The Genesis of Butterflies
The Genesis of Butterflies by Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885)
The dawn is smiling on the dew that covers
The tearful roses; lo, the little lovers
That kiss the buds, and all the flutterings
In jasmine bloom, and privet, of white wings,
That go and come, and fly, and peep and hide,
With muffled music, murmured far and wide.
Ah, the Spring time, when we think of all the lays
That dreamy lovers send to dreamy mays,
Of the fond hearts within a billet bound,
Of all the soft silk paper that pens wound,
The messages of love that mortals write
Filled with intoxication of delight,
Written in April and before the May time
Shredded and flown, playthings for the wind’s playtime,
We dream that all white butterflies above,
Who seek through clouds or waters souls to love,
And leave their lady mistress in despair,
To flit to flowers, as kinder and more fair,
Are but torn love-letters, that through the skies
Flutter, and float, and change to butterflies.
Image courtesy of mel!nka via Flickr
Tagged: Author, Fantasy, Favorite, Inspiration, Photography, Poems, Poet
The Best Badass Music of 2009
The year of 2009 is almost over and it’s time for me to list some of my favorite songs that came out this year. I could never list all my favorites because there is just so much great stuff so I chose 25 songs from different genres that I think are just fantabulous. From Silversun Pickups to Metric and from Eels to Neko Case, this mixtape has some of the greatest songs of 2009.
In no particular order, here is a mix of a tiny taste of my favorite tracks of 2009. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. As always, the full track listing is below.
Track listing:
This Tornado Loves You – Neko Case
Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Bulletproof – La Roux
My Love – The Bird and The Bee
I Can Transform Ya – Chris Brown feat. Lil’ Wayne & Swizz Beatz
Shine Blockas – Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane
Deadbeat Summer – Neon Indian
Stillness Is The Move – Dirty Projectors
Fallin’ For You – Colbie Caillat
Little Bird – Eels
Game of Diamonds – Deerhunter
Uprising – Muse
Show Stopper – Peaches
My Girls – Animal Collective
Help I’m Alive (Acoustic) – Metric
Catch And Release - Silversun Pickups
Cheerleader – Grizzly Bear
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
Heartbreak Warfare – John Mayer
Chasing Pirates – Norah Jones
Pretty Wings – Maxwell
Fireflies – Owl City
Haven’t Met You Yet – Michael Bublé
Cosmic Love – Florence And The Machine
Hyph Mngo – Joy Orbison
If you like any 0f the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.
Photo courtesy of Flickr via Benoit.P
Tagged: Alternative, Electronica, Favorite, Folk, Hip-Hop, Indie, Mix, Pop, R&B, Rap, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
United State of Pop (Viva La Pop)
I love me some mashups, and this mashup by DJ Earworm is a classic. He took the top 25 songs of 2008 according to Billboard and created one song. I’ve included the music video as well as the audio link if you just want to listen to it. Also incuded is the track listing of all songs in this kickass mashup.
United State of Pop by DJ Earworm
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Brain Farts All Around
So obviously I haven’t blogged in a while. Yeah, I don’t feel obligated to blog, but I have been having major brain farts about… well, everything lately. I’ve been feeling out of sorts and haven’t been able to do shit lately. I couldn’t decide what theme I liked, so I kept trying out different things. My regular readers will know that this is usual with me, but usually I know what I want and lately I haven’t. I do like this design so that is out of the way. For now…
I need to get back to working on my novel and I have a ton of books I need to read. I feel like I’ve been in some sort of funk and my head is finally clearing. It’s frustrating when you have so many things to do but don’t know what you want to do first or how you even want to go about it. I’ve been a bit down lately, too, so maybe that is it. Either way, hopefully this time I can get a firm grip on my head and pull it out of my ass and get my shit together. If I had a theme song, No Rain by Blind Melon would be it.
No Rain by Blind Melon
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L’homme 100 têtes
I really dug this video I found on Vimeo. I absolutely love the videos on their site!
For the contest ,« Transformation : Live-React », Julien Lassort and Matthieu Burlot explored the human face, the most exposed and personal part of the human body. Their dynamic portrayal of “1000 and one faces” is a mosaic of portraits and emotions that plays off of the power of faces seen close up. Julien Fargo composed the melody that encapsulates the film.
It’s pretty trippy and nicely done. Enjoy!
L’homme 100 têtes by JUL & MAT All rights reserved from JUL & MAT on Vimeo.
Pause
This is a pretty kickass video I found on Vimeo. It looks even better in HD.
Pause from Aaron Sjogren on Vimeo.
Groovin’ to Romain Laurent
Romain Laurent is an awesome photographer/artist. I like the different themes and concepts he uses in his images, and they go beyond just an ordinary image to become art. To check out more photos from Romain, check out his website.
Images Copyright Romain Laurent. Click images to enlarge.
Tagged: Art, Cool, Favorite, Inspiration, Photography
Defaced
I came across this video on Vimeo. It’s very cool and by the same guy that made the Changes video. This is what he had to say about the concept:
A short film exploring the relationship between art and corporate advertising in public space: “A man, trapped in the confines of a corporate poster, tries to escape and become part of the street art on the opposite wall. Although the street art is free, it is condemned and usually destroyed to make way for advertising, a risk he is willing to take to be with the stenciled girl on the other side.”
I hope you enjoy it!
DEFACED from LORCAN FINNEGAN on Vimeo.
W. H. Auden Quote
“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.” – W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
John Mayer
In case you haven’t noticed, John Mayer has been on the music scene for quite a while now. Since releasing his first album Room For Squares in 2001, he has shown what a great singer-songwriter he is and has gone on to release Heavier Things in 2003 and Continuum in 2006. While each album in itself is a wonderful gift to any music lover, Continuum shows how much he has grown throughout his career. I truly believe that he is going to be one of the current popular musicians that will be successful for the rest of their lives and remembered long after they are gone.
Another thing to love about John Mayer?
Mayer allows audio taping at most of his live performances, and he also allows for the non-commercial trading of those recordings. He does this to give fans the opportunity to recreate the live experience, and to encourage fan interaction.
It’s refreshing to allow fans to share your music and not focus on money like a lot of musicians. Sure, one could argue that by fans sharing music they are bringing him more fans, which means more money, but I believe that sharing music is a wonderful thing and should be encouraged by any musician who cares more about his art than his bank account.
I could list all the awards he has won, list all the collaborations he has done, etc., but I don’t need to do that. John Mayer’s work stands on it’s own and this fan is looking forward to more. Until then, I’ll keep listening to the beautiful songs he’s already bestowed upon us.
I’ve chosen 3 songs to include here for your listening pleasure. I’ve decided to skip over his first two albums and post two songs from Continuum and a delicious cover song that was not released on an album at all. I hope you enjoy the songs as much as I do. Keep reading after the jump for a special treat!
Gravity by John Mayer
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Slow Dancing In A Burning Room by John Mayer
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Free Fallin’ (a KICKASS acoustic cover of Tom Petty‘s famous hit)
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Tagged: Acoustic, Cover, Favorite, Live, Music Videos, Review, Singer-Songwriter, TV, YouTube
A Short Love Story
This is an awesome animated video with great effects! I love it!
A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.
Tagged: Animation, Favorite, Love, Stop Motion, Vimeo
Hi! My Name is Veronika!
I read the book Veronika Decides To Die by Paulo Coelho a few years ago after I was discussing my life with a friend and they said I reminded them of the lead character Veronika. I took them up on their advice and I am so grateful for it. It is a great book and if you are ever thinking that your life will never change or if you feel like life is just a bunch of nonsense, I totally recommend this book!
I completely related to the character and when I finished reading the book, I took something away from it. Below is an excerpt of the first chapter. If you can relate to this small part, read this book!
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