Suspense

Suspense; a feeling, an emotion or a state of mind which we experience while watching a movie, watching television or reading a book. But what is it exactly?

" The activity of anticipating; it provides the material from which viewers can extrapolate future developments." - H.J. Wulff

" An experience between fear and pleasure." - L. Mikos

" A strategy by which the mirroring identification of the viewer and the textual subject is broken, and the subject's mastery of events seems to be problematic." - G. Leonard

" Viewers participate in films by viewing empathic with positive protagonists." - D. Zilmann

Coffee Shop

"Hey Marloes, let's go to the Coffee Shop!"











" What?"













Sometimes I just forget I'm in America..

Longhorns vs. Queensday

Orange, Orange and Orange.
Was it Queensday in Holland?
No.
It was burnt Orange.
It was American Football: one of the things you have to experience being a foreign student in the United States.

While I was trying to understand the rules of American Football I joined the whole stadium singing, shouting and yelling to encourage the players. With a drink in the one hand and a banner in the other I tried the best I could to look like a real supporter.
By screeming when everybody screemed and by clapping whenever it seemed appropriate I did a pretty good job. At the end of the day I obviously lost my voice, I probably left it somewhere at the stadium. Actually it was kinda like queensday: dress in orange, scream 'till you die, and especially: don't take your voice home.

First Presidential Debate: Political Dichotomy

You are expected to be either left or right, either liberal or conservative, you either agree or disagree; it made me wonder if real democracy is about choosing between opposites.

Château de Versailles part II

Puissance, Plaisir, Lumiere.
Power, Pleasure, Light.

Le Roi Dance is a movie about the life of King Louis XIV. Louis XIV is represented as a young king that wanted to entertain its citizens.
Louis XIV had a lot of influence on the development of ballet. Although ballet emerged during the Renaissence in the 15th century, Louis XIV developed it futher, which is why ballet vocabulary is in French.
He was not only the creater of these - for that time - new kinds of choreographies; he was the main character too. Amaze yourself about the skills of this king by watching a little piece of this movie.

Le Roi Danse: The King that entertains its citizens personally.

Technology trends catched up by different generations

Turning on the computer to check your mail, sending textmessages all day and using skype to call your parents; daily activities for people from my generation.

Around the 1990's modern technology started to expand and all we could do was trying to catch up with it. Adapting to these trends was a piece of cake. I played my first computer game when I was ten, I had my first cellphone when I was twelve and I read my first e-mail when I started to go to secundary school. It was just part of growing up; part of the deal.

But imagine how this rapid growth of required technological knowledge was for older generations. Catching up with these trends was a pretty hard job for people that were around 60 years old.

Today, my grandma is turning 74. I really appreciate the fact that she sends e-mails regularly. She even sends me textmessages with abbreviations and smilies. Above all, she knows how to use internet and how to read my blog. Namely, she understands English too.

On the one hand I am proud of my grandparent's ability to catch up with modern technology trends, on the other, I am even more contented when I receive their old fashioned, wholeheartedly written postcards in my mailbox, written in their 74 years old handwriting.

Chateau de Versailles part I

Le Roi Soleil (The Sun King), King Louis XIV, had a house. A castle. An enormous amount of space. A garden. A place where I , even if I would have lived there, would lose my way easily every day.

The royal family of France lived in the Castle of Versailles from 1682 until the end of the eighteenth century. Until today, the castle as well as the village are famous not only because of the buildings, but also because of the fact that they stand for the absolute monarchy of King Louis XIV.

After having a lot of art history classes in highschool I experienced the stories myself. I saw the hall in which ‘ Le Roi qui Danse’ (Dancing King) Louis XIV put on his red heels to illustrate how the sun comes up every day by dancing his own choreography. I heard the music composed by Lully overwhelming the building.

Visiting Versailles opens a world of imagination and fascination. After 220 years, Chateau de Versailles still illustrates the way in which the royal family of France lived perfectly. Even without entering the building you can get a romanticized and historical view of the lifestyle of the upper part of the French monarchy. The outside of the castle indicates the amount of golden decorations on the inside. The green garden full of statues, flowers and fountains shows the personality of King Louis XIV in every little detail; proud, smart, creative and above all: graceful.