah: The Mist Sets Here will be showing at Stock​ton Empir​e Theat​re (in the same building at the Java Aroma coffee shop) on the Mirac​le Mile tonig​ht at 8pm. Doors​ open at 7:​30,​ Box offic​e opens​ at 7. Ticke​ts will be $5 at the door.​ Euphorah is a creative project of Pacific student George Brais that incorporates music, dance, video, poetry, and acting to tell an original story and ensemble piece. It's very avante-garde and unique. If you aren't doing anything tonight, come out and support the arts in Stockton! You can also click the link above to listen to some of the music from the show and from George Brais and his creative team.

Anime-niac

I saw Howl's Moving Castle last night and it was wonderfully good. My favorite part was probably the score, but I did like Billy Crystal's dubbed voice as the fire demon, Calcifer (I know, there are fire demons. I was confused at first too...) Or of course you could watch it in the original Japanese. Foreign films are cool, and this one is one of the highest grossing Japanese films of all time. But really, it's awesome either way so check it out.

Eminence Orchestra performs "Cave of Mind"

Joe Hisaishi performs the Main Theme


Song of the Day: I've been in RA training for a week or so now and my staff and I have created some pretty awesome super hero t-shirts to show off our ridiculous amout of staff pride. So, in honor of loving all things super heroes here's "Goodbye Mr. A" by The Hoosiers.


Weekend Plans: I can't say that Java Aroma is the end all, be all of coffee shops, but it does come pretty close. Walking distance of school? Check. Artsy vibe? Check. Inexpensive date? Why not? Check. White Chocolate Mochas? I'm so there. It also doubles as the Stockton Royal Theatre, which sometimes has some sweet concerts going on. Java Aroma is on Miracle Mile on Pacific Avenue in Stockton, CA.

SongLove

Song(s) of the Day:

"Paper Planes" by M.I.A
Okay, this song is fun, hands down. I first heard it in my best friend's kitchen and it inspired a few questionably cool dance moves. But here's what I really liked about M.I.A (stage name of Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam): she's a quadruple-threat singer, songwriter, producer and visual artist AND her songs have something to say. Political and Social Commentary included, her music is just plain bomb.


"Ice Cream" by Muscles
"Ice Cream is gonna save the day!" Need I say more?

Do you Believe in Magic?

I kind of get tired of women's magazines. I mean how many more beauty tips can you come up with, really? So when I read Bust Magazinefor the first time I was totally excited that finally here was a magazine for college students and twenty-somethings that actually had something interesting to say. The August/September issue I just bought while I was up in Seattle had an article on how to be your own landlady, a few DIY projects, an interview with Eva Amurri (daughter of Susan Sarandon), a guide to new music and book releases, advice on choosing your first guitar, a photo story about "Little Edie" Beale, and a story about female stand-up comic Maria Bamford (check out the video below). There's a little bit of language and some stories I decided to gloss over, but overall Bust is cheeky, entertaining, a little rebellious, and full of a lot of woman power. I'm down with that.


Book of the Week: A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester. This book puts together an informal history of the Medieval Age that is very readable and intriguing, while still being super scholarly. I wrote a ridiculous number of papers last semester about medieval painters, literature, and theatre and I've always found this age in history to be SO interesting. I think you'll enjoy it too.

Weekend Plans: Ryan Horsfall is another one of those friends I like to brag about. Besides the fact that we're old friends, he's also a super-talented magician. As you may or may not know,

Garbeau's CEO Mark Ferreira and Magician Ryan Horsfall are teaming up to present a new and exciting show of magic and comedy. Ryan feels that life is too funny and too wondrous for anybody to go through his or her days without experiencing laughter and astonishment frequently. To help in this, Ryan created a new show. “Ryan Horsfall’s 60 Minutes of Magic” is an original comedy filled magic show based on this simple principle; let’s try and get audiences to laugh 60 times in 60 minutes all the while baffling them with jaw dropping magic. How jaw dropping? It’s magic you’ve never seen before, magic where racket balls appear suddenly, thoughts are read, cards appear in spectators’ pockets, and even water levitates. It’s magic that isn’t cheesy, comedy that isn’t blue, and a show that isn’t something you’re going to want to miss.

The show is playing Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Garbeau's Dinner Theatre on August 2nd, 9th, and 15th. See you there!

And my favorite...


Song(s) of the Day: Some of you might recognize Conor Oberst as the frontman from Bright Eyes (if you haven't heard "First Day of My Life" then you need to). Well, Oberst will be realeasing a self-titled album this August and all of his songs are streaming on his website. Also here's the press release:

Produced by Conor Oberst with the help of engineer and longtime associate Andy LeMaster, the album was recorded in Tepoztlán, Morales, Mexico. Creating a temporary studio in a mountain villa for a one-month period this winter, Conor and a tight-knit group of fellow musicians, who aptly call themselves The Mystic Valley Band, crafted a lush and beautiful record that evokes the deep sense of harmony in which they lived and worked during that month.

Enjoy!

Lots of Love and Magic,
Caitlin

Movie Making is Fun...Sometimes

Luckily, my first film experience has been nothing like this:


(From the set of I Heart Huckabees)

Song of the Day: "Nothing at All" by Wired All Wrong