Nike Air Mags (Revised)

            One of the greatest movies of all time in my book is Back to the Future II. Michael J. Fox, or “Marty McFly” was so lucky to have slipped his foot into one of the best things to ever hit the silver screen, Nike Air Mags. Nike Air Mags, a shoe dedicated to making Marty live up to his last name, McFly. I am no “Sneakerhead” as some of the hipster kids call themselves, but I adore some sneakers.

            Like most of my friends, I watched the unveiling of the Nike Air Mags on David Letterman’s late show, and tried to come up with my cash for them, until I heard the words, “bidding,” and “eBay.” I was shocked, not only did I know I wasn’t going to be able to afford one of the 1500 pairs, but I knew that I would be waiting until 2015, for the, “general release,” as Fox put it.

             After over 20 years of waiting,  (well more like 10 years for me, I didn’t get the privilege of being old enough to understand the movie, let alone watch it 20 years ago) the very famous shoes were released, but not to the general public. The shoes were being auctioned off on eBay, and the sleek white high-tops that illuminate when a button is pressed are going for cold hard money to support the Michael J. Fox foundation and Parkinson’s disease. I find it amazing that people are willing to support him and his disease but the only thing that disappoints me is not being able to afford them. Many celebrities have brought the shoes but unlike them if I had that kind of money I would be paying for my tuition bill.

             When it comes to the shoe I love the design. I’ve always loved the smooth futuristic look of it, but when it comes to function I was really disappointed that the shoes don’t actually hover. I know what you’re thinking, how ridiculous a shoe that hovers, but for the price tag it should come with a hover board and flying lessons. The lights are an added plus, I love the fact that shoes light up, and come with a charger! (How cool charging your shoes?”

            This downfall added to my disappointed, and knowing that I would have to wait until 2015 to get my hands on a pair, but hopefully by then they will be automatic lacing just like in the movie. (Another function the shoes don’t have.) When it comes to rating the shoe, overall I would give the style and design a thumbs up, but I wish that the shoe contained the functions from the movie, and also a lower price tag. Hopefully by 2015 they revamp the shoe and the design a bit and come up with at least one more cool function besides the illuminating Nike sign. (I guess that’s one good thing, they have time to work out the kinks.)

  Pop culture went crazy on the 8^th, I watched people Tweet constantly about the shoes and how much they wanted a pair, but just like me they grew disappointed as the first pair sold for over $30,000 dollars at a secret Nike auction in Los Angeles.

            To get the Mags you had to bid for it on eBay (nikemag.ebay.com), and the 1500 pairs are gone, just like that. They released on September 8 and sold out on the 18^th, so good luck ever getting a pair before the year 2015!

Nike Air Mags!

            One of the greatest movies of all time in my book was Back to the Future II. Michael J. Fox, or “Marty McFly” was so lucky to have slipped his foot into one of the best things to ever hit the silver screen, Nike Air Mags. Nike Air Mags, a shoe dedicated to making Marty live up to his last name, McFly. I am no “sneakerhead” as some of the hipster kids call themselves, but I adore some sneakers.

            Like most of my friends, I watched the unveiling of the Nike Air Mags on David Letterman’s late show, and tried to come up with my cash for them, until I heard the words, “bidding,” and “eBay.” I was shocked, not only did I know I wasn’t going to be able to afford one of the 1500 pairs, but I knew that I would be waiting.

          After over 20 years of waiting,  (well more like 10 years for me, I didn’t get the privilege of being old enough to understand the movie, let alone watch it) the very famous shoes were released, but not to the general public.

            The shoes were being auctioned off on eBay, and the sleek white high-tops that illuminate when the button is pressed are going for cold hard money to support the Michael J. Fox foundation and Parkinson’s disease. I find it amazing that people are willing to support him and his disease but the only thing that disappoints me is not being able to afford them. Many celebrities have brought the shoes but unlike them if I had that kind of money I would be paying for tuition.

             When it comes to the shoe I love the design. I’ve always loved the smooth futuristic look of it, but when it comes to function I was really disappointed that the shoes don’t actually hover. I know what you’re thinking, how ridiculous a shoe that hovers, but for the price tag it should come with a hover board and flying lessons. The lights that illuminate are an added plus, I love the fact that shoes light up, and come with a charger!

            This downfall added to my disappointed, and knowing that I would have to wait until 2015 to get my hands on a pair also disappointed me.

Rapper Kid Cudi's Tweet 2 days into the auction.

            Pop culture went crazy on the 8^th, I watched people Tweet constantly about the shoes and how much they wanted a pair, but just like me they grew disappointed as the first pair sold for over $30,000 dollars at a secret Nike auction in Los Angeles.

            To get the Mags you had to bid for it on eBay (nikemag.ebay.com), and the 1500 pairs are gone, just like that. They released on September 8 and sold out on the 18^th, so good luck ever getting a pair before the year 2015.

           

Dwelling

“Everybody’s a critic,” well that’s because everybody’s an artist. Reviewing art is sometimes challenging, you wonder what inspires this artist, or how did the artist come up with the concept? You try to be open-minded, and take the time to see beauty in everything. Recently I got a chance to dwell in the 33 E. Congress building’s exhibit entitled Dwelling and caught up with different interpretations of art in general.

Usually, when thinking of expression my mind can go everywhere, but in this case I felt like I caught a case of small-minded syndrome. I walked around the exhibit one quick time, and hated everything. I wondered what exactly were these artists doing. I wondered if most of the mediums were finished, and couldn’t wrap my head around any until I walked back out of the exhibit, and grabbed one of the advertisements for the exhibit. The title read “Dwelling,” and the super cool photograph on it made me want to take another look, so I did.

Walking back into the show I finally took the time to see every presentation. One of my favorite parts of the showing was Carrie Schneider’s family videos. At first I was taken aback by it, I didn’t know what I was supposed to get from it, but they all depicted something we can all relate to. “Mom’s Lap,” was my favorite. The video portrayed a daughter feeling safe near her mom. For those of us fortunate to have mothers find a safety net in our mother’s. Even though there were no faces, just two bodies cuddled next to each other. A nostalgic feeling came over me when watching that short film. Her other videos, also gave me nostalgia.

An artist that was kind of hard to interpret was Olga Chernysheva’s “Windows.” She had two short films that followed a man around his apartment. I wondered why she chose him? I found it hard to get into this interpretation of dwelling. Another artist that I found hard to interpret was Ginny Huo “Corrugated Roof,” it was interesting, but it seemed unfinished. I felt that there should’ve been a little more, like a roof attached to a house, it left so much to the imagination, which isn’t always a good thing.

Most of the exhibit was fulfilling, but at the same time unfinished. I felt like some of the artists were lazy, and made simplicity somewhat of a bad thing. Emily Hunt was way to simple and her polaroid’s didn’t really say much about dwelling.  One of my favorite artists in the exhibit would have to be Heather Boaz. Her simplistic displays told a story, yet both only consisted of two items. “Escape” consisted of a long white sheet attached to a window, and this one simple gesture told any story you could ponder up in your head. Her other depiction, “Defense” which was a chair placed under a doorknob also let my imagination run wild.

I didn’t really get a clear sense of who some of the artists were, yet I did enjoy most of it, but I had to really understand the title and the imagery most of them were using. I think the exhibit had a little something for everyone, from photography like Anna Katherine Peter’s “Memory Archive” which was amazing. Her 200 photos were all purposefully placed together.  There’s also short video films, and steps to make a dress. The display was tasteful, but when walking into Dwelling just remember to keep an open mind, I don’t really have a thumbs up or down, my thumb is pointing to the side. 

-Gina

Thumbs Up Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up:

I give two thumbs up to Frank Ocean and his music. Lately, I've been listening to some of the most soothing rhythms and blues about his long lost loves on his newest mix tape. The 64 song trilogy of love The Lonny Breaux Collection is some of the most interesting music I’ve ever listed to. His voice, added with the stories he tells in each one of his songs, fill my head every day. My favorite song so far (because I haven’t finished listening to all 64 songs) is “Blasted.”



Thumbs Down:

I give two thumbs down to religion. I’m not an atheist. I believe in God, but I don’t believe in religion. Religion is supposed to teach people to love each other, yet the difference in ideologies always lead to hate. Most, if not all religions teach us to not judge each other, yet many people do by thinking their religion is better than the next. I also believe that religion is used to separate people. It’s amazing how for centuries people in the “Holy Land” have been fighting. I give religion in general thumbs down for these reasons and many, many more!