During his recent visit here (photos1, photos2, description), Fabián Salas turned me on to some new music. The group \”Bajofondo\” creates modern techno-tango-trance by mixing electronic beats with some tango samples and instrumentation to create some wonderful combinations. It\’s a little better defined, and a little more tango, than the more popular Gotan Project (the song that everyone knows is titled \”Santa Maria\”). Gotan Project is very easy to find on the kazaa network (use Kazaa Lite if you don\’t already do so, no spyware!) and can be purchased on Amazon by clicking below. I\’m poking around for Bajofondo.
Archive for May, 2003
Bajofondo
Thursday, May 15th, 2003Mixing a Successful \”film\”
Tuesday, May 13th, 2003Coincidentally enough, this article shows some recent conclusions by some researcher claiming to have found the perfect mix of elements to make a \”perfect\” (read: popular) film.
Quote: \”Her research has revealed that the blueprint for a perfect feature must have: action 30pc, comedy 17pc, good v evil 13pc, love/sex/romance 12pc, special effects 10pc, plot 10pc and music 8pc.\”
So, increase the music, and probably drop the special effects (glow in the dark follower, whoo-hoo) and do you think you might have a \”perfect\” tango?
On \”Drama\”
Tuesday, May 13th, 2003A few weeks ago, a student asked about learning the \”dramatic stuff\” in tango. It\’s not an unusual idea, since tango is frequently perceived on stage and screen as a drama in itself. The problem is that in tango, audiences have lost a sense of the difference between \”drama\” and \”action.\” The distinction isn\’t much different than the distinction we make in films. Lots of leg action, lifts, spins, hooks, kicks, blowing shit up – these simply represent action. Drama requires timing, anticipation, build-up, intensity, an array of human emotion, and of course, PAUSES. Sure, the most exciting films and tangos to watch will combine both action and drama, but one can still tell the difference between Rambo and Rain Man.
[note: I\'m sure there\'s a better comparison pair, but I can\'t think of it right now. if you think of some, leave them in the comments. Rules: give me the titles of two similar-sounding films starting with the same letter where one is a drama and the other an action film.]
New Site Features
Saturday, May 10th, 2003For those that care about this sort of thing…
The main site has now been converted to a full CSS layout (tableless, except for the upcoming events listing). The pages are all generated with PHP off a MySQL db. For convenience and power, I\’m using two other great site tools. The Gallery is being generated with PHP Gallery and this blog is being managed through the MovableType blogging system. Take a peek at the images in the gallery (hi-res images will only be available for galleries for limited times). Visit the fliers gallery so you can download, print and distribute fliers to your friends and colleagues. Don\’t forget to come back to visit this blog area – I\’m finally ready to start using it!