From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V6 #216 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Friday, August 17 2001 Volume 06 : Number 216 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Is there a link between stress and creativity ? ["Tim Hudson" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 08:38:44 +0000 From: "Tim Hudson" Subject: Alloy: Is there a link between stress and creativity ? Hi, As TMDR admitted 'Copper cables rust in the acid rain' is a wee bit difficult technically speaking.... but its a more intriguing and imaginative lyric than this scientific gaff by humungous selling artists Fleetwood Mac 'Thunder only happens when its raining' Thats a classsic. And the Corrs just repeated it too. Anyone got any other impossible/untrue lyrics ? Tim. P.S. Mary's joke about Dave having Painters Block in his Cubist moments was a touch of genius. There is actually a British artistic 'movement' called the 'Stuckists' founded by Billy Childish - the former boyfriend of Brit pop 'artist' Tracey Emin who herself is no stranger to controversy - or to that matter David Bowie. Bowie and Emin sharing the same London Art school roots I believe...{but maybe I'm wrong). On the serious side of creativity blocks.......I've heard that a change of scene gives a change of perspective...... Isn't there a relationship between pressure - struggle - and the emergence of creativity as a release? If life becomes too comfortable or safe - - isn't their a reduction in creativity? Is there a relationship between creativity and stress? Are artists at their most creative when they are stressed? People often think that its drugs that inspire artists to be creative but maybe its the stress that forges the creativity and the drugs are there to counter balance the stress [or even assist it]? I'd love a new album from Thomas but I would n't wish him to suffer for his art. Wishing everyone a stress free day..... Tim Hudson tim_hudson@zdnetonebox.com - email ___________________________________________________________________ To get your own FREE ZDNet Onebox - FREE voicemail, email, and fax, all in one place - sign up today at http://www.zdnetonebox.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 08:16:15 -0500 From: "Julie Sweeney" Subject: Alloy: unsolicited Planet of the Apes review > And Melissa, yeah, I want to know your take "Planet of the Apes" too. My > friends who have seen it said they were disappointed and yet the SF > Chronicle gave it a stellar review. What gives? You think he was just a > Mark Wahlberg fan? Damien & I have been wondering how other scifi fans liked that movie... we saw it two weeks ago and were sorely disappointed. Of course, D is slavishly devoted to the original series of movies, so I guess when you love something that much you're bound to be disappointed when it's remade (oh, I'm sorry, "reimagined"). I was a more objective critic, and disliked it too... we both compared it to Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, another story with great promise and possibility as a movie, which started off good and creepy but veered into campy at the end. And I can't even discuss the ending of "Apes"... when we saw it coming we both said "you gotta be kidding me"... I will say one thing for Burton, though, he's got his visual effects down, and the monkey makeup was really pretty fantastic. And also, Tim Roth oozed malevolence, arguably the best role in the movie. As for Mark Wahlberg et al, can't say much for them... except that we kept wanting the mouth breather slave girl/love interest to shut it!!! Anywho, two thumbs down here at Casa Sweeney... how did others rate it? Julie ~a bigger Chuck Heston fan anyway ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 17:45:46 -0400 From: Robin Thurlow Subject: Re: Alloy: Is there a link between stress and creativity ? These are some really good questions Tim! I can give a couple of answers based on what I've observed... Tim Hudson wrote: > On the serious side of creativity blocks.......I've heard that a change > of scene gives a change of perspective...... I think this is very true. A friend of mine sometimes gets 'writers' block' and the one thing that will always get her out of it is if she leaves town and pays someone a visit. I don't know if it's the fresh input & scenery, or if being away and *unable* to access her writing stuff makes her miss it, thus triggering tons of ideas. I think also that 'change of scene' could also be something as simple as clearing out a lot of junk from your house. When things become too cluttered at our house (and we're always teetering on the verge of that) it makes me feel much more like working if there's less junk. But then of course, it builds up again... I'm an object-scavenger. > Isn't there a relationship between pressure - struggle - and the emergence > of creativity as a release? If life becomes too comfortable or safe > - isn't their a reduction in creativity? sometimes i think there may be, but i don't know if it works this way for everyone. But i think at the core of it, once one achieves comfort and safety, may be *fear* of losing it (this fear is reinforced in our culture to a terrible degree) and this fear is what can cause a huge block. The best thing to do then is to get rid of what you're most afraid of losing. I mean objects and material things, of course, never people you hold dear! :) (I always explain things badly so I'm overexplaining..) > Is there a relationship between creativity and stress? Probably. I think artists might use their art to keep themselves sane, quite literally, sometimes. > Are artists at their most creative when they are stressed? It depends on the stress. Some of my better & more spontaneous work has come when I've been really upset or down about something. But if it's the kind of stress where there's no money for art supplies, you're kind of screwed. > People often think that its drugs that inspire artists to be creative > but maybe its the stress that forges the creativity and the drugs are > there to counter balance the stress [or even assist it]? I would have to think about this one a little. I know i've never done drugs at all past the age of 13. A painter dave knows has said he used to drop acid and paint these things he thought were just masterpieces at the time, only to come around once he was no longer stoned, to find they were all crap. Some artists won't even drink coffee if they know they're going to be working. More later... really interesting questions Tim..! xxxxx Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 22:54:52 +0100 From: Slarvibarglhee Subject: Re: Alloy: Is there a link between stress and creativity ? Tim Hudson wrote: > Hi, > > [snipped] > > Anyone got any other impossible/untrue lyrics ? > > Tim. > Stone Roses - Fool's Gold - 'The pack on my back is aching, The straps seem to cut me like a knife.' Biologically impossible. Slarv ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 21:06:46 -0600 From: "Beth Meyer" Subject: Re: Alloy: Is there a link between stress and creativity ? Hi, folks; > Tim Hudson wrote: > > > Anyone got any other impossible/untrue lyrics ? > > > > Tim. > > Actually, because we have heard "N.E.O." many times lately ("The Gate to the Mind's Eye" is one of Milena's favorite videotapes, though she refers to it as "the horse in the cave"), Mark noticed a scientific error in that song, of all things. Dr. Terenzi intones... "...meteorites, and human debris..." and then "You can see a meteorite almost any night." It is our understanding that a *meteorite* is only the rock that you find on the ground. A *meteor* is what you see in the sky, and an *asteroid* is what is floating out in space. Of course, the other scientists on the list can keep me honest on this. Anyway, given the involvement of an actual astrophysicist in the performance, we found it weird that a scientific error (or at least incorrect terminology) would make it into the song! Cheers, Beth P.S. Indeed, Mary, my plate is quite full now, but apparently not as full as little Eric's, in a manner of speaking. He had gained a pound per week since his birth, and is now up to 13 pounds, even at less than 6 weeks old. The boy eats constantly, which is why I'm not getting much else done these days. "May the boob be with you," eh? That wish has come true for him, no doubt.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 23:24:58 -0400 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Alloy: Whoo-hoo! I've been published! Robyn Moore wrote: > Re: Crepes and Apes > Sounds like fun. How'd it go? The Crepes part was interesting, since it took place at the IHOP by the Montgomery County, Maryland jail. I call this IHOP the Incarcerated House of Pancakes. Considering that it seems to be the first place people go when they get sprung from the pokey, I think the jail needs to give people a "free entree" coupon for the IHOP when they make bail, and a button or t-shirt to wear that reads "IHOP'ed out of jail!" But they do make fine pancakes. Yum. As for the Apes part. Well... eh. Truly, Tim Burton has a real gift for stylized visuals - I thought even the opening credit sequence kicked butt with all the ape regalia and symbols. But it just didn't pull me in. It lacked the endearing (if you can all it that) cheese factor of the original, and Dirk Diggler just didn't cut it as a spaceman. But I totally agree with Julie about Tim Roth - he was great. I loved his physical mannerisms, including how he touched the other apes. Very cool. Very intense. And I also loved Julie's description of the obligatory tattered-cloth-wearing chickie as the "mouth breather slave girl/love interest." Hilarious! I have one question for those who've seen the movie - if the humans could create fine multi-colored woven fabrics (like worn by the world's prettiest chimp, Helena Bonham Carter), why were they all in brown rags? Cheers, Melissa, Soylent green is people! It's people! ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V6 #216 ***************************