An American Family

In early 1973 An American Family first aired in the United States on PBS. It consisted of 12 episodes edited down from 300 hours of footage. The show followed the Loud family of Santa Barbara and is considered one of the first examples of reality TV. The series showcased the Loud's turbulent experiences during a period when the parents of the Loud family, Pat and Bill separated and Pat filed for divorce. Bill was guilty of infidelity and Lance Loud, the oldest of the family announced that he was gay. On the surface you would think that they were a normal American 70's family who handled their problems with composure. But really it was the exact opposite. The family was going through difficult times and the cameras did not help. When the series aired the family was devastated by the public's response. One critic called the family “affluent zombies,” and the Times described Lance Loud, the gay son, as “camping and queening about like a pathetic court jester, a Goya-esque emotional dwarf.” The Louds came out and said the series destroyed their family and it emphasized the negative aspects of the family and its relationships. Craig Gilbert, the creator of An American Family remembers getting a late-night phone call from Pat after she had read the first of many embarrassing and negative articles that would be written about her family. “Pat was screaming,” Gilbert said. “She’d taken a below-the-belt hit, and it hurt. That, right there, was the beginning of my own confusion. What have I done? What do I do?” He paused. “I’ve never resolved it. I didn’t know what I had wrought. I still don’t.” Fast forward 38 years and Cinema Verite premiers on HBO on April 23, 2011. The Louds were reportedly unhappy with the script, ended up accepting a financial settlement from HBO for agreeing not to discuss it publicly. The movie stars Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, and James Gandolfini. It follows a fictionalized account of the production of an American Family. I suggest you watch it, I haven't seen it but it looks very interesting and captures the 70s. I want to see it and I hope after this you do too.


(I wanted to post the trailer for Cinema Verite but cannot find it, sorry.)

Look Into These Eyes Now, Tell Me What You See

Open up your eyes now, tell me what you see
It is no surprise now, what you see is me
Big and black the clouds may be, time will pass away
If you put your trust in me I'll make bright your day
Look into these eyes now, tell me what you see
Don't you realize now, what you see is me
Tell me what you see
Title:The Beatles
Tell Me What You See

I realized that I want to be a photographer. Eyes are an inspiration and something I want to photography. Beauty is around us everywhere. Beauty is on us. Beauty is in us.

Sunny Days Brings Smiles

Hello! Today was soo much fun! I have a break so my friends and I decided to hangout. We went to shops where we looked around and laughed our butts off. First we went to an art store and mostly played and petted the little white doggie that was there. Next we went to a used bookstore and found some very umm..interesting books. We left fearing that we would do something stupid. Then we went to a clothing store and had soo much fun. They had the coolest sunglasses there and the cutest clothes. They were soo freakin expensive though! But my friends and I loved looking around. The only one who didn't care was my tom boy friend. She just rolled her eyes and laughed when we went super girly. We also tried on hats and let me tell you I discovered that me and my other two friends can rock hats. We look great in them! (haha)Then we went to like a candle relaxing store. The guy at the front was little weird and it smelled not to good. We left as soon as we arrived and went to a toy store to goof around. We played with the toys and one of my friends rode a toy horse that was outside the store and the girl at the desk nicely asked her to get off. It was funny sorta because the lady looked stress already and to see us in our "army" loud and loud (but nice and careful!!) just sorta stressed her out more. Needless to say I think she was happy when we moved along to the next store. It's sad to see a store go out of business unless you hate it. Well I had drove past this store before and thought it looked cool and I wanted to go in. It was a painting store and it was very nice. But then I found a picture of Tiger Woods and laughed my butt off. I was nice though and only showed one friend so I didn't start a riot! We crossed the street and went to the other side of the downtown. We went to a kooky retro store. It was pretty cool but it was a little gaudy. It did have a lot of Pan Am bags. I immediately thought sixties and The Beatles. Next on our journey we passed a glass antique shop and when one friend asked if we should go in we all answered, "NO!! We would break something!" We laughed and decided to get froyo. It was fun and I was the slowest eater because I kept taking pictures of us eating and looking crazy. We talked and joked around. It was really fun and we all decided to honor a friend of ours who just had a seizure with our froyo. He's better and out of the hospital but is getting brain tests. We quickly moved on from the dapper moment and ate and laughed. After eating we left the downtown and played volleyball at a park. But that didn't last for long and we found ourselves chucking the ball at each other. It was a great day filled with laughter, happiness, and funniness. I can't wait to go back!

Linda's photogrpahy

Before meeting husband Paul, Linda was a well known photographer. She was the first woman to have a photo that she took to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. She photographed the top musicians of the sixties. She captured intimate and spontaneous moments. As Paul said, "No one captured the Sixties like Linda."