(500) Days of Summer

 

This is not a love story. This is a story about love.

 

I am usually a sucker for chick flicks and sad and girly Hollywood movies, but I enjoy watching independent films from time to time, such as Ruby Sparks a couple months ago which is such a cute movie (and if it is still playing where you live, seriously, go see it) and (500) Days of Summer. I've seen the latter about three or four times and I love it.

(500) Days of Summer is an American comedy/drama that came out in 2009. Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, it was directed by Marc Webb and produced by Mark Waters. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play the main characters. The film received and was nominated for plenty of awards when it first came out.

 

The film does not follow a linear narrative structure, it follows the mind of the main protagonist, Tom Hansen, who remembers the 500 days he spent being in love with Summer Finn. From the very beginning, Summer tells him she does not want a serious relationship, but Tom still falls in love with her, being the hopeless romantic that he is.

 

First of all, I love this movie for the great music. It is definitely my favorite movie soundtrack of all time (except for musicals, of course). Check out the list of songs here. I like the fact that, this time, it is the girl that does not care about being in love and the boy tries to change her mind. The photography of the movie is also perfect. There are some of my favorite scenes of all times in this movie. One is the scene in the Ikea, the other is one of the most famous moments of the movie, when Tom sees Summer again after a while and goes to her appartment, the screen is divided in two parts: his expectations / reality. I think it is done so beautifully and it goes perfectly with the style of the movie.

 

Seriously, watch this movie. If it is not for the story or the actors (Zooey Deschanel is perfect), do it for the beauty of the movie. And I leave you with the trailer and my favorite moment of the movie, and a couple of pictures. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

"Coup de Coeur" of the Week #15

 

This man is a legend. I dare you to watch this video

and not smile from ear to ear, it's impossible. He is perfect.

Chocolate and Almond Cake

Having to cook every night for my own survival, I had forgotten how much fun baking was. I am invited to eat brunch tomorrow with some Erasmus friends, so I decided to bring a chocolate cake. I looked around on the Internet for recipes and I ended up using a bit of every recipe and making my own. And on top of that, getting to bake with my roommate was just a lot of fun, especially with the cake baking in a very weird shape. Enjoy this very simple recipe!

 

Ingredients

200g of chocolate (dark, preferably)

125g of butter

125g of sugar

80g of flour

+/- 50g of powdered almonds

6 eggs

 

Preheat the oven at 180°C (thermostat 6; 350°F). Melt the chocolate with the butter. Add the sugar, then the powdered almonds and the flour. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing the dough between each egg. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

 

Soneto de Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola

Si quiere Amor que siga sus antojos

y a sus hierros de nuevo rinda el cuello;
que por ídolo adore un rostro bello
y que vistan su templo mis despojos,
la flaca luz renueve de mis ojos,
restituya a mi frente su cabello,
a mis labios la rosa y primer vello,
que ya pendiente y yerto es dos manojos.
Y entonces, como sierpe renovada,
a la puerta de Filis inclemente
resistiré a la lluvia y a los vientos.
Mas si no ha de volver la edad pasada,
y todo con la edad es diferente,
¿por qué no lo han de ser mis pensamientos?

"Coup de Coeur" of the Week #14

 

This video is hilarious, and answers, quite convincingly,

a question we've all asked ourselves. Enjoy!

Maya Angelou's Inaugural Poem (1993)

A Rock, A River, A Tree

Hosts to species long since departed,

Marked the mastodon.

The dinosaur, who left dry tokens

Of their sojourn here

On our planet floor,

Any broad alarm of their hastening doom

Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages. 

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,

Come, you may stand upon my

Back and face your distant destiny,

But seek no haven in my shadow. 

I will give you no more hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than

The angels, have crouched too long in

The bruising darkness,

Have lain too long

Face down in ignorance. 

Your mouths spilling words

Armed for slaughter.  

The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me,

But do not hide your face. 

Across the wall of the world,

A River sings a beautiful song,

Come rest here by my side. 

Each of you a bordered country,

Delicate and strangely made proud,

Yet thrusting perpetually under siege. 

Your armed struggles for profit

Have left collars of waste upon

My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.

Yet, today I call you to my riverside,

If you will study war no more. Come, 

Clad in peace and I will sing the songs

The Creator gave to me when I and the

Tree and the stone were one. 

Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your

Brow and when you yet knew you still

Knew nothing. 

The River sings and sings on. 

There is a true yearning to respond to

The singing River and the wise Rock. 

So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew

The African and Native American, the Sioux,

The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek

The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,

The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,

The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.

They hear. They all hear

The speaking of the Tree. 

Today, the first and last of every Tree

Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River. 

Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River.  

Each of you, descendant of some passed

On traveller, has been paid for.  

You, who gave me my first name, you

Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, you

Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then

Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of

Other seekers –desperate for gain,

Starving for gold.  

You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot …

You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought

Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare

Praying for a dream. 

Here, root yourselves beside me.  

I am the Tree planted by the River,

Which will not be moved.  

I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree

I am yours –your Passages have been paid.  

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need

For this bright morning dawning for you. 

History, despite its wrenching pain,

Cannot be unlived, and if faced

With courage, need not be lived again.  

Lift up your eyes upon

The day breaking for you.  

Give birth again

To the dream. 

Women, children, men,

Take it into the palms of your hands. 

Mold it into the shape of your most

Private need. Sculpt it into

The image of your most public self.

Lift up your hearts

Each new hour holds new chances

For new beginnings.  

Do not be wedded forever

To fear, yoked eternally

To brutishness.  

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place new steps of change.

Here, on the pulse of this fine day

You may have the courage

To look up and out upon me, the

Rock, the River, the Tree, your country. 

No less to Midas than the mendicant.  

No less to you now than the mastodon then. 

Here on the pulse of this fine day

You may have the grace to look up and out

And into your sister’s eyes, into

Your brother’s face, your country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

Good morning.

Idina Menzel

 

The first time I ever heard of Idina Menzel was when I was in Mississippi. We had gone to see Wicked in New York City, and we watched the dvd of RENT over and over again. When I came back, it seemed to me that everytime I liked a new musical (new for me), Idina Menzel was in it. She quickly became my favorite Broadway actress (I say Broadway, because I have favorite West End actors as well...).

 

Idina Menzel is an American actress and singer from New York City. She was born on May 30, 1971. She was first a wedding and bar-mitzvah singer and she graduated from the Tish School of the Arts (NYU). Her Broadway debut was in RENT in 1995, written by Jonathan Larson (see my other article on this wonderful musical here), she originated the role of Maureen Johnson, which she later played in the movie version of the play. She was nominated for the Tony of Best Featured Actress in a Musical for this role.

 

 

She then worked on some personal music and was in other musicals such as The Wild Party, Aida and Chess, but the one that stuck out the most was in 2003: Wicked, written  by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. Idina originated the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Kristin Chenoweth, and she then  won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. She later reprised her role in the London production of Wicked in 2006.

 

 

Idina also appeared in movies such as Enchanted and tv shows such as Glee (playing Rachel's mom, Shelby Corcoran, and it was known long before she even came on Glee how much Idina and Lea Michele look alike).

 

She married the actor Taye Diggs on January 11, 2003 (one day after my birthday!). He is also an actor, they met during RENT, but you all might know him as Sam on Private Practice. They have a cute son together, named Walker Nathaniel Diggs who is 3 years old.

 

 

I wanted to share with you the amazingness that is Idina Menzel, so here are a bunch of videos of her singing. This woman is beautiful and has one of the best voices I have ever heard and, having gone to her concert last week, I know that she is really nice and hilarious. It was definitely not a bad evening, her voice is even better live and she kept making jokes and laughing, she is really great. I had the amazing opportunity of meeting her after her concert, I got a great hug and she told me "You're so pretty". I am still not over this. I met my idol and inspiration. If you want to see pictures of this: here and here, or my Facebook album for more pictures of the concert.

 

I hope you will all love her and her singing as much as I do. Enjoy!