Rococo (/rəˈkoʊkoʊ/ or /roʊkəˈkoʊ/), less commonly roccoco, also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century artistic movement and style, which affected several aspects of the arts including painting, sculpture, architecture, interior design, decoration, literature, music and theatre. The Rococo developed in the early part of the 18th century in Paris, France as a reaction against the grandeur, symmetry and strict regulations of the Baroque, especially that of the Palace of Versailles. In such a way, Rococo artists opted for a more jocular, florid and graceful approach to Baroque art and architecture. Rococo art and architecture in such a way was ornate and made strong usage of creamy, pastel-like colours, asymmetrical designs, curves and gold. Unlike the more politically focused Baroque, the Rococo had more playful and often witty artistic themes. With regards to interior decoration, Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings. The Rococo additionally played an important role in theatre. In the book The Rococo, it is written that there was no other culture which "has produced a wittier, more elegant, and teasing dialogue full of elusive and camouflaging language and gestures, refined feelings and subtle criticism" than Rococo theatre, especially that of France.
Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Ma is regarded by some as the most famous cellist of the modern age.
Yo-Yo Ma was born in Paris on October 7, 1955, to Chinese parents and had a musical upbringing. His mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a violinist and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University. His family moved to New York when he was five years old.
At a very young age, Ma began studying violin, and later viola, before settling on the cello in 1960 at age four. According to Ma, his first choice was the double bass due to its large size, but he compromised and took up cello instead. The child prodigy began performing before audiences at age five, and performed for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was seven. At age eight, he appeared on American television with his sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Ma attended Trinity School in New York but transferred to the Professional Children's School which he graduated at fifteen years of age. He appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in a performance of the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations.
Plot
After a suicide attempt, Lucas, a young homeless man in New York City, is taken in by Jacques, the gruff owner of a small bar. Jacques is on his fifth or sixth heart attack, and he wants Lucas to run the bar after he dies. Jacques has many rules: don't be friendly, don't serve walk-ins, no food or flowers or candles, put the cash in the freezer every night. Lucas, on the other hand, has a good heart: he gives his money away, he talks to customers, and, when April, a young French woman who has washed out of flight-attendant school, enters the bar chilled to the bone, Lucas takes her in. If Jacques won't tolerate April, what will Lucas do?
Keywords: animal-sex, bad-temper, bar, barbershop, bartender, beach, birthday-cake, blood, bloody-mary, bloody-nose
Everyone needs a refuge from the world.
Jacques: I don't really feel like eating an animal tonight. Can't you prepare something without a face? Like an octopus or something?
Jacques: Women can seem cute and charming on the surface, but underneath they're the same universal bitch.
Jacques: [watching April while instructing Lucas in the art of bar-tendering] You should be taking notes here, Lucas. You need to be more of a bitch yourself, you're too nice. You see, we're not here to save people, we're here to destroy them.
Psychiatrist: Why did you try suicide?::Lucas: Well, you know, when it comes to survival of the fittest, I just have to throw in the towel, I guess.::Psychiatrist: But you're not an animal, Lucas, you're a human being. You live in highly developed society that has all kinds of buffers and security nets that are designed to break your fall.::Lucas: No, I don't follow the rules of civilization anymore. I'm outside. I'm an animal.
Jacques: The closest I've come to sexual activity is brushing my teeth.
Lucas: Never remove an empty glass. It is the customer's history, a track record of his state of mind, an important documentation which should not be fixed nor falsified.
Jacques: You're doin' all right, Lucas, but you still got a lot to learn. We gotta work on your attitude. I mean, you're not a natural when it comes to hostility and arrogance but, given time, it'll come.
Doctor Lipinski: So, how are you feeling these days?::Jacques: Doubt. Fear. Pain. Anxiety. Distraction. Nervousness. Horror, fright, panic, dread, terror. Trepidation. I feel like a goddamn thesaurus.
Doctor Lipinski: There's a reason we call you a patient, you know, and that's because you have to be patient.
Jacques: This is a bar, and by definition the capacity of a bar cannot exceed 13 people. Think Jesus and his apostles.
Let's go downtown and watch the modern kids
Let's go downtown and talk to the modern kids
They will eat right out of your hand
Using great big words that they don't understand
They say
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
They build it up just to burn it back down
They build it up just to burn it back down
The wind is blowing all the ashes around
Oh my dear god what is that horrible song they're singing
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo!
Rococo!
They seem wild but they are so tame
They seem wild but they are so tame
They're moving towards you with their colors all the same
They want to own you but they don't know what game they're playing
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo!
Rococo!
(Rococo)
(Rococo)
Rococo!
Rococo!
(Rococo)
(Rococo)