March 2013 ~ Domestic Sanity

Friday, March 29, 2013

Movie Review - The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (2006)

8:13 AM host club, movie, osaka, review, the great happiness space, three and a half stars No comments

"We sell dreams. That's our job."

Issei is the owner and host of the escort business in Rakkyo Café. At the young age of 22, he and a handful of other young men dress themselves in high fashion and create the illusion of a relationship to any woman that pays. The Great Happiness Space is a documentary not only about the manipulation of emotions for monetary gain, but exposes the raw need within all humanity to be loved.

Watching this film is like walking into a totally alternate reality in context to Western culture. In Osaka, the men that are found to be most attractive have extremely soft features, accompanied by some light make up and perfectly styled hair. Some would say they appear feminine or androgynous. Along with the superficial observations, it is the women here who ultimately pursue the men inside this underground male escort business.

These male hosts can make from $10,000 - $50,000 a month in this service, but it definitely comes at a high price. Increasing income is totally dependent on the amount of products purchased, namely champagne bottles. The hosts shower their attention to the customer who orders the most, and in turn other women get jealous and start buying more bottles. Each host ends the night with a lot of money, but the greater the purse, the worst the liver damage. Issei speaks of drinking up to 10 bottles of champagne in one night. Sometimes he vomits and drinks in a cycle, preserving the fantasy by constantly acting interested and excited to be with these women. He has even seen some guys throwing up blood.

There is a constant manipulation not only in the hosts for money, but in the women who spend it. The lack of trust involved in both parties results in numerous amounts of mind games with the hosts and themselves. Many of the women regulars know the money keeps the men around, but hold on to the hope that someday they will get together outside of the service. The hosts string these women along for years, and the men themselves start to grow apathetic and depressed. When asked about falling in love, both the men and women want the same thing. The irony of the situation is that both parties cannot picture relationships without the exchange of money.

The Great Happiness Space is available for stream on Youtube, Netflix, and Youku.

Runtime: 76 min.

Unrated.

Punctuation that we should have

7:32 AM funny, new punctuation, sarcastises No comments

College Humor has done it again. With these new marks, we no longer need emoticons to express our emotions! We can be clear without having to come up with symboled faces that don't make sense...

Want them apart of your life? Download here!!

Malala Yousafzai

10:54 AM 16 years old, inspiration, malala yousafzai, nobel peace prize, people, shot, world education No comments

The jist of it:

Malala Yousafzai - At 11, wrote for BBC. At 14, was shot and started a worldwide children education movement. At 15, youngest Nobel Peace Prize nominee in history. At 16, honored as one of 2012's bravest women.

I got a little more time:

At 12 years old Malala first got attention when she used a psuedonym to write in a BBC blog. She described life under Taliban rule and promoted education for girls. With new exposure, New York Times did a documentary on her, she gave many interviews, and even became a chairperson for District Child Assembly Swat( "a unique opportunity for young people to voice their concerns about child right's issues, and to present solutions to address these concerns".)With her voice becoming more vocal on girl's rights in education, the Taliban decided to retaliate.

On October 9, 2012, now 14, an assassin boarded Malala's school bus. She was shot in the head and neck, but that is not enough to stop the young advocate. She returns back to a new school in the UK filled with excitement even though the threat of assasination still lingers.

During the five months, Malala's dream comes true. British Prime minister launched a United Nations petitions, using slogan "I am Malala", to demand that all children around the world be in school by the end of 2015.

On April 4 and 5 Angelina Jolie will honor Malala as one of 2012's bravest women.

What she is most excited about learning in school?
“I want to learn how to bring change in this world.”

Malala, you put us all to shame.

Bubble Wrap + Paint = Photorealistic Art

9:00 AM art, bradley hart, bubble wrap, needle injected, painting, photoreaslitic, pixelated No comments

Oh the wonders of bubble wrap! You are more than packaging. For the common man, it can be the greatest medicine to end bordom, stress, and anger. But for Bradley Hart, bubble wrap is a canvas for large pixelated painting.

The Process: He injects each bubble, one by one, with acrylic paint.

The air inside each bubble has to be equally displaced with the paint. So there are two holes created. One for injection and the other to release air and any overflow of paint. As a result, an impression of the bubble wrap painting is created.

His art is currently exibiting at gallery nine5 in NY from March 6 - 29

OWLLE

8:06 AM bat for lashes, dreampop, florence and the machine, indie, lykki li, music, new artist, owlle No comments

OWLLE
Originally from France.
Dreampop.
Head boppin.

Give her a listen.

Want more? Soundcloud.

Similar artist: Florence and the Machine. Lykki Li. Bat for Lashes.

Movie Review - Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

7:41 PM al pacino, alec baldwin, glengarry glen ross, kevin spacey, movie, review, three and a half stars No comments

David Mamet's Pulitzer winning play is expanded in this superb adaptation led by the strong leads of Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, and Kevin Spacey. Hard times fall on a Chicago based real estate company. The salesman are placed in a contest to sell the most and win a Cadillac, get second place and win steak knives, or fall last and lose a job. Glengarry Glen Ross encapsulates how cutthroat, manipulative and dishonest the sales environment can be.

This film is pumping with heavy testosterone (as most of Mamet's work is). Men eat each other alive to stay in the game. Without useful leads to follow, the only option these men consider is finding the best way they can screw each other over to get the upper hand. There is only one rule in this world, and that is to sell no matter what.

Alec Baldwin gives one of his most powerful and convincing performances as Blake, an alpha salesman who delivers the news that the lowest man in sales gets the boot.

"A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing! Always be closing! A-I-D-A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. Attention -- do I have your attention? Interest -- are you interested? I know you are 'cause it's fuck or walk. You close, or you hit the bricks! Decision -- have you made your decision for Christ?!! And action. A-I-D-A. Get out there!! You got the prospects coming in. You think they came in to get outta the rain? A guy don't walk on the lot lest he wants to buy. Sitting out there waiting to give you their money! Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?"

-Blake