Blog Archives
Happy Monday
Spring is known as the season of rebirth. Monday, therefore, could be defined as the day of the week for rebirth.
In other words, Mondays seem like a perfect occurrence to hit an internal reset button from the now past week and weekend. To put a finer tip on it, each Monday provides us the unique opportunity to be something we weren’t during the prior days that we wish we were…that we wish we could be.
However, before we make any drastic changes to our lives, it’s important to rediscover our origin story, of sorts. What is our true character? Purpose? Drive? This way, we may better understand the place(s) we really want to go, literally and metaphorically.
Here’s an origin story for the ages that should inspire grand adventures as large as a house perfectly located on the banks of West Egg.
The source of J. Gatsby’s money aside (we all know that side of the story), the relentless ambition of one of the most famous literary characters is undeniable.
And admirable.
Perhaps, admirable extraordinary…?
(Bonus points for those who remember that 2013 cinematic reference)
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
The Virtual Reality of Our Dreams
How different is virtual reality from dreaming?
Expanding on yesterday’s blog post (“What Will Be Your Spinning Top?”), a primary rationale for trying virtual reality is escapism. The same goes for movies, TV, music, art, vacationing, etc. Escapism is powerful. Escapism is an amazing thing. In realizing so, virtual reality (VR) can take this universal dreamlike pursuit and characteristic of virtually everybody in the world and capitalize on this frequent need and want to explore and immerse ourselves into all sorts of places, real and imagined. It’s not far-fetched to speculate the world we live in today, on planet Earth day-to-day, could become just the ground level of myriad worlds and realities, customized by the individual.
One of the connections made in “What Will Be Your Spinning Top?” was between VR and the movie Inception. While I am in no way predicting a shot-for-shot vision of the film for the evolving technology of VR, I do believe there is an argument to be made that VR will feel more like an indistinguishable dream than a static experience standing in the middle of a Best Buy aisle.
With a headset, of course.
Take a visual ride into what I’m talking about.
Accomplishing something in five minutes that usually takes an hour? Not such a bad reality.
Or dream-like world?
Or reality…?
Hugh’s Glass Was Famously Half Full
With the weather still cold (well, it is winter after all) and snow flakes falling here and there, one sound keeps floating to the front of my mind.
Along with an image of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Let me explain.
The Revenant, which premiered in theaters back in late 2015, took audiences on an epic tale of a remarkable true story of Hugh Glass (played by Mr. DiCaprio) who is left for dead in 1823, yet fights for his life in the freezing, punishing conditions of the wilderness of the American west. Equipped with essentially nothing but his know-how and relentless grit, the movie spotlights the wonder of nature, as well as the crutch and handicap of solitude.
For some reason, the short theme music from The Revenant remains a distinctly mysterious and intriguing orchestral piece. As such, the music provides a rare few minutes to pause from bracing with the chilly weather and our lives to simply reflect. On what, exactly? That’s purely your call. However, we occasionally need time to take a break (and then break off a piece of a Kit Kat bar) to allow things to settle in and just be for a few moments.
Revenant is defined as, “a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.” Maybe the music above has allowed you to return (or figure out the next step) from a dead end or deep struggle you’ve been having.
Or, perhaps the music and image from the video is a reminder to check how days it is until spring arrives.
Either way, fair enough.
Happy Monday!
Last night was the 2016 Mad Max Awards Oscars.
Let’s get to the main event of the night:
Leonardo DiCaprio won his Academy Award for Best Actor for The Revenant. As a favorite among moviegoers from his earliest acting in This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (both 1993), the clock has been running to when he would hold that legacy-defining golden statue. Twenty-three years after the aforementioned films and Leo struck gold.
The following scene best sums up Leo’s moment.
You could say he’s officially the king of the world (real and imaginary).
Have a Great Week!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 