Olympic Stadium

When i first saw this picture of the birds eye view of the Beijing Olympic Stadium I honestly thought it was a joke. I was wondering if any one else thinks that this building has any resembelence to a womens genitals?!?! Im worried that it is just me who sees this and therfore I have a problem!

Grafik

I love Grafik magazine. It is quite obvious why, the design is perfect, it is clean and neat, crisp and colourful. The name is simple and refelects perfectly its contents. the use of thick matt pages give the magazine a feel of quality. It is an enjoyable experience reading through a Grafik magazine, like unwrapping a present.

Herons

Herons is a play writen by Simon Stephens. It tells the story of a 13 year old boy from an East London estate called Billy, whos dad is a no hoper and gives the surrounding teenagers a reason to bully him. The story is so moving because it is so real. In the small, intimate theatre at The Royal Court there were times i forgot i was sat amongst and audience and actors and actually believed i was witnessing real east London gang life. Herons is filled with swearing and unpleasant language, but Stephens gets away with it, because with out it, it wouldn't have been realistic. I sat with people of all ages, ranging from me at the tender young age 15 and my grandma at 85, yet we all loved the play. We could all appreciate the realism portrayed. towards the end of the play there is a gang rape scene, where a young boy is raped using a beer bottle, it was horrific and moving. I know i will remember the experience of watching Herons for a long time. It provoked thought, debate and deep conversation.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

A truly heartbreaking film. Set during the war the film shows a side to war that hasn't really ever been discussed in film. It doesn't focus on the fighting, or on people loosing their family and friends, it doesn't dwell on evacuation or what the working life was about it. It focusses on friendship and separation. Bruno is an 8 year old boy who's dad is a commander of a Nazi concentration camp, but one day Bruno discovers the fence which seperates his world and the world of a Jewish boy of his age captured in the concentration camp. They develop a friendship and a bond and start to see each other everyday. The film shows childhood innosense, when people make friends with anyone, no matter what colour or religion they are, when it doesn't matter what background someone has or what their parents work as. Although this film didn't have a happy ending, it still makes people think back to how horrible the hallocaust was, when people where punished just for being Jewish. It also made people think back on that childhood innocence and probably made them wish that it never went away, because its prejudice and racism and discrimination that makes the world a bad place!

An Innovation in Classrooms!

Selfridges, Birmingham.

In terms of modern day architecture this building really does break the mould! I cant figure out whether it is nice or completely obscene, but I can not deny the fact it is truly unique! It is modern and funky and will get people all over the world talking about it. As a device to attract customers it is brilliant, people will see it as a tourist attraction, they will then go inside and probably end up spending lots of money! So whether or not he building is particulary attractive it will still succeed in attracting attention and bringing custom, and will go down in design history!

Metropololis

OK, so perhaps this is one of the most boring films ever, it was made back when special FX were unheard of and there was no talking, but this film has some symbolism that will always reflect in some way today's society. It is a film set in the fictional city metropolis, a city very similar to New York. The idea of the film is that the city runs by machines underground and the lower class people work the machines to keep the city running. when the we see the underground parts of the film, it is all in black and white with very mundane, depressing music. in comparison when we see the above ground, colour is used, everything looks very picturesque and the music is much more friendlier. So although this film was made over 50 years ago its quite interesting to see that society hasn't actually changed much. The working class still do the work that keeps the world ticking over whilst the upper class just reap the benefits. The working class life is still quite dull lifesless, quite black and white. Whereas the upper class lifestyle is colourful and luxurious. So on the surface much has changed over the last 50 years but when we look into it deeper, there is still much the same.