Star Wars and the Power of Costume: Denver Art Museum

12 November 2016

I attended the members' preview of Star Wars and the Power of Costume today at the Denver Art Museum. It's quite a treat to have this show come to Denver. Lots of great costumes, artwork, concepts, creativity. Yes. Costuming is an art form, one that — particularly in the Star Wars universe — draws on all sorts of cultural, historical and scientific influences.

After attending the exhibition in the morning, I sat in on a lecture in the afternoon. On hand were Stefania Van Dyke from DAM and Laela French from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts. It was a fun and enlightening discussion about Star Wars, George Lucas and costuming's place in museums.

One of the tidbits I enjoyed hearing about the most was DAM's influence on the development of the exhibition. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts had a "canned" exhibit prepared — in coordination with the Smithsonian — but DAM wanted to take it up to the next level. As a result, thanks to the efforts of Stefania, the DAM team and the Lucas team, the exhibit now holds an additonal 10 costumes and 300 objects. It's a more fully-realized experience, from concept to execution. It is, as Laela explained, what the Lucas team wanted to do originally, but certain factors such as museum constraints reigned in the scale.

There's a nice sense of pride in knowing the DAM is so forward thinking. And it seems as though the Lucas team also appreciates that mindset and ambition.

Laela French (left) and Stefania Van Dyke (right)

Photos taken on the iPhone 7 Plus

9 November 2016

I enjoy getting Hollywood industry information from The Wrap. Granted, it seems like more often than not the articles have some sort of error — a typo, a misstatement of some sort or something is simply off. Sometimes, no doubt, they're errors made in the rush to scoop the competition.

Well, regardless, last night proved The Wrap needs to stick with what it knows: Hollywood, not politics.

This email was received in the relatively early going of election night. Let's see... Was it Dewey? Truman?

19 August 2016

Joanna Jowzik
Photo courtesy of TVP

I was watching the women's 800 meter Olympic semifinal race yesterday and I started to think about the wisdom of the inside track.

At the start, each runner is on a separate lane. Then, as they proceed around the track, each trying to gain some sort of competitive advantage, they all start to veer toward the inside track. Makes sense. It's the quickest, shortest route.

But I noticed all of the runners became clustered together. And there was one person in particular who looked like she was hemmed in on the innermost part of the inside track. I was thinking it must really suck to be in that situation. How can she possibly win? She's got runners in front of her. A runner or two behind her. Runners to her right side. And the track edge to her left side.

She looked stuck to me.

But then what seemed so unlikely to me unfolded. All of a sudden this particular runner who caught my eye — Joanna Jowzik from Poland — was out of the cluster and running on an outer lane — and seemingly significantly behind the leaders.

I kept watching.

Joanna kept running.

Faster.

And faster.

And. Wow.

She won!

The life lessons are clear: Being on the inside track has it's advantages, but it's no guarantee of victory. And there's nothing like sheer persistence and will power.

Well done, Joanna! Her moment — one I think was widely overlooked by the swimming- and gymnastics-infatuated American audience (an audience also embarrassed by the juvenile antics of Ryan Lochte and friends) is exactly the kind of moment that makes watching the Olympics so worthwhile.

It's the stuff of inspiration.

Here's the full scoop, in Polish, from TVP.

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