Review: Spa Bleu

On Friday, I received my first ever spa treatment at Spa Bleu--Savannah's newest, hottest spa located on Bull and Broughton. I went in for a raindrop aromatherapy massage with Morgan Godwin, the owner. When I came in I didn't know what or how much to expect, but I left with an experience that exceeded my expectations in ways I never imagined.

When you first step into Spa Bleu, you instantly feel a serene energy coming over you. Sunlight blankets the waiting room as your eyes are met with a cool blend of blues and white. You wait on the comfy couch listening to uplifting classical music while drinking wine, graciously provided by one of the lovely desk attendants. 

After a short wait, Morgan called me back into one of the massage rooms, which she designed herself. The room is adorned with different calming relics such as an intricate dream catcher and images of birds and feathers. The light cast upon the walls seems to transform the blue into a moody blend of purple which strikes you with a comforting feeling of calm and relaxation. As I lied face down in the comfy massage table, Morgan explained to me that the raindrop aromatherapy massage has detoxifying benefits, and is her favorite treatment to give. I felt a connection with her sincerity and apparent passion, feeling even more excited as I closed my eyes and waited for the sensations to take over.

The treatment started out with an array of different essential oils like frankincense and thyme sprinkled across my spine like raindrops. Even from the very start, I felt an invigorating sensation come over me with each drop. After she sprinkled the oil, I felt Morgan spread out the energies in my spine one by one. She did this with all the lines in my body, such as in my legs, arms, and feet. I felt intensely relaxed and taken care of, while at the same time being very aware of my body and its energies. With the raindrop aromatherapy massage, I felt a luxurious sensation of relaxation and also a deep connection with my body that I hadn't felt before. As I listened to Morgan's soothing voice and felt her hands work their magic, I could almost hear my body thanking me for the gifts it received.

After my golden hour was over, I was able to lie with my back down to the massage table with a clear, free mindset. I closed my eyes and slipped into a blissful meditation, my mind quiet and my body nestled. I felt comfortable and  happy. As I rose from the table, the luxurious, buttery feeling in my body stayed with me until I said my good-byes, walked beaming down the street, and carried out the rest of my wonderful, uplifting day.

For those of you who have never received a spa treatment, let me assure you that the benefits are completely worth it. It's my personal philosophy that it's far better to spend your money on worthwhile experiences rather than material possessions or vices. I think Morgan puts it perfectly when she says that "People spend money on things that are bad for them without even thinking about it, but they are so hesitant to use that money towards things that are truly beneficial and therapeutic".

Your body will thank you for giving it such rewards, and you can't put a price on the way a spa treatment soothes your soul and lifts you from the periling world.

I say this to all Savannah locals and travelers to our beautiful, mystic city, the next time you wish to escape stress, visit Spa Bleu for a true experience in refined Southern comfort.

Gaga for GLEE!

It happened to me. I was overtaken by Gleek fever. And according to this year's Emmy nominations, apparently the rest of us were too.

Congratulations to Glee! for 19 Emmy nominations! It's so wild. I've never heard of a TV show getting that many nods in my life.

But instead of harping on about how amazing, clever, fresh, and well-cast the show is, I'd instead like to focus on the episode that I believe was the most special of the whole series. And that of course is Theatricality--the Lady Gaga tribute episode!

Both the tribute episodes, "The Power of Madonna" and "Theatricality", were defiantly two of the best episodes in the first season, but Theatricality goes above and beyond in musical numbers, emotional depth, and intensity.

In this episode, Glee club learns the joys of living life theatrically, with unabashed self expression and your freak flag flying high. Among many issues, this episode deals with gay rights and the scrutiny people face for being different, leading viewers to some of the most colorful and emotional scenes in the whole season.

If you're a fellow Gleek, then you know all about the witty one-liners the writers sprinkle into the show. This flashy episode is full of quotes to LOL and ponder at.

• "My mom won't even let me watch Twilight. She said Kristen Stewart seems like a bitch." -Tina
• "I'm going to put together a palette that expresses who you are and who I want you to be...Who you want to be." -Kurt
• "What's up with this Gaga dude? Doesn't he just dress weird, right? Like Bowie." -Puck 
• "Even though I'm painfully shy and obsessed with death, I'm a really effervescent person." -Tina
• "You look terrible. I look awesome." -Brittany
• "The reason I'm here right now, in a shower curtain, is because of you." -Finn
• "I swear to you I will never change. I'm proud to be different. It's the best thing about me." -Kurt
• "We're all freaks together, and we shouldn't have to hide it." -Finn

Many would probably say that the best thing about Theatricality was the quality of the music numbers. If you've been following the season, then you know that some of the music numbers don't quite add up to the others. Some are just OK. But Theatricality delivers four numbers that are each very impactful in their own way.

Rachel and Ms. Corcoran's "Poker Face" could melt your heart, and the intent in Puck's eyes as he sings Kiss's "Beth" to Quinn is 100% believable.  But in my opinion, their version of "Bad Romance" really stole the show.



Apart from extremely jealous, this performance made me feel happy above all else. I loved watching them all swinging their claws and gritting their teeth while they rocked it out in those crazy outfits. I believe behavior like this is healthy. Theatricality is healthy. We can do nothing but gain from acting this way--abandoning inhibitions and surrendering to true self expression and exultation.

I appreciated Glee so much for making this episode, and ultimately, it made me appreciate Lady Gaga in a whole new way that I hadn't before.

It used to be cults like Rocky Horror Picture Show that preached the joys of living larger than life and without inhibitions. Now, Lady Gaga is bringing that message into the mainstream so that everyone has a chance to discover it. Now that we can celebrate the theatricality and raw, passionate energy of an artist like Lady Gaga, those who were previously unwilling are now able to see that it's OK to let go. It's OK to be a freak if that's how you feel.

Thank you Lady Gaga and Glee for giving hope to all the little monsters out there, and keeping the Rocky Horror Picture Show message alive--Don't dream it, be it!

Toy Story 3: The End

::Sigh:: Toy Story 3--the ending of probably the most treasured animated story of our generation. And with this last installment, I think it's safe to say that Pixar blew our minds in ways we weren't expecting. Whether it's the phenomenal short, Day and Night (see it in 3D!), the character depth, or the darker tone, Toy Story ended the trilogy in the most impactful way. But of course, what everyone is really talking about is the last 30 minutes of the movie--the ending of it all. 

If you didn't cry during the last half hour of this movie, you must be a robot, because everyone I've talked to says they did. I won't go into what exactly happened in case some of you haven't seen it, but as you probably know, Andy does end up giving his toys away. Let's just say that the whole a affair is a LOT more emotional than you could ever imagine.
 

With my personal experience in seeing the ending, I cried among many other things because I felt an overwhelming sadness that this wonderful story, these beloved characters were all coming to an end. I thought about how when Toy Story started, I was Andy's age, and that I had grown up with this story too. I felt this strange loss within myself. Just like Andy, I was losing these toys too. 

Given the experience I had in the movie theater with Toy Story 3, here is my interpretation of the epic ending to this tale: 

 Andy represents the audience--the entire generation that grew up with this story. As I said before, our generation was about Andy's age when this story started, so his growing up experience mirrors ours. I believe the message that Toy Story 3 leaves with us is all about growing up--how it makes us change, the things we have to lose, but also the childhood innocence that will always be in our hearts.

Like Andy, we too had to let go of our childhood relics. The playground days had to end. But what we took from that precious time is still part of who we are. The toys we loved, the games we played helped us grow. And even if those toys and those games are long gone, we are still children at heart because the memories and connections we had to that time are still alive. 

No matter how old we grow, we will always have times when we feel like our childhood selves who cried over broken toys and scraped knees. And whose imaginations were so wild and carefree, and hearts so full of love, that all we wanted to do was just cuddle up with our toys and play.

Flash Delirium

When MGMT's Oracular Spectacular came out about a year ago, I decided that I didn't want to buy into that whole scene. I enjoyed the album at first, but was majorly turned off by the crowd they attracted--you know, the Urban Outfitters/Clothing Warehouse hipster type. I therefore took their experimental style as the band trying to cater to that particular (trendy) crowd.

I am happy to say now that I think I was wrong.

Dubbed as "anti-christ" by a population of YouTube viewers, MGMT's new song and video, Flash Delirium, is weird. Like, John Waters/Rocky Horror Picture Show weird. And I am so, so happy that any kind of artist today is capable of envisioning and achieving that kind of absurdity.

The song itself is written in an uncanny way, even more so than songs from their first album. The lyrics are written in Dada fashion with lines of ridiculous, disconnected prose like "The hot dog's getting cold/And you'll never be as good as the Rolling Stones".

And then there's the video, which acts as a both a harmonious and an unexpected representation of the song's quirkiness and absurdity.

The video starts out with the band's front members, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, arriving at a Welcome Home party in a lavish mansion. A group of mostly elderly people wearing high society, 60/70s fashion people greets them. It's very Royal Tenenbaums. 

The video's progression leads us through an odd series of images/events including robotic, strained dance numbers, ventriloquist doll chants, and mouths singing from throats--all paired with ostentatious references to phallism, anal sex play, fallacio, and apocalyptic destruction.

After seeing and hearing Flash Delirium, I don't doubt MGMT anymore. I really think that they are genuinely weird, not faking it like all the cultural hacs out there. It turns out we might just be kindred spirits with each other ^_^ 

I am so happy to see something weirdly erotic, disturbed, and Dada by a current artist. I almost thought musicians just weren't strange anymore.

Love and Lolita

I always knew I'd fall in love with Vladimir Nabokov's controversial masterpiece Lolita. As a long time lover of fucked up literature [check out White Oleander, Fight Club, Disco Bloodbath] , I always thought of Lolita as the queen bee.

Last summer, I finally got around to ordering a copy of my long-awaited scandal novel, but didn't start reading it until around fall. It took me far too long to finish Lolita, much longer than the pace I had read books throughout the summer. A lot of that has to do with Nabokov's masterful writing style. He writes so richly, and ornately that I often went back and read passages several times over.
But this language also kept me caught in a trance. I would hang on to every word as I flipped through pages of devious, fantastical, and wildly passionate scenes.

The thing about Lolita is that while the relationship between main character Humbert Humbert and fantasy girl-child Dolores Haze (Lolita) is universally wrong and disturbing, make no doubt about it that this is a love story. Vanity Fair calls it "The only convincing love story of our century". And the deeper you fall into the story, the more you realize just how true it is.

Many passages struck my heart to the core.

• "Sometimes, while Lolita would be haphazardly preparing her homework, sucking a pencil, lolling sideways in an easy chair with both legs over its arm, I would shed all my pedagogic restraint, dismiss all our quarrels, forget all my masculine pride--and literally crawl on my knees to your chair my Lolita! You would give me one look--a gray furry question mark of a look: "Oh no, not again"; for you never deigned to believe that I could ever crave to bury my face in your plaid skirt, my darling!"

• "...there she was with her ruined looks and her adult, rope-veined narrow hands and her goose-flesh white arms, and her shallow ears, and her unkempt armpits, there she was, hopelessly worn at seventeen, with that baby, dreaming already in her of becoming a big shot and retiring around 2020 A.D.--and I looked and looked at her, and knew as clearly as I know I am going to die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else."

Reading passages like these affected me even physically. Towards the end of Lolita, whenever I read in public I could feel the emotional toll the words were taking on my facial expressions and body language. I would feel like crying. Often, people in the streets would stop and ask me what was wrong or what I was reading.

I believe Nabokov really achieved something extraordinary. It's hard enough to write about love, but to make it so convincing that the words take a real, emotional toll on the reader takes magic. And he created this magic between a pedophile and a young girl.

Through all his passion, obsession, hopelessness, and insanity, the reader knows clearly of the love that Humbert Humbert has for little Lolita. The reader knows it, and they feel it. And most importantly, they believe it. How strange that one could read a novel with such a torrid, disturbed relationship and leave wishing that someone might one day feel the same way about them?