The Lily Theatre

The Lily Theatre is a loosely based on the childhood of the author Lulu Wang.

Lian is growing up in Mao's China where bourgeois attitudes will not will not be tolerated. Lian is the child of intellectual parents, who, because of their counter-revolutionary ways, get sent to prison camps. Lian is struck with vitiligo and goes to live with her mother in one of these camps, where she is taught by China's leading scholars. Once freed she is reunited with her best friend Kim, but the strict caste system makes their friendship wrong and unacceptable in the eyes of the outsiders.

The book is a clear and stark look at the uprising of communist China. Its informative, educational, and engrossing. You really feel for Lian at times, she seems so wise even though she is a young teenager. Her views on the cultural revolution are logical but she repeatedly gets punished for expressing them. Makes you feel thankful to live in a free country like Britain.

American Psycho

American Psycho centres on a man named Patrick Bateman. He is a successful wealthy businessman with the expensive suits, the perfect body, and the cleanest apartment. He looks perfect. Except he has one small flaw. He is a psychopath by night. He lures his victims to his house and then brutally murders them, with an axe, a chainsaw, a nail gun, whatever he can get his hands on.

We get a feeling from the start that he isn't completely sane, his OCD is a big giveaway. quite ironic how everything has to be in its place no matter what, yet at night he obliterates it all in a second. Like a big release.

The business card seems to symbolise wealth and power, and it stirs the craziness in Bateman, encouraging him to murder the men whose cards are better than his.

As the film goes on, the more insane Bateman becomes, until he completely cracks and goes on a mass murder rampage, ending in a frantic call to his lawyer in which he says he doesn't think he can get away with it anymore. It ends with Bateman having a conversation with his lawyer over the message he left him. His lawyer doesn't believe him, mistaking Bateman for another client of his, and calling Bateman a coward. The ending is quite ambiguous, did he kill all those people or was it all his imagination?

I thought it was a good film, Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman was brilliant, he was arrogant, greedy and completely psychotic all in one go. Bale is notorious for his method acting and as his character is well built he visited the gym everyday to bulk up, which is clearly apparent in the film.

I noticed before he was going to do something brutal, Bateman would always make a speech about music. Phil Collins and Genesis, Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis and the News. It builds up the tension, till it explodes with lots of blood and guts, which happens a lot. The camera never lets you look directly at the murdering or even the mutilated body after, just a pool of bloody or a part of the body that hasn't been hacked at. Your imagination does the rest for you.

Parc Guell

Another one of Gaudi’s creations, Parc Guell was originally meant to be a residential area but only two houses were built and no one wanted to buy them. Luckily for us it was transformed into beautiful gardens open to the public. The whole park oozes Gaudi, from the colourful mosaics to the smooth curves of the architecture. It is on the side of a very large hill so there are lots of steps and hills to walk up, which adds to its beauty, and has amazing views of Barcelona.

Below is the sea serpent bench. It is covered in mosaic and its very long. The bench is situated on the main terrace and is great for taking photos from.

La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona is full of amazing architecture, mostly thanks to the late great Antoni Gaudi. His work can be found throughout the city, and are instantly recognisable. What he and Barcelona are most famous for though, is the Sagrada Familia, a church that began construction on 19 March 1882, and is still unfinished today. The church was one of Gaudi’s last buildings before he died.

The building is huge, and there has been so much effort and detail gone into the workmanship that there is no wonder it hasn’t been completed yet. There are a total of 18 towers, 2 connected by a bridge and very steep spiral staircases! There are three facades, the Nativity facade, Passion facade, and the Glory facade which is still incomplete. Each one has its own style, the Nativity facade is extremely detailed, depicting the birth of Jesus. This was the first facade to be built whilst Gaudi was alive. The Passion facade is on the opposite side to the Nativity facade, and is dedicated to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Glory facade faces the south-east and is the main facade.

The interior is just as awe-inspiring and impressive as the exterior. There are huge columns that appear to grow into the ceiling. Gaudi wanted the columns to look like trees, and that exactly what they made me think of when I first saw them. The stain glass windows look modern and fit right in with the architecture.

The building is already a landmark for Barcelona, even Spain, and it is yet to be completed. After seeing this and some of his other work when I was in Barcelona, he became one of my favourite architects. Pictures don’t do it justice, and I highly recommend visiting Barcelona just to see his architecture!

Dubai - Excessive and Fabulous!

My dad lives in Dubai, so I am lucky enough to go and have a free place to stay! It is one of a kind, everything is extravagant, and shiny and brand new.

Some of you may know about the Burj Dubai, a skyscraper under construction at the moment. It is in fact the tallest building in the world, rising high into the sky at a colossal 818m. I had the pleasure of seeing it last year and it towers above the other "tiny" skyscrapers. I took the very top picture on my phone which is why its not the best quality, but you can tell from the skyscrapers in the foreground the sheer scale of it. The picture above is a recent image, as you can tell its almost finished.
When it is complete, the Burj will be a residential building, with luxury apartments and brilliant views. The building is part of a huge project to create downtown Burj Dubai, complete with shopping mall, more residential buildings, and the Armani hotel. Excessive really can't describe this project!

Another landmark Dubai is known for is the Burj Al Arab. This is a luxury hotel designed to look like a sail on the sea. Its contemporary, and beautiful in its own way. The fact that it is on its own little island in the sea makes it even more striking.

Other interesting projects under construction and completed are the Palm (two of them), and the World. All these islands have limited access. The World requires a boat to get to each island. I read that there are financial worries over it due to the recession, and clients have been backing out, so work on the World has ground to a halt.

Dubai is a land of excess and money. I once read someone call it the Vegas of the Middle East, and I agree! There isn't anywhere else like it (except for perhaps Vegas), and I find it amazing how fast they put up buildings, expecially compared to the UK when it takes a year here to do up a normal sized house!

The Paper Crane

Everyone knows origami originated in Japan, but many don't know how the paper crane became a symbol for world peace.

It began with Sadako Sasaki. During WW2, when she was only two years old, an atomic bomb was dropped on her home town of Hiroshima. She survived but a decade on she was diagnosed with leukemia. This is when she started to fold paper cranes. She hoped to fold 1000 and be granted one wish, according to a Japanese legend. Her wish was to live, but when she realised she was going to die, she wanted to wish for world peace and an end to suffering. Her story is famous and has been made into books and films, even mentioned in music. It is said Sadako made 644 before she died. Her friends made the rest and had them buried with her.

A memorial of Sadako holding a golden crane was built in Hiroshima Peace Memorial from funds her school friends collected.

Migration part 01 by Hellovon

Von is a London based artist and illustrator. His work is unique in style, very recognisable. He uses watercolours and pencil to create flowing imagery, its almost as if you can see his work moving and rippling on the page. They look extremely technical and well thought out yet beautiful.

Above is a video of one of his projects, Migration part 01. He drew these abstract birds on watercolour and blew them up to bilboard size. He made for London and another for New York.

To see more of his work visit:

http://www.hellovon.com/#home_showcase

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hellovon/sets/72157612605070944/