The Bardot Quarterly

International Dance Day is almost here! And Brigitte Bardot is getting ready early this year!

 She knows she's going to appear on Shades of Gray in half-a-dozen or so posts this year, so she knows there will be more people watching than usual in these parts. She's practicing extra hard and studying the routines, so she can make the best possible impression on visitors!

Um... maybe we spoke too soon. But at least she'll be driving home the unifying theme of the blog today!

   

Musical Monday with Zeinapur

Zeinapur is a musical duo that delivers pop music with an alternative edge and an almost operatic quality at times. And then there's the excellent guitar work. In this video for their 2021 single "Miracle", they also demonstrate this blog's unifying theme.

Happy Birthday to Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis, one of the few who began acting as a child and managed to maintain a thriving career into adulthood, turns 40 years old today. We celebrate by bringing out photos of her through the years!

Happy birthday to Sarah Jones!

American actress Sarah Jones turns 40 years old today. She is perhaps best known for her roles in television series such as "For All Mankind" (2019-2021), "Damnation" (2017-2019), and the Shades of Gray favorite--but a love not shared by many--"Alcatraz" (2012).

 

While we observer her birthday with a few pictures, we're also going to take the opportunity to demonstrate the Unifying Theme!

 

What are the dancers doing now that it's Spring?

On International Dance Day 2022, the ballerinas ran off into the wild. We're trying to keep track of them, and we'll try to bring you updates on the last Wednesday of each month until International Dance Day 2023.

And now that winter is ending, and Spring has arrived, we're checking in to see what's up with the ballerinas.

We have discovered that some are dancing around their favorite trees, encouraging leaves to grow. (While also demonstrating the Unifying Theme here at Shades of Gray.)

Some of the ballerinas have also come back inside, so they can properly prepare for International Dance Day 2023, which is one month away!

Musical Monday with Andrew Bird

Singer/songwriter Andrew Bird is a man of many talents and musical genres. His songs and performances run the gamut from folk music to indie rock to swing, and whatever genre he and his four-piece band are tackling, it is done masterfully.

His recent video and single, "Atomized", is no exception. It's a quirky tune with lyrics that speak powerfully to the current state of our culture and the impossible situation professional creative people are in (and even increasingly just regular people). The video underscores the message perfectly... and it also serves as an illustration of the unifying theme around here!

Check it out by clicking below. (And if you like it, consider supporting Mr. Bird by getting a copy of his latest album, Inside Problems.)

Atomized (2022)

Starring: Andrew Bird

Director: M.D. Siskin

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Musical Monday with Pale Waves

 

Manchester-based Pale Waves is an indie/punk rock band that's been performing and touring together since 2014. They've just released their third studio album--"Unwanted"--and we're happy to bring you this great music video made to support it. (It's a great punk/pop tune... and to make it even better, the video also serves as a visual example of the unifying theme here at Shades of Gray.)

"Unwanted" can presently be streamed on various platforms, including Amazon Prime Music, and it will be available on CD on August 26, 2022.

Musical Monday with will.i.am

Bang Bang (2013)
Starring: will.i.am and Shelby "Cobra" Spalione
Director: Igor Kovalik
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

In 2012, a physicist threw 80 years worth of musical recordings into the Slaughter Valley Super-Collider and accelerated them to be speed of light. They emerged as a single, unified masterpiece that embodies the spirit of Shades of Gray. 

Click below to witness the Unifying Theme of Shades of Gray in moving pictures and music!

The Milla Jovovich Quarterly

Milla Jovovich has been a mainstay of this blog since its first full year of operation in 2010. Even during the quiet period between 2012 and 2017, where less than 100 posts were made each year, we got at least one Milla post in.

As previously mentioned in this space, we've been fans of Milla Jovovich since we first encountered her in "The Fifth Element" and there we've yet to see her in a movie that we completely hated. (Even if "Million Dollar Hotel" came perilously close to earning that dubious honor...) Thankfully, since she's always split her time between modeling and acting, there's an abundance of photos of her to feature, and we've always had plenty of material to work with for straight picture posts, or from which to draw inspiration for more elaborate efforts such as this or this.

While we are hesitant to make predictions about what 2022 will bring, we feel confident that Milla will show up here every few months... in black...

... and white.

The Swank Quarterly

 Yesterday, we were thankful. Today, we are grateful... for Hilary Swank being able to demonstrate the Unifying Theme of Shades of Gray.

Picture Perfect Wednesday with Rose McIver

Born in 1988, Rose McIver hails from New Zealand. She's been a professional actress and model her entire life, getting her start while just a toddler and making a successful transition from child performer into adult star while carving something of a niche for herself in roles in television series with a sci-fi/fantasy bent: She's played a teen trying to save her world from destruction ("Maddigan's Quest", 2006), took a turn as a Power Ranger ("Power Rangers RPM", 2009), had a recurring role as Tinkerbelle on "Once Upon A Time" (2013-2017), and played an undead, brain-eating crime-solver ("iZombie", 2015-2019). As of this post, she is starring in the U.S. version of the sit-com "Ghosts" (2021), where she's a young woman who can see dead people and who lives in a very, VERY haunted house.

The Unifying Theme with Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba is here on this Picture Perfect Wednesday to demonstrate the Unifying Theme at Shades of Gray.

The Unifying Theme with Emily Ratajkowski

Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski is visiting us to demonstrate the unifying theme of Shades of Gray.

Picture Perfect Special with Salma Hayek

Celebrated Mexican actress Salma Hayek turns 55 today, September 2, 2021. We extend our best birthday wishes to her and celebrate this milestone with a few pictures that demonstrate the Unifying Theme.

Picture Perfect Wednesday with Zheng Shuang

Chinese actress Zheng Shuang has brought down the ire of the totalitarian "Communist" government of her nation for, as far as I can tell, being too popular. They've come down on her harder than they did on those infected with a virus that didn't even infect humans in Wuhan, with trumped up scandals and tax evasion charges. They've also literally cancelled her by banning a television series she's in from state-run television and commanded producers to no longer hire her for their films and movies.

So, it seems like a perfect time to feature some pictures of her here on Shades of Gray while reminding everyone of the Unifying Theme.