Darkness

      What's up homies!!
      It's been a few days since I have written here. In those few days, I've been busy with school work and having crazy times with friends. It's been good, though we have reached midterm week and that means...Music Theory cramming. At least I'm getting stuff done today. My friend Gladys and I went to Evanston to have a homework intensive, and it proved (actually) pretty damn productive. Caught up with some music theory and such, so that was good and read a bit of Les Miserables. Great book so far, but just long as hell. I'm on page 114 out of, what, 1430 pages I believe. I plan on finishing it though. At LEAST before the semester ends. I wish I had more time to work on personal projects and reading leisurely and such instead of worrying about homework. It's starting to get really frustrating...oh well.

      In the mist of all this, I finally got to see the movie "Black Swan", directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, and Barbara Hershey. If you didn't know, Natalie Portman recently won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this film, and I believe she deserved it. I've wanted to see this film for awhile, and am glad I finally got the chance to see it. The film is about a dancer, Nina (Natalie Portman) who is a dancer who lives with her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey). She is offered the role of the white swan in the ballet Swan Lake, being directed to the hardcore ballet director Thomas (played by Vincent Cassel). Though Nina is perfect for the White Swan, she also has to play the Black Swan, which she has a hard time tapping into, since the part is more of a darker side than she appears to have. Yet throughout the film, we witness how she goes about preparing for the role and her competition between the other dancer perfect for the Black Swan, Lily (played by Mila Kunis). The acting in this film is superb and the whole film is dark and gets pretty creepy, which I like. The dancing and the way Nina's state of mind is shown is really awesome, and it has a real surreal feeling to it that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is also beautifully shot, and the tone is very fitting to the story. Certainly a film to see if you have yet to see it!

       Speaking of dark, I also got to listen to the darker Bruce Springsteen album, Darkness On The Edge of Town, released in 1978. This is know to be both lyrically and musically darker then his previous three albums. It tells of many struggles of the working class struggles, each side beginning with working class anthems and ending in pretty sad situations. I feel that this is his darkest album to date in terms of message as well, being very gritty and blunt, and I really enjoyed it. The songs here are amazing, my favorites being "Adam Raised A Cain", "Candy's Room", "The Promised Land", and "Streets of Fire" (which I'm currently listening too!). If anything, take a listen to these songs. Now that I think about it, during one of the last Bruce Springsteen concert I attended, they played this album in it's entirety and THAT was really cool and made me appreciate the album a bit more! It's consided a classic now, and has just been re-released as a box set and included a double album of outtakes, called "The Promise" (which also has a one disc version sold seperately). I've yet to listen to the album, except for a select few songs, but I heard it's amazing! Once I get a chance to listen to it, I'll tell you more about it. I hear it's amazing!
     Also, on this album, Springsteen's lyrics don't exactly tell a story straight out, the lyrics more emotional than narrative, even though I believe all songs tell stories wheather you realize it or not. But this is a great album and deserves a listen. At least check out the songs I mentioned. I'll leave a video of one below this post!
      Well, that's all I got for now! Gonna watch Slumdog Millionare with the roommates tonight, so expect to hear about that soon, as well as a few other things! Time to go work out and do a little more school work. Peace out!

-AR


Black Swan trailer


"Adam Raised A Cain" by Bruce Springsteen (I was there!!):