Cosplay... Is An Art: Katsucon 2017

via Joy Vision Studio

Alan Silvestri - "Back to the Future"

Music Appreciation

American composer and conductor Alan Anthony Silvestri is best known for composing the music to Back to the Future, The Avengers, and others.

Composer: Alan Silvestri
ORF Radio-Symphony Orchestra Vienna


via cinemusiquefan

Edward Weston

Photography Appreciation

Edward Weston is considered as "one of the most innovative and influential American photographer" on the 20th century. His landscapes, still lifes, nudes and portraits have captivated many and have received numerous recognition.

Born in Highland Park, Illinois on March 24, 1886, Weston began taking pictures with a Kodak Bull's-Eye #2, a simple box camera, which his father gave him on his 16th birthday. He then purchased a 5x7 inch view camera and began taking pictures of Chicago parks.

At age 20, his photograph was first published in Camera and Darkroom magazine. A few years later, he opened his own business called "The Little Studio" in Tropico, California.

In 1937, Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant that is awarded to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts."

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1947 and passed away January 1, 1958.

You can see more of his wonderful photography HERE.

Portrait of Tina Modotti in Mexico (1923)

 via last-picture-show

Diego Rivera, Mexico (1924) via parkek

Sources:

http://edward-weston.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Weston
http://www.fotogpedia.com/edward-weston.htm
https://www.kimweston.com/news/blog/edward-weston-photographs
http://www.openshuttergallery.com/artists/westons/westons.html

Above the Rim

Film Appreciation

Released on March 23, 1994, Above the Rim featured an all-star cast that included Leon Robinson, Tupac Shakur, Marlon Wayans, Duane Martin, and the late-and-great Bernie Mac. The film was directed by Jeff Pollack, who is best remembered for co-creating NBC's TV series Fresh Prince of Bel Aire. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_the_Rim
http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Above-the-Rim#tab=summary

Dance: BrunoMars - That's What I Like

Choreography: Janelle Ginestra & Willdabeast Adams

via Willdabeast Adams

Cosplay... Is An Art: GIST'17

via Kutudaki Zeplin

Marian McPartland

Music Appreciation

Born on March 20, 1918, Margaret Marian McPartland was an English-American jazz pianist, composer and writer. At an early age, Marian learned how to play the piano by ear. In 1935, she was then accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She became a concert pianist and then developed an appreciation for American jazz music.

During World War II, Marian joined the United Services Organization (USO), where she then met Jimmy McPartland at a jam session in Belgium. After the war, Jimmy and Marian moved to Chicago, then Manhattan.

In the early 1950s, Marian started her trio and then McPartland, Crow, and Morello. In 1958, she was among a group picture of 57 notable jazz musicians.

She then began reviewing jazz and blues albums for Down Beat magazine, in the late 1960s. She was then the host of the Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio from 1978 to 2011.

Marian has received many recognition and awards such as the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2000, the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004, and inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

She passed away on August 20, 2013.

via roger bridgland

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_McPartland