Skins UK

“Just say NO to the American version of Skins.”- Afterlife. Similar criticisms and hesitations have been written about the U.S remake of the UK television series Skins, a TV show set in Britain about a group of young friends who enjoy the occasional party, drugs that are a little more intense than weed, and having sex for the hell of it. The U.S. version is set to premiere on MTV in January 2011. When contrasting between the two different versions of the same series, some critics have been concerned with censorship. The U.S. has guidelines that are far more strict than in the UK because lets face it, America is lead by a bunch of prudes telling us what is and isn’t good for us. With fans of the original taking to the internet to bad mouth the upcoming remake, it makes one who has never seen the original curious and wanting to know what the big ‘effin deal is?

Season one, episode one begins with lady’s man Tony waking up to terrorize his father and help his sister, who looks cracked out, sneak back inside undetected. Just by the demeanor of this character you can tell he is a wise cracking smart-ass. The rest of his day is spent going to class and attempting to help his best friend Sid lose his virginity before he turns 17. What a good friend, right? Not quite. The purpose behind such a task is due to if Sid doesn’t have sex before his birthday, he will lose Tony’s friendship because “it’s embarrassing.” With the help of Tony’s girlfriend Michelle, who Sid is in love with,  they pawn him off on a girl named Cassie who isn’t crazy, she’s just “not allowed to handle knives.” Such details make for an exciting plot that you want to be as twisted as the storyline of Larry Clark’s Kids, but the entire 60 minute comes up short until the near end of the episode when Cassie takes a shit load of pills. Something about this show makes you want to turn it off from boredom, but won’t because you’re desperate for it to get better. Small perks of the first season are recognizing small characters such as Anwar, played by Dev Patel who broke out in the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

One shouldn’t judge a whole series by its first episode, but first impressions can be lasting as well as deadly. The UK version of Skins first episode didn’t start the series off with a bang. Boo-hoo, a young kid is still a virgin and is wanting to have sex. That’s nothing we haven’t heard back here in the states with a movie like American Pie. With the characters changing each season, the show is reminiscent of our own Degrassi that has its own constant changing list of characters. With the content of the show dealing with reckless young adults, it is hard to see how a network like MTV who loves to exploit the more fucked up side of today’s youth with such reality shows as 16 & Pregnant or Teen Mom could butcher such a show. With someone like John Waters being added to our own U.S. version of Skins, that has to give viewers some hope.

The Aqua Building

 Approaching the Aqua building located at 225 N. Columbus Drive, it is hard not to notice. It stands out from boring, brown brick buildings such as the Columbus Plaza and The Fairmont located across the street. Aqua is sleek and interesting with  uneven, wave-like balconies that are ironic to it's name. The design was inspired by the Great Lakes and pays homage to our own Lake Michigan. If it wasn't for it's inspiration, it would be easy to classify Aqua with other skyscrapers such as Trump Towers, which some consider to be what's becoming wrong with modern day Chicago architecture.

 If one were to walk around the corner and go north on Michigan Avenue, you would see such buildings as the Wrigley Building or where WGN Radio is located. Such structures are "old school" and their looks are classical. If you continue going north, you'll come across the Michigan Avenue Pumping Station that survived the Great Chicago Fire. This is the architecture that represents Chicago. Is it possible to compare Aqua to such buildings? Not quite. But Aqua is able to hold it's own. Such buildings are sacred to Chicago because of their history and where Aqua may be lacking in such, it is made up for with it's details. It is the tallest skyscraper to be designed by a woman, Jeanne Gang. It was given the Emporis Skyscraper Award 2009 skyscraper of the year. The building contains 55,000 square feet of office space, 215 hotel rooms, 476 rental units, and 263 condos as well as Penthouses.  Aqua was built with a rainwater collection system and a green roof that is the largest in Chicago. More on the luxurious side, there are accommodations such as a fitness area, hot tub, pool, and garden area. Aqua may not have a classical look, but it will certainly help add to the positive reputation of this city.

 Without knowing the story behind such a building, it is easy to pass of the Aqua as just another condo building that only the wealthy can afford. It isn't hard for it to stand out with the new-wave design in contrast to the dated buildings of it's surroundings. Does Aqua stand out for it's sleek design, or as a sore thumb? That is in the eye of it's viewers. You can love this building, you can hate it, or you can walk right by it without taking notice to it. The Aqua building has potential to become a popular structure within the city, but because of it's lack of solidarity, it doesn't have the potential to become a building that is associated with Chicago such as the John Hancock or the Sears Tower.

Jackson Pollock- Galaxy (Negative)

 The only difference between Jackson Pollock and Jim Morrison is Pollock was a painter and Morrison was a musician, but both of them were raging alcoholics who works were praised by others. One has to ask though, if you took away the crazy, would they still be good?

Jackson Pollock would spend his time standing around his canvas, splattering paint all over it. Is it really fair to call that art? Especially since all of Pollock's paintings are similar and just seem like a continuum of one another. In his work Galaxy, Pollock's color choice helps this painting to stand out from the rest. This detail making it the only exception, but still no better.  What was he trying to represent? This piece of work in no way is a resemblance of a galaxy, but more of a bad paint job in a cheesy night club from the 1980's. Jackson was considered an abstract expressionist but Galaxy, along with other works, if proof that Pollock was expressing his true self, and that self was insane.

Jackson Pollock- Galaxy (Positive)

Unrestricted by four corners of a canvas, Jackson Pollock had an interesting technique. What was on the canvas wasn't important, but the action of HOW it got there. The abstract expressionist also had an interesting way on naming his work. Instead of giving his art elaborate titles, he would use numbers or name it for what it was. He wanted his viewers to "...look passively and try to receive what the painting has to offer and not bring a subject matter or preconceived idea of what they are to be looking for." In his work Galaxy, 1947, outer space is exactly what Pollock gives his viewers.

 His color choice is complimentary, mixing black and metallic's with primary and secondary colors to create a solar system. This particular painting is exceptional in that it is both aesthetically pleasing and causes the use of one's imagination. At first glance, Galaxy appears as just a bunch of paint splattered onto a canvas. Not so bad, but then you start to see the formation of planets and constellations. Galaxy is proof that Pollock was on to something unique and his art was individualistic. Pollock's work makes his viewers curious as to what in the hell is going in his mind.