~ Grrrl Power ~

It's National Daugher's Week... and it got me thinking.



3 Years ago...
They were still so small, only 5 years old, but without any inhibition in front of the camera... that is different these days! More aware of their environment and opinions of others. I wonder how it will be in another 3 years, when they are 11??

Do you have daughters and how are they developing, getting more shy or just the opposite and more confident of themselves?

What has the environment to do with it? The country you are living in? How do they see and treat girls? How much has the TV and other media an impact on the role of girls? Pop culture? The World Wide Web? Is it easier to be a girl these days, or harder / more pressure??

What do you think of Lady Gaga and all those other celebs like Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus... a good influence for girls or not?? Being young and pretty is not enough these days anymore, you have to be famous as well?? Right or Wrong??



Let's hear how you feel about it! What has changed since you were a girl?

Have a good day!
Mireille

Time for change! Yes, we can!

Barack Obama is the new president of the USA!! Congratulations, I am happy for the change this will bring to the country!

I see already more pictures, t-shirts, photoshopped images and websites with facts from Obama on the net than I've seen from any other president so far. He is very charismatic and photogenic, his family looks adorable, so from that point of view he is easy to market, especially in this pop-culture world.

Of course that is not the reason why he won this election, but it sure helps! I stand behind his ideas for the future. He is a very good public speaker and he gives hope to a lot of people from all walks of life. I believe this is the best choice for America and the moment is just right. People are ready for something else, we will see how this will enfold. But my hopes are up!

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA, and the first African-American in the White House. This was a very emotional election. America is celebrating with tears and cheers. And I feel sorry that his grandma just couldn't be there for this moment, but I am sure her spirit was there!

As there are many sites who collect facts, myths, photos and other trivia about Obama, he of course has his own website as well. So if you like to know more about the new President of the USA, click here. And he even has his own blog! I didn't realize he has time for that ;-)

He even has his own coin, exact change, how funny!

Well, the elections are over. Back to normal life for me and my blog. Tomorrow we'll talk about the serious business of the Dijkstra family again ;-)

Have a good day,
Mireille

Takashi Murakami ~ the Japanese Andy Warhol

There is a show running at the Brooklyn Museum called: © MURAKAMI, it runs from April 5–July 13, 2008
It looks very interesting and if I can fit this in my already busy schedule I will try to go and see it before we leave for SA.

Raised by parents who drummed Western art into him, Mr. Murakami studied traditional nihonga painting, and attempted a career in animation, before deciding to become a contemporary artist. Since emerging in the 1990s Mr. Murakami has often been seen as out-Warholing Warhol by giving back to popular culture, as well as borrowing from it and by excelling at branding. Not for nothing is this show titled “©Murakami.”

Mr. Murakami siphons motifs from Disney and Dalí, strategies from Pop Art, and sexual fantasies from Japan’s anime (animation) and manga (comics) subcultures. His cast of variously cute, erotic or grotesque creatures and intense decorative pilings-on range across paintings, sculptures, animations and wallpaper, building at times to a hallucinatory intensity that has more than a touch of darkness.

At the exhibition you will see the enchanting 23-foot-tall “Tongari-kun” (or “Mr. Pointy”), a space-alien, 18-armed Buddha on a lotus throne surrounded by four guardians that dominates the museum’s lobby. Its sinuous designs and rich colors evoke a fusion of Surrealism, Art Nouveau and Japanese kimonos. The label counters by pointing out that the palette and symbols are inspired by Maya art and Tibetan Buddhist imagery.

The Japanese are so innovative....very interesting country and people.
Have a great Sunday, y'all!
Mireille