Really Minnelli

Content Warning: Violence, Anti Semitism and Adult Themes Art Speigleman’s Maus is an artfully crafted story where he recreates his father’s Holocaust (or the Shoah in Hebrew) experience. Having won a Pulitzer Prize, this comic portrays the brutality of Nazi regime with the use of mice, cats, pigs and dogs, a visual manifestation of Speigleman’s quote “Maybe vulgar, semiliterate, unsubtle comic books are an appropriate form for speaking of the unspeakable.” The Complete Maus is comprised of two books; Maus I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began . The first book follows Vladek Spiegleman, Art Spiegleman’s father, through his life from the mid 1930s to winter 1944. Spiegleman weaves the interactions he has with his father into the story using a dual timeline, allowing readers to interact with Vladek’s younger self and the person he is at the time of conveying the story to Spiegleman. This alternation between current events, where Spiegleman is interacting ...

 I'm creating a website! It's still cooking, but once it is up you should be able to see it through the links I've scattered all over this page, like this one here . I made a list of four processes and broke down scary and intimidating language that you might come across when creating a website. These are some that really scared me and made me procrastinate about getting started, but I have explained them to the best of my ability, so they don't scare you too. I know money is also a big deal if you are like most students, so I have taken the pains to explain pricing as well, you're welcome. Setting Up Buying a Domain SSL - Secure Sockets Layer How Much Is All This? - Payments and Overall Costs First off, you might be wondering why you need to create a website, and as a STUDENT? Like isn't uni already hard enough? It is, but getting your voice out there is just as important, especially if you are a creator! If you feel overwhelmed already, don't worry, skim t...

Story time! Yesterday, I had to head to university for the training program I spoke about in one of my previous blog posts: Updates from the Past Year . If you don't want to read that, I am most definitely judging you, but I also will still give you a breakdown of the role because I'm not a jerk (and I also think you're kinda cool). I was admitted into this wonderful program at uni where we will be explaining pathways into university to Year 7 students that come from low socio-economic backgrounds. My role is called "Equity Ambassador" and we were asked to come in for a training session at university, and man did I get lost. It's not funny. I don't know about your experience with Google Maps, but if you're going like "oh no" in your head right now, yeah you know what I'm on about. Google Maps has this tendency to make you take the longest, most unnecessary routes ever, and my university is big enough for you to use Maps inside. It's s...

I have been thinking of publishing a book I wrote when I was back in 8th grade for a school assignment. I think it turned out pretty well for a 12 year old's piece of work, albeit a little cringey, it's still cute and a solid piece of work. Or at least I think. I have been wanting to publish it for quite some time now, but my intense fear of being judged held me back. I even wanted to illustrate it, but I never did, because I never thought I would ever be able to deal with the criticism.  Recently, I have been thinking about my career, and I came to the realisation that I actually have done quite some good work, and I really, really like writing, but I have almost nothing to show for it. I felt like a hypochondriac with pneumonia. I could say I love writing. But people won't believe me. So I decided, to hell with anxiety, I'm going to put myself out there and actually work on publishing my book. If it turns out sucky, I can blame it on my younger self (I'm sorry lit...

Hello again! This is part 2 to my previous blog post:  Part 1 . I have been trying to break into social media, like I said before, but it is proving to be particularly hard. A reel I made recently made 3k views and I now have a 6.7k reach, most of whom are non-followers, so that is a win. If all these words are hurting your brain, don't worry, I'll break them down for you. Reach is where your content "reaches" people, regardless of whether they are following you or not. This could be through hashtags, through the explore page or trending audio, etc. Although it can be a little discouraging at times, I guess it's all about consistency.  I also tutor on the side, and I recently got my Working With Children Check, which is like a license to work with children in Australia. Since I will be starting a new temp job at uni (I'm so hyped!) next week at uni where I will primarily be working with children, the WWCC will come in handy. I'm super exited about this job...

 Hello everyone! It's been a minute since I have posted anything here, and I'll tell you why in a sec. There is a Part 2 for this post that shouldn't be too hard to find, and if this sort of thing is boring for you, skip, skip, skip. Nobody is forcing you to read, but I definitely am judging you. I have been working on a lot of projects, and most of all, I moved to Sydney and started uni! I just completed my first year at university, and I am excited to be starting my second year in a couple weeks. Taking a double major in English and Psychology proved to be way more challenging than anticipated, but I really am enjoying my course. A lot of people ask me why I am studying English and Psychology, and someone even asked me what I can do with a degree in English, and the answer is, a lot more than you think! Go Google it. Like please.  Writing has always appealed to me, and I have attempted to write a book more times than I can count, and I have been as early as 5 years old! N...

  Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet is widely considered one of the best adaptations to date, and he is regarded as the best Shakespearean actor in many circles. Although the play does feature a few comedic scenes, overall it has, quite fittingly, a very dull and melancholy theme to it. Death and afterlife in Olivier’s Hamlet is presented with uncertainty which is portrayed through Hamlet’s indecisiveness. In the famous “To be, or not to be” scene, Olivier (Hamlet) watches over waves crashing violently on some rocks beneath him from the top of the ramparts, where he considers suicide as he draws out a dagger, but decides against it as he seems to fear “…in that sleep of death what dreams may come”. It seems as if Hamlet is weary of life, but fears what may come after, which proves to be the deciding factor in him choosing to live. This theme of uncertainty of what happens after death seems to recur throughout the play. Another instance where Hamlet is bothered by this doubt is when he c...

Director's Notebook   The play featured in the video is an amateur production of Hamlet, of Act 1 Scene 4. The opening scene shows Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus standing in silence on a minimalistic set, on watch for the Ghost King. The Ghost appears a few minutes into the clip, and only a few features are discernible because of the dim lighting and eerily swirling smoke, causing the trio to panic. The Ghost’s appearance has intentionally been given an air of mystery, so as to create a sense of tension and uncertainty among the audience, as this is one of the most important turning points in the plot. Although on watch, the group seem to be at ease before the Ghost appears. The speech is casual; however, at the appearance of the Ghost, the atmosphere of the scene changes instantly and dramatically. Horatio cries out in surprise and grabs Hamlet’s shoulder to point in the direction of the approaching apparition. Soon after, Hamlet addresses the Ghost in a frightened and waver...

 Thank you for clicking on this post - it means so much to me. And yes, I know I could've been a little more comprehensive when titling this ("Art Shop!" isn't much), but whatever came to mind sounded too cheesy so I just gave up.  I have been running two art shops on the Threadless and Redbubble platforms for about a year, and although the sales I make aren't many, I really do enjoy the occasional purchase people make. I just wanted to put it up here as well, because creating art is something I really am passionate about and would like to share it with you. Below you'll find links to my Redbubble and Threadless shops. Have fun browsing and stay safe! Threadless Shop Link

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion seems to feature ideas ranging from the distant past like classicism, to more recent ones, such as Industrial Neoclassicism. Classicism is the style of the ancients, or the ancient Greeks and Romans, of which the Greek temple or the temple in general is considered the paradigm. Industrial Neoclassicism is a term coined by Peter Behrens to describe reduced and abstracted architecture, that became increasingly popular during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mies seems to have shared a passion for exploring how Industrial Neoclassicism could manifest itself better in modern buildings, a venture that Behrens, whom he worked with, had taken interest in himself. The combination of glass, steel and stone create dramatic contrasts and comparisons between the materials and the structures they create. The glass creates a sense of seamlessness while the stone seems to assert dominance. While glass and steel have been used extensively to ornament th...

  The pied-à-terre has four floors: the ground floor and three levels. The ground floor has two small lawns at the front and back, a car park, utility room and a staircase leading up to level 1. Level 1 comprises of three bedrooms and two baths. The rooms are located in such a way that light would enter through the elongated windows into the rooms and hallway, each room would have enough privacy and also with an inverted arrangement, like Garches. Moving through the floor, another staircase is visible at the end, which leads up to Level 2. This floor has all the living spaces combined into one room, except for the toilet room which is cut off from the rest of the floor. Level 2 also has a small balcony that is accessible from the living area. Next to the toilet room is the last staircase that leads up to the roof terrace. This plan has been constructed in the manner of Corbusier by applying the Five Points of Architecture; the pilotis, free plan, ribbon window, free facade and the ...

The Code Of Honor—A Duel in the Bois De Boulogne, Near Paris , wood-engraving after  Godefroy Durand ,  Harper's Weekly  (January 1875). Image from Wikipedia. The gentleman’s duel is an arrangement between two people where they engage in combat with matched weapons. This practice was particularly common during the 17th and 18th centuries, where the opponents faced each other in the event where one of the two parties had offended the other. The two parties would duel although it was most likely that both would survive in the end, as it was mostly considered a symbol of risking one’s life to restore honour to both parties. In The Twelfth Night, Viola, who is disguised as a man who goes by the name Cesario, has to face Sir Andrew in a duel, and before the duel Sir Toby Belch gives Sir Andrew advice by saying “so soon as ever thou seest him, draw; and, as thou drawest swear horrible; for it comes to pass oft that a terrible oath, with a swaggering accent sharply twanged off, ...

Othello. Image from Wikipedia. Othello was a play written by Shakespeare presumably in the years 1603 and 1604, during which a peace treaty was signed between England and Spain. This might have brought about the memory of the War of Cyprus that occurred when Shakespeare was much younger, inspiring him to write a play set in Venice around the time of this war. Othello was a Moor that Shakespeare portrayed as a kind, brave and charismatic character, contrary to the common belief at the time where people usually saw Black Moors in rather disdainful light. In Act 1 Scene 3 of Othello, Iago tries to humiliate Othello in front of the Duke and judges by exposing Desdemona’s marriage to Othello, which was carried out without the consent of Brabantio. Previously, Iago and Roderigo wake Brabantio up and break the news of his daughter’s elopement “to the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor”, giving Brabantio the impression that she has been forced to wed. Othello arrives and agrees to settle the ...

Portrait of William Shakespeare. Image from Wikipedia.   Knowing a fair amount about Shakespeare’s life would help in understanding his plays better, and could even give you an entirely different perspective to them. In addition to that, you might even learn about the culture and the ways of society at that time. Happenings in Shakespeare’s life might have caused him to put them in his stories. Shakespeare bringing back people from the dead could mean that he had lost someone that he cared for (possibly his son, Hamnet) that he wanted to bring back, and since he couldn't, he let his imagination run free, and make the impossible only seemingly impossible in his world. So, Shakespeare bringing back someone from the dead in his plays could signify an important turning point in the storyline. Shakespeare might have been intrigued or amused by the Roman story, Menaechmi, which could have led him to write a very similar story that he called The Comedy of Errors. The two stories are so...