Post by Comeyo on Jan 21, 2016 4:23:46 GMT
It's been a little over a week since we all learned the news of David Bowie's passing. I'm still sad about it, as are a lot of fans. I keep reminiscing about memories that involved David Bowie, a lot of them Labyrinth related.
Although I'd heard some of Bowie's songs growing up, and liked them, it wasn't until I saw Labyrinth in eleventh grade (either 2002 or 2003) that I began to get into his music more and became a fan. In my high school Crafts class, my teacher showed us the ballroom scene because we were going to be making masks as our next project. I instantly fell in love with the scene-the set, the costumes, the song, "As The World Falls Down", Jareth, the Goblin King (who, admittedly at the time, I had no idea it was Bowie until a friend mentioned it in class). Soon after that, I knew that I had to see the entire movie. It quickly became one of my favorite movies where it remains today.
Not long after I was introduced to the world of Labyrinth, I introduced my friend, Jenn, to it. We both loved it so much that we even wanted to try writing our own sequel as a screen play. It was going to star us as sisters who wished each other away to the Labyrinth (in a Freaky Friday sort of way, I guess) and Bowie was of course going to reprise his role as Jareth. The movie was going to start out with Sarah selling her Labyrinth book at a yard sale and we bought it. We never got much further in the plot or screen play but I remember we were each going to have our "ballroom" type scene with Jareth. One was going to be an ice skating scene, lol.
Around that time, I also joined a Labyrinth guild on Neopets and made another. I had a lot of fun writing role plays with other members and still have one that we made in the guild I created, and a large chunk of the one we wrote in the other Labyrinth guild (as well as part of a Pirates of the Caribbean one). A year or two ago, I found one of the old guild members on Facebook (we had also been livejournal friends). Jenn and I also started writing Labyrinth themed role-plays, both fictional ones with our own characters, as well as ones where we were in the story and it was a mash-up of different characters. For some reason, Jack The Ripper ended up in some of the role-plays just to make them funnier, lol. Those were fun to write alone too, to help pass the time on a boring school day, haha.
After I got back into collecting dolls (mostly American Girl), in college, my first AG, Felicity, naturally became my Jareth/David Bowie lover. And Jenn's first AG, Molly did as well (my Jess and her Julie are Snape fans). One Christmas, during my college years, I got both the Best of Bowie CD (though I've somehow misplaced the second disc :/) and DVD. I loved listening to the CD, mostly the first side, but somehow I never got around to watching the dvd-I kept meaning to but had never gotten around to it. For whatever reasons, I never really looked up Bowie's discography so I never realized that he had still made albums in the 1990s and early 2000s. I think part of the reason might be because a lot of musicians, it seems to me, only make music/put out albums/perform concerts for 2-3 decades (perhaps I'm wrong but it seems that way, other than maybe a special concert here or there). So I guess I only had thought that Bowie's musical reign was 60's, 70's and 80's. And I never really looked up videos of him on youtube, other than Labyrinth ones.
At some point in my twenties, I had also imagined up another movie idea where I was going to play a twenty or early thirty-something who has no job and basically gets kicked out of her parents' home. She has an uncle who she's never gotten along with and is kind of afraid of him. In the movie she winds up turning to her uncle and he lets her live with him for awhile and helps her get a job and become more independent. Throughout the movie both the niece and uncle learn some life lessons from each other. While I've envisioned a few people in the role of the uncle, Bowie was one of them, lol. I'd even imagined a scene where we sang "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy."
Then, at some point after college, although I always kept a small handful of his songs on my iPod/music playlist, it kind of waned for awhile. I'm not sure how to explain it because I still loved Bowie's music just as much. But it's more that natural waxing and waning thing. At certain points, certain music seems to wane a bit where you listen to them less frequently, while other music waxes where you play it more. Then later on, you get back into the music that waned a bit (it's that way with other bands/singers I've grown up with-like the boy bands and girl groups of the 1990s (Backstreet Boys and NSync...).
In 2010, I finally got up the courae to write a fan letter to David Bowie. Unfortunately I never a got a reply but knew it was a long shot anyway, as celebrities can't answer every letter. I'll also never know if he even received it, although I'd like to think that he did and that he read it and it made his day.
And because I haven't always been the most active on this board, while I remember reading about Bowie's 2013 album and wanting to check it out, for whatever reasons it slipped my mind soon after and I never thought to get it.
Then with the news of David Bowie's passing last week, I was shocked as we all were. It was all so surreal that I couldn't cry almost the whole week (especially with Alan Rickman's death at the same age and also from cancer, only four days after-it just didn't seem real). Yet, it brought me back to wanting to listen to Bowie's music again (more than just the small handful that I've kept on my playlist). And I finally got around to watching the DVDs. I've been reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of videos last week and this week. And I'm now realizing just how much I've missed. How did I never see any of the interviews (besides the Into The Labyrinth special)? Part of me wishes that I had gotten into his music and work more, at least a few years earlier than I did. And part of me wishes that I had kept up with his music more. Yet, at the same time, I'm glad that I became a fan when I did and not later because at least I've had these last 13ish years with him in my life, as a fan (longer if you count the few songs I'd heard growing up). With watching the videos, I feel like I'm "rediscovering" him in a way. There's a set of three videos that someone put up on youtube, that's a montage of funny Bowie moments and it's fun watching it. It's a bit sad, as well, of course, but it's neat to see him being carefree, silly, fun-loving and friendly. Those are all wonderful traits that we could all use a bit more of in our lives. I find it very inspiring. As a shy introvert, it takes me awhile to warm up to people and sometimes I have a hard time "letting loose." Seeing the videos reminds me that you can "let loose" at any age and that being silly can be a good thing. It's like my Jess doll-she has her own web show on youtube and she's my silliest doll. I love playing as her because she helps me to "let loose." (in certain ways, playing dolls is sort of similar to puppetry. In other ways, it's similar to claymation, if you make a stop-motion video. And it's a form of acting/voice acting).
I'm both sad and happy. I'm sad that the world lost David Bowie too soon. Reading some of the articles and comments makes me sad. The interpretations of Blackstar (which I got on Sunday) and how, according to some people, he thought that he would have some more time and was eager to start work on another new album, just a week or two before he died. My heart breaks for his family, friends, and all of us fans. At the same time, I'm happy that I got to exist in this world at the same time as David Bowie. I'm glad that I became a fan of his music and movies (I've only seen Labyrinth, The Prestige and Spongebob Squarepantis (or whatever it was called, so far). Even though I never got to meet him and never got a reply to the fan letter I sent, I'm happy that he's in my life, through his work. I'm happy for all of the friendships I've made throughout the years, with other Labyrinth and David Bowie fans (big hugs to all of you! *Hugs*). I'm happy that, even though he's passed, he'll never be truly gone as long as we always remember him and love him. I'm happy for all of the inspiration I've gotten through Labyrinth and David Bowie. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, he's inspired me to try to "let loose" more and be more carefree and that silliness can be a good thing-it helps us laugh and be happy. He's inspired me to keep doing what I love, regardless of what anyone else thinks, and to always try to remain down-to-earth and be proud of who I am (my doll collecting/playing has helped with some of these as well).
And while my recent heavy playing of his music will likely wane again sometime, I know it won't be forever. It'll wax again at some point too, same with all the other music I love). I'll always keep my favorite Bowie songs on my playlist. Just as with all the other celebrities who have passed, that I love, a part of David Bowie will always be in my heart. Who knows, maybe someday we'll meet in another world-we'll hang out and party and sing together. Hopefully he's looking down on all of us, from Heaven. And we'll all keep dancing our own Magic Dance, just as I'm sure he's still doing.
PS. Another of the many reasons why David Bowie was and will always be awesome and why I'll always <3 him-he was a lefty like me (I think I'm more cross-dominant as I do some things lefty and some things righty and a couple either...but the point is we both wrote/write left-handed)!
PPS: While there might be more that I could think of to add, I think this is most of it. Feel free to reminisce with me.
Although I'd heard some of Bowie's songs growing up, and liked them, it wasn't until I saw Labyrinth in eleventh grade (either 2002 or 2003) that I began to get into his music more and became a fan. In my high school Crafts class, my teacher showed us the ballroom scene because we were going to be making masks as our next project. I instantly fell in love with the scene-the set, the costumes, the song, "As The World Falls Down", Jareth, the Goblin King (who, admittedly at the time, I had no idea it was Bowie until a friend mentioned it in class). Soon after that, I knew that I had to see the entire movie. It quickly became one of my favorite movies where it remains today.
Not long after I was introduced to the world of Labyrinth, I introduced my friend, Jenn, to it. We both loved it so much that we even wanted to try writing our own sequel as a screen play. It was going to star us as sisters who wished each other away to the Labyrinth (in a Freaky Friday sort of way, I guess) and Bowie was of course going to reprise his role as Jareth. The movie was going to start out with Sarah selling her Labyrinth book at a yard sale and we bought it. We never got much further in the plot or screen play but I remember we were each going to have our "ballroom" type scene with Jareth. One was going to be an ice skating scene, lol.
Around that time, I also joined a Labyrinth guild on Neopets and made another. I had a lot of fun writing role plays with other members and still have one that we made in the guild I created, and a large chunk of the one we wrote in the other Labyrinth guild (as well as part of a Pirates of the Caribbean one). A year or two ago, I found one of the old guild members on Facebook (we had also been livejournal friends). Jenn and I also started writing Labyrinth themed role-plays, both fictional ones with our own characters, as well as ones where we were in the story and it was a mash-up of different characters. For some reason, Jack The Ripper ended up in some of the role-plays just to make them funnier, lol. Those were fun to write alone too, to help pass the time on a boring school day, haha.
After I got back into collecting dolls (mostly American Girl), in college, my first AG, Felicity, naturally became my Jareth/David Bowie lover. And Jenn's first AG, Molly did as well (my Jess and her Julie are Snape fans). One Christmas, during my college years, I got both the Best of Bowie CD (though I've somehow misplaced the second disc :/) and DVD. I loved listening to the CD, mostly the first side, but somehow I never got around to watching the dvd-I kept meaning to but had never gotten around to it. For whatever reasons, I never really looked up Bowie's discography so I never realized that he had still made albums in the 1990s and early 2000s. I think part of the reason might be because a lot of musicians, it seems to me, only make music/put out albums/perform concerts for 2-3 decades (perhaps I'm wrong but it seems that way, other than maybe a special concert here or there). So I guess I only had thought that Bowie's musical reign was 60's, 70's and 80's. And I never really looked up videos of him on youtube, other than Labyrinth ones.
At some point in my twenties, I had also imagined up another movie idea where I was going to play a twenty or early thirty-something who has no job and basically gets kicked out of her parents' home. She has an uncle who she's never gotten along with and is kind of afraid of him. In the movie she winds up turning to her uncle and he lets her live with him for awhile and helps her get a job and become more independent. Throughout the movie both the niece and uncle learn some life lessons from each other. While I've envisioned a few people in the role of the uncle, Bowie was one of them, lol. I'd even imagined a scene where we sang "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy."
Then, at some point after college, although I always kept a small handful of his songs on my iPod/music playlist, it kind of waned for awhile. I'm not sure how to explain it because I still loved Bowie's music just as much. But it's more that natural waxing and waning thing. At certain points, certain music seems to wane a bit where you listen to them less frequently, while other music waxes where you play it more. Then later on, you get back into the music that waned a bit (it's that way with other bands/singers I've grown up with-like the boy bands and girl groups of the 1990s (Backstreet Boys and NSync...).
In 2010, I finally got up the courae to write a fan letter to David Bowie. Unfortunately I never a got a reply but knew it was a long shot anyway, as celebrities can't answer every letter. I'll also never know if he even received it, although I'd like to think that he did and that he read it and it made his day.
And because I haven't always been the most active on this board, while I remember reading about Bowie's 2013 album and wanting to check it out, for whatever reasons it slipped my mind soon after and I never thought to get it.
Then with the news of David Bowie's passing last week, I was shocked as we all were. It was all so surreal that I couldn't cry almost the whole week (especially with Alan Rickman's death at the same age and also from cancer, only four days after-it just didn't seem real). Yet, it brought me back to wanting to listen to Bowie's music again (more than just the small handful that I've kept on my playlist). And I finally got around to watching the DVDs. I've been reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of videos last week and this week. And I'm now realizing just how much I've missed. How did I never see any of the interviews (besides the Into The Labyrinth special)? Part of me wishes that I had gotten into his music and work more, at least a few years earlier than I did. And part of me wishes that I had kept up with his music more. Yet, at the same time, I'm glad that I became a fan when I did and not later because at least I've had these last 13ish years with him in my life, as a fan (longer if you count the few songs I'd heard growing up). With watching the videos, I feel like I'm "rediscovering" him in a way. There's a set of three videos that someone put up on youtube, that's a montage of funny Bowie moments and it's fun watching it. It's a bit sad, as well, of course, but it's neat to see him being carefree, silly, fun-loving and friendly. Those are all wonderful traits that we could all use a bit more of in our lives. I find it very inspiring. As a shy introvert, it takes me awhile to warm up to people and sometimes I have a hard time "letting loose." Seeing the videos reminds me that you can "let loose" at any age and that being silly can be a good thing. It's like my Jess doll-she has her own web show on youtube and she's my silliest doll. I love playing as her because she helps me to "let loose." (in certain ways, playing dolls is sort of similar to puppetry. In other ways, it's similar to claymation, if you make a stop-motion video. And it's a form of acting/voice acting).
I'm both sad and happy. I'm sad that the world lost David Bowie too soon. Reading some of the articles and comments makes me sad. The interpretations of Blackstar (which I got on Sunday) and how, according to some people, he thought that he would have some more time and was eager to start work on another new album, just a week or two before he died. My heart breaks for his family, friends, and all of us fans. At the same time, I'm happy that I got to exist in this world at the same time as David Bowie. I'm glad that I became a fan of his music and movies (I've only seen Labyrinth, The Prestige and Spongebob Squarepantis (or whatever it was called, so far). Even though I never got to meet him and never got a reply to the fan letter I sent, I'm happy that he's in my life, through his work. I'm happy for all of the friendships I've made throughout the years, with other Labyrinth and David Bowie fans (big hugs to all of you! *Hugs*). I'm happy that, even though he's passed, he'll never be truly gone as long as we always remember him and love him. I'm happy for all of the inspiration I've gotten through Labyrinth and David Bowie. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, he's inspired me to try to "let loose" more and be more carefree and that silliness can be a good thing-it helps us laugh and be happy. He's inspired me to keep doing what I love, regardless of what anyone else thinks, and to always try to remain down-to-earth and be proud of who I am (my doll collecting/playing has helped with some of these as well).
And while my recent heavy playing of his music will likely wane again sometime, I know it won't be forever. It'll wax again at some point too, same with all the other music I love). I'll always keep my favorite Bowie songs on my playlist. Just as with all the other celebrities who have passed, that I love, a part of David Bowie will always be in my heart. Who knows, maybe someday we'll meet in another world-we'll hang out and party and sing together. Hopefully he's looking down on all of us, from Heaven. And we'll all keep dancing our own Magic Dance, just as I'm sure he's still doing.
PS. Another of the many reasons why David Bowie was and will always be awesome and why I'll always <3 him-he was a lefty like me (I think I'm more cross-dominant as I do some things lefty and some things righty and a couple either...but the point is we both wrote/write left-handed)!
PPS: While there might be more that I could think of to add, I think this is most of it. Feel free to reminisce with me.