I have had a lot of time to think lately.

I just transferred to Marist College this past semester from Furman University. Poughkeepsie, NY is a lot different than Greenville, SC… definitely much colder.

Since I have been missing my home-away-from home in the south I have decided to make a must visit list for anyone who wants to take a road trip after this lockdown ends.

1. Downtown Greenville, Main Street

2. Falls Park on the Reedy River

3. Ceasars Head State Park

Greenville is such a unique place to visit. The small city caters to all types people – from urban to artsy. There are countless restaurants and every sunset is stunning. Greenville encourages tourists to visit and even has a campaign running called “Visit Greenville”. I highly recommend on your next road trip to the beach, you make a stop in Greenville, SC.

If you have read my last blog, you can tell I am beyond ready for summer to kickoff.

One summer activity I am particularly excited for is boating and wake surfing. Wake surfing is really popular on lakes in Minnesota and California. However, its popularity has arrived in New York. My friends and I have said goodbye to our water skiing days and hello to wake surfing.

You are probably wondering what is wake surfing exactly? It is basically a skim board that rides continuously on the wake behind a boat. For some begginer tips check out boats.com.

The steps are simple:

1. Set feet on board and hold the tow rope between knees
2. Signal driver to accelerate and let the boat’s pull suction your feet to the board – stand up
3. Travel down the wake and find your balance spot where the wave does the work for you
4. Once you are riding the wave and have slack in the rope, throw rope into boat
5. Balance, take in the views, have fun

If you think a video is easier, I think this one explains the steps well.

One of the best parts about wake surfing is listening to music while you are in the water. The newer wake surf boats have a tower with speakers that face the boat and the wake so everyone can listen to music. My go to summer song is “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line which I am putting the sound cloud to it below.

The idea of summer being right around the corner has spread throughout me like wildfire.

I originally thought I would be working in NYC this summer and taking courses online. This plan has been changed a little bit due to COVID-19. Now, I will spending my summer in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I have spent every summer there my whole life and this year I am getting a bonus summer.

The Adirondack Mountains do not get enough credit. Most people would prefer to spend their summer vacation on Nantucket or in the Hamptons but I think the Adirondack Park is a hidden gem. This video highlights some of distinguishing features on why you should make the Adirondack Mountains your next vacation destination.

If you are looking to hike, New York is home to the 46 High Peaks. These are some of the tallest, longest, and most rewarding hiking mountains in the East. I have hiked one – Whiteface Mountain.

The Adirondack park is over 6 million acres and there are 3,000 lakes and ponds. My jaw dropped when I first heard this. I had no idea there were 3,000 lakes in the state let alone just this part. DIf you don’t beleive me, check out the Adirondack Park website.

If you are looking to boat, the Adirondacks clearly will not disappoint.

You can appreciate the views of the mountains and water from all types of boats: Kayaks and canoes to ski boats and speed boats. Even one of the steam ship boats like the Minne Ha Ha on Lake George.

If you are like me and live fireworks and boats, I recommend buying a ticket for the Sagamore Hotel’s private boat tour on Thursdays where the views of the town firework display is uncanny.

I love to ski and lately I have been missing the snow. In this blog I am going to give you a virtual glance into the world of a New York snowbird. Perhaps during this Quarantine you will be inspired to buy a pair of skis for the 2020/2021 season.

Believe it or not, New York has 43 ski areas spread throughout the state. Whiteface Mountain even held the Winter Olympics twice. Once in 1932 and again in 1980. Lake Placid, the home of Whiteface Mountain, is really cool to visit if you like to learn about history and have an interest in winter sports.

My favorite part of visiting Lake Placid is taking a tour of the Olympic Jumping Center. If you are not afraid of heights, you can go up 120 meters into the ski jumps. The view is incredible. Jumpstart your trip with a virtual visit to the Olympic Jumping Complex website.

People who have never skied in New York can be quick to judge and book flights to out West or to Northern Vermont. Most weekends I can be found at Gore Mountain in North Creek, NY. The conditions are maintained almost perfectly and the trip is easy. It’s about four hours north of Manhattan. Check out the video below and see for yourself what East Coast skiing has to offer.

You can listen to an interview below with freestyle skier Patrick Dew to hear more about the sport….

I have always been more of a paper book person than a kindle fan. I love to feel like I have accomplished something by getting to the end of a book and being able to hold the pages in the palm of my hand.

I have read many books throughout this “break” and the one I recommend the most is Before we were Yours. This book written by Lisa Wingate is one that I found so intersting because there were alternating time frames. One nearly a hundred years ago and one in recent years. To summarize, the book revealed family secrets and history that solved a life-long mystery.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in parts of American history that were meant to be forever concealed or just love when the author incorporates the relevance of the past with the present.

I have attached a video of Lisa Wingate talking about why she decided to write this book.

If you have a minute, check out Lisa Wingate’s website and see what else she wrote.

You can listen to a few pages from the book below…

This horrible virus has hit home and I have family suffering as a result. This week has been one of the worst of my life. I feel this lingering sadness watching those around me suffering and not being able to get near them to help.

I decided to listen to new music and write a review in an attempt to break out of this spell. I went to sound cloud and searched for a COVID playlist. I was actually looking for a song that summed up all my anger and sadness related to this virus. Instead, I found the reworks of a song that was popular years ago.

The original song, Love me Again, sang by John Newman is about pleading for someone to love them again after they seemingly made a mistake. Applying this to the current circumstance, I took this message as “can we pick back up where we left off a month ago”?

https://soundcloud.com/user-957792174/sets/covid-19-quarantine-party

For the most part we have not seen friends or family in over a month. Who knows when we will reconvene with everyone and I am worried I may fall out of touch with some friends. This song offered a lot of empowering energy that I felt I needed to get me through. It also made me think about friendship dynamics after a long pause like this. “What did we miss?” or “Why didn’t you reach out?” sort of thing.

Sometimes its fun to hear something new and make lemonade out of lemons by changing the meaning and interpretation of a song to fit current situations.

The editing affects used throughout the movie, Afronauts, was really practical and intentional. I say this because had this been a colorized film, incorporating clips from other historical sources would not have blended as well. Therefore, the practicality of creating this movie was clearly planned in advance. It is intentional because black and white footage creates an unspoken mood for the viewer that fit this film well. 

            The integration of editing clips from the US space launch into this film seemed like it fit the context almost perfectly. The film showed Matha’s small shuttle preparing for takeoff. Her team threw a torch to ignite the blast needed for takeoff into space. However, what happened next was showing footage of the blast. Except it was footage of the American shuttle, a much bigger shuttle.

Since the whole film was in black and white there was no obvious difference (in terms of color or setting changes) between scenes that it was the US shuttle except for the fact that it was a much bigger shuttle than Matha’s shown in the previous scene. The size was not the only indication it was the Americans because of the use of American announcements edited into this part of them film. The audio edits, like the use of recordings from the American launch allowed for some pretty cool inspiration in the video world because it was integrated so well that it confused me as a viewer it was footage from another launch. It also goes without saying, there is no way throwing a torch on such a small shuttle could create the explosion that was shown with the American launch.

            Something interesting to note about the comparison of the Zambia launch and the American launch is the juxtaposition of the transition between scenes. It took me a second run-through to realize why this was incorporated. It shows the smaller shuttle igniting for blast off and then the blastoff of a much larger American shuttle immediately following. I think it shows the extent of how much is needed for a successful launch. Without using the side by side comparison of the smaller shuttle and the larger one during blastoff, the juxtaposition would not be apparent. There also would have been no need to use voice recordings. The film was short but these few seconds of editing and inserting film clips combined with the audio recordings and consistent black and white coloring really made for an interesting film. 

The short film, Afronauts, is a historical science fiction movie based on the race to space that occurred in the 1960s. This film was created in 2014 and Directed by Nuotama Bodomo. The lead actress is Diandra Forrest, who plays Matha, the main character who is going to attempt to go to space on a rather makeshift shuttle. Nuotama bodomo created this movie as a senior thesis project finalizing her studies with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program (Afronauts, N.D.). IMBd, a website that rates film, gives this film a 6.6/10 based on the summation of IMBd user opinions. This film was a nominee for awards like the Gold Hugo, Grand Jury Prize, Golden Berlin Bear, and Short Film Grand Jury Prize (“Afronauts”, 2014). I can agree it deserves some positive recognition even though it is apparent from the beginning Matha’s shuttle will not make it to space. Perhaps this is the point though. I found the movie showcased the drive and hope to reach space on behalf of the Zambia crew since this film was based off real efforts. 

There was little dialogue throughout the duration of the film. It was only 14 minutes and the little that was said seemed to be sufficient enough given the length of the film. The whole film was also in black and white. I was a fan of this not only because of the editing abilities (I will mention in another blog) but because of the mood it created for the viewer. 

The mood, created by the use of black and white, allowed me to focus on the severity of the film by lessening the distraction that would have resulted from using color. This mood was reinforced by the facial expression, or lack of, from Matha. The film made me feel like I was in the Matha’s shoes. She seemed to be distancing herself from what was going on around her and absorbed in her own thoughts. Almost like she was “spacing” out and had a lot pressure to have a successful mission. 

I would give this movie a great review, numerically speaking, a 7.5/10. My only critique would be that I was originally frustrated with the lack of description and context of the setting and purpose. However, my thoughts changed on this because I think the almost haphazard planning and construction on Matha’s space launch was purposeful. The confusion I had was parallel to the confusion and failure of the Zambia mission this film was based off. Nuotama Bodomo has evident talent. This was only created before she even graduated from her art program at Tisch. If you are a movie goer that loves anticipation and interpreting meaning and intent this short film is a must watch.

 

References

Afronauts IMBd. (January 18, 2014). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3334028/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt

Afronauts. (N.D.). Retrieved from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1036306318/afronauts

Are in need of social distancing activity?

I have found ways to keep my mind busy through gardening. Personally, I think gardening is the best because it gets you breathing fresh air and doing something constructive. To my fellow students- Once you finish reading this post… Put your phone down and go outside!

I have always had a love for flowers and decided I would grow some from seed. Below are my steps and pictures throughout different phases of the growing process.

For a video guide- I have provided one I found particularly clarifying. Click Here.

Step 1: Buy seeds of you choice. I chose Zinnias in a variety of colors.

Step: 2: Gather old egg cartons prefereably paper ones so you can easily transplant them into you outdoor garden bed… I chose to start my seeds early this year so I have solid growth a few weeks faster than I would had I waited to start my seeds outdoors. You are going to want to add soil to each egg slot and then add your seeds. With a vert light layer of soil, cover your seeds. Gently give the seeds a misting of water to not disturb your newly placed seeds. Put in the sunshine and wait 3-10 days.

Step 3: Prepare your outdoor garden beds or greenhouse. You are going to need to move your flowers once they outgrow your egg carton in about a month. This month of indoor growing will give you time to prepare your outdoor garden beds. In my case, I will be moving them to a green house. You are going to want to clear weeds and rocks from the soil to allow your soon to be transplants space for their roots to grow in the soil.

Before Clearing Greenhouse

Greenhouse During Clearing (While my Zinnia seedlings are growing)

Step 4: Wait and let the seeds do their thing.

I will be updating this post in a couple months when my Zinnias make more progress.

This week we are transitioning into audio. There will be a lot of elements incorporated into the recordings. You will be able to hear music, voice and speech alterations, as well as many sound effects.

I am planning on making sounds that you would hear walking through Manhattan. I also love the sounds of nature and want to make a soundcloud that you would find in a yoga studio.

I am going to experiment on sound cloud and adobe. Be sure to check my audio page for final products.