Calvin Klein's Ads

In this picture, a couple is portrayed holding each other. The sex appeal is strong, but it’s not as bad as something say like, Abercrombie and Fitch. The female is straddling the male, and she is shirtless, as is he. You can see the woman’s underwear, which says “Calvin Klein” on it, making it obvious what this ad is for. It’s not inappropriate, because it’s not showing anything but it might not be something that parents want their young children seeing. The partial nudity is hidden, but the implications aren't rated G. I don’t know the effectiveness of it, but judging from how popular of a brand Calvin Klein is, I would say that the sex appeal is pretty effective for them. Personally, I don’t really see this as an exaggerated attempt at pathos, but other people might see it that way. It is an attempt at pathos though, because it’s prying at the person’s sex appeal. Ads like this are trying to make people think, “If I wear this brand, girls will sit like that with me” and vice-versa. Do most people think that way? I doubt it. Rationally, people should know that members of the opposite sex won’t flock to them because they wear a certain brand. Advertisers like to make it seem that way, but everyone knows that won’t happen. A better example of this sort of ad is the ones for Axe body spray, because those are more exaggerated extremes of what this picture implies.

Analysis of Constellation

Like I mentioned in my last post, things like this piece take a lot of concentration, just because of the tedious nature that they invoke. Because this artist used letters, it makes me wonder how she decided which letters to put where, or if it was completely random in her choosing. The letters are so tiny, I imagine that it would be awfully time consuming, and the fact that the perspective is somewhat forced because it’s easier to tell what it is from far away makes me think so even more. I did like how where she wanted to show the blackness of the universe, she used masses of letters, and then when it came to the continents, it was less, and then islands became even less, and water became none. That showed amazing contrast, because this picture is solely black and white. Looking at this artist’s other works, she seems to favor black ink for everything and she also likes tiny things making a bigger picture. In another piece she used words instead of letters to create a spiral, but if you read the letters they don’t make much sense. Looking at both of the pictures from far away boggles my mind, because I would think to make that picture, the artist would have to see it from far away as well, but it doesn’t seem like they could do so. Unless perhaps they hung it up on the wall and went on the other side of the room, then perhaps they could do so.

(The image quality didn't save too well. If you click the above link you can see a very good smaller picture.)

Reflection of Constellation

This was amazing, because it made me see something that I didn’t see the first time I looked at it. Something like this would have taken immense concentration and I don’t think that I would be able to do it myself. The title “Constellation” threw me off a bit, because I see this as a quarter of the globe, not a section of stars like the title portrays. Other than that, there wasn’t anything else that I found interesting or cool. I used to take a lot of art classes in high school, and if I had more time, I would still be active in this area. This reminded me of something that I had to do for a beginning class, where we used multi-media, and then we had to use hatching and cross-hatching (hatching is like /// and cross-hatching is like making a lot of x’s) to make a picture. The teacher set up a still life, and we had to use that to portray an apple, a flag, a pear and a vase. It was one of the most challenging things I have done, but it was also one of the pictures I did that I was the most proud of. Making something such as this would be an amazing feat for me, because it just seems like it would take so much time, and could cause a lot of frustration.

Observation on Constellation

Constellation by Alice Attie, is a series of letters all meshed together to make a quarter of the globe. When it is up close you can’t tell what it is at all, because it all looks like a bunch of shapes made of letters. Once it is seen from a distance, it’s clear: It is indeed a globe, showing some parts of Europe, North America and North Africa. The left half is more than likely supposed to be the universe, a dark, black mass that comes from putting letters really close together showing little spaces for breathing. It progresses down into the North American areas, Canada and some of the United States, and some of Greenland, which are put together much more lightly, showing that they are separated from the blackened mass. At the same time this also displays that this is not supposed to be white, like the water. The one clear thing is Italy; the boot shape is very distinct in this picture, even when it is seen at a close angle. It does seem like Europe is very close to North America, but maybe it was meant to see it like you are looking at the area where Italy is, so you see North America off to the side, making it look a little closer than it actually is.

Reflective Essay; Dir en Grey in Colorado

It was freezing outside, no joke. When we arrived at the Gothic Theatre, about 3 pm on Friday, February 16, it was nice and sunny out, but that didn’t last. By the time it actually started snowing, the line was still fairly small, only about 50 people, but there were a lot of people (girls mostly) running around in tank tops and wanna-be gothic Lolita clothing. Last time Dir en Grey was here, it was so hot, probably about 80 degrees if not more, and now it was snowing. I had Jimmy’s coat and my hoodie, and I was shivering. After about an hour of standing around shivering, I begged my friend Jimmy to go buy us a blanket. Jimmy returned, and as Katie and I mused, he bought a huge comforter. All I could think about was how cold I was, but anticipation rushed through me as well.



They finally let us in at 7 pm. They searched us, which I didn’t get at first. As soon as we got in, Katie and I plopped down in some chairs behind the pit. Jimmy wasn’t happy with that, he looked up and noticed a balcony, where he dragged us up, and found stools that were about 10 feet away from the left side of the stage. Once everyone was let in, the anticipation rushed across the crowd again, we were going to get to see Dir en Grey. After sitting for what seemed like hours, the opening band Bleed the Dream came out. Their performance was actually pretty good, but it was weird that an American band was opening for a Japanese one. Then another band Fair to Midland came out, and I didn’t like them, the vocalist weirded me out because he kept drooling and making seizure like motions.

That band finished around 8:30, and more anticipation rushed across the small venue. My stomach started to churn, just like it did the last time I saw this band perform, and I felt like I was about to be sick. Thankfully that didn’t happen, and when the two main techs for Dir en Grey came out, the whole venue erupted with screams once again. They messed with the guitars and the bass, and it seemed like it took them hours. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. The song “G.D.S.” started to play, the opening song of every concert since the song was made, and the fans started to go wild again. The song chants “KILL, KILL, KILL” numerous times throughout it and some people chanted it too many times. After G.D.S. was over, they really started.

This particular day of the event was the vocalist’s, Kyo’s birthday. Between the songs “Mr. Newsman” and “Agitated Screams of Maggots,” the whole venue started to sing happy birthday to him. As soon as we started, Shinya slowed his drumming and Kyo just stood on the stage. As soon as people started to repeat it, starting over the song, the band started to go into “Agitated Screams of Maggots” which is so much better performed live. Kyo leaned over the audience and got a snarl on his face and flipped them off while the highly disturbing video played in the back round. Also, jumping back a little bit, I noticed during the song “The Final” that Kyo stopped singing his parts of the chorus and let us scream the song along with him. That song is the most amazing by far.



After Obscure ended, they left the stage, and I was downcast, thinking “That’s all they’re going to do?” Everyone else in the venue was going crazy, chanting “Dir en Grey” over and over again. It was only about five or six minutes later that Shinya reappeared, along with everyone else, and Kyo came last, a bit after the rest. During this last part of the show, I really wished that I had the guts to shove myself to the front of the mosh pit, because Toshiya, Die and Kaoru all got really close to the edge of the stage and started interacting with the audience. Kaoru did his trademark of putting his arms in the air and mouthing what looked like “WHAT?” and Toshiya spit water on the people underneath me a few times.

During “IllD Empire,” everyone screamed “Spark and Spark” along with Kyo, and then right before they started “Clever Sleazoid,” Kyo put one finger in the air and said “last song” into the microphone. After they finished, Kyo took a bucket of water and dumped it on his head, the buckets only word was “Rape.” During all this it was chaotic; all the fans were going nuts, again screaming “Dir en Grey” over and over again. It was really disappointing for me, because Die threw one of his guitar picks right at Jimmy, and he caught it, but then it fell. He and another guy behind me started to look for it on the floor and gave up. This was when I took my chance, and I found it. The guy who was looking earlier saw me looking and grabbed it right before I could get it. I wanted to kick him.



After that Katie and I headed to the merchandise booth, which was hell all over again. People were shoving and elbowing, not at all like how kind they were before the show started. Every time I told the lady what I would like, she told me the price right away and expected me to be done. That made me sad because I took a large amount of money out of my checking account for this concert, and all got was the shirt I wanted and a wrist band as well, but man, did I want to get my hands on a couple of those cds.

It was still snowing when we got out, about 10:30, and Jimmy found Katie and me when we came out of the hot theatre. Outside, I saw an ambulance and wondered if that was what all the chaos and screaming was about. We were all screaming because we couldn’t hear, being so close to the stage made our ears ring like crazy so I’m sure we got a lot of weird looks walking down Broadway back to Jimmy’s car. Then Jimmy asked the question, “That bassist, what’s his name?” Toshiya, I replied without missing a beat. “He’s really hot, even I’d do him.” That got Katie going as well, because during the performance she told me she’d fallen in love with the drummer. She said something similar, and I just kept walking, excited to have gotten to see them again. All those songs are so much more amazing performed live, but Dir en Grey is an amazing band to see. Shinya’s drumming and Toshiya’s bass mesh so well together and then they’re also nothing without Kaoru and Die’s guitars, and they’re nothing without Kyo’s vocals. I would probably drop dead at the chance to meet them (again, because I got to meet Kaoru and Toshiya at the last concert.) This time, though, I wasn’t that lucky.

Freewrite; My Fat Cat

My cat, his name is Adam and he has got to be one of the puffiest cats I have ever seen in my life. He weighs about 20 pounds, on a good day, and sometimes he can be more annoying than my little brother.

We got him when he was a year old, about three years ago, from Petsmart. Now, instead of cowering away from people like he used to, he trots up to the front door any time it’s opened. He loves to go outside, but as part of our contract with Petsmart we couldn’t let him be an outdoor cat… so instead he has a harness and a leash. It’s really odd to see a cat being walked on a leash and I really wish that I had some pictures of it.

All of my friends say that he’s an adorable cat, and one of my friends from high school told off another kid because he was saying things about how fat he is. She said “Shut up! Her cat’s adorable!” Oh if only she knew how bad things can get. I’m in the process of learning how to construct clothing and I have a whole table in the back of my family room devoted to it. This is where I keep my sewing machine, my pins, scissors, thread, and everything else that I might need. This is also where Adam has a field day, because of all the thread that’s on rolls. Once he gets wired up on catnip, he jumps up onto my table, scattering thread, knocking over the pin cushions, and generally making a mess of everything that I have laid out. Just last night, he knocked over my newest project, the top part of a dress (which I failed at making my own pattern to) and ripped some of the older patterns I had sitting out. This morning, as I was looking at the dress shirt patterns I have, he came and pounced on the thin paper, which wrinkled and tore some of it.

Cute. Okay, if you say so.

Another tendency that everyone thinks odd of Adam is cleaning up. Let’s face it; he throws up, a lot. It’s quite an annoyance, because guess who has to clean it up most of the time? Yet, he makes it easier, because after he vomits, he paws at it, pulling it all into a little pile. While this experience is still revolting, he makes it a little easier by doing that, and it’s also something that’s very odd. No one else I have talked to has told me their cats do that. So, yeah he is interesting, and he is cute. But he is also annoying, and a little brat.

Costumes for the Famous...

In this picture, we used Red [EM] dye for the hair, while the hair stylist had a hard time because of the hair length, it turned out very wonderfully. The complaints about how long it took were dismissed after the final result came about, but then there was the make-up to worry about. After that was all finished, the costume came on. Hand made, out of nylon and leather, this particular outfit took days of work to make. It had to be lined because the model’s allergy to nylon, and that made it take even longer to make. The final touches to the outfit consisted of adding studs to it, which looks easy, but it’s a really long, complicated process. The tedious nature of studding the outfit added on about a day’s length of work alone, but when it came to the making of the mask, nothing compared to it. After much complaining from Die (model shown, guitarist in band Dir en Grey) the mask fit him how he wanted it. It had to be made five to six different times to make him happy about it, but in the end it was all worth the effort. The mask is made of the same material, and that too, had to be lined over and over again as to not make his allergy act up. Replacing the studs on the mask was not an easy task either, because of the patterns that they were wanted in, they had to be removed every time.