Archive for the ‘Arts & Entertainment’ Category
Hyper-realistic sculptures
November 27, 2009
On giving thanks…
November 26, 2009You’ve been so kind and generous, I don’t know how you keep on giving. For your kindness, I’m in debt to you. For your selflessness, my admiration. For everything you’ve done, you know I’m bound, I’m bound to thank you for it.
Kind and Generous – Natalie Merchant
You’ve been so kind and generous, I don’t know how you keep on giving. For your kindness, I’m in debt to you. And I never could have come this far without you. For everything you’ve done, you know I’m bound, I’m bound to thank you for it.
Oh, I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness. I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me. I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you. I want to thank you.
Thank you, thank you…
CalTrans working over Labor Day weekend
September 14, 2009
Blockbuster weekend
August 23, 2009I am the first to admit, I prefer indie films over blockbusters. So what possessed me to step outside my comfort zone? Not sure. Yesterday I saw two blockbusters: G.I. Joe and District 9.
Weeks ago I promised to take my 7-year old nephew to see G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra, and he incessantly reminded me of my promise until I finally caved in. Yesterday morning, I kept my word. Two hours of military crafts and spies and ships and guns and muscles and rockets and bullets and armored suits and submarines and explosions and martial arts and enough already! The theatre was less than 10% full, and after 10-minutes into the film, I leaned over to the kid and said, “You know what… I think this movie is too violent.” And he said, “I know it’s all fake. Just like the cartoon.”
Fair enough. Best 90 minute nap I’ve taken in a long time. My favorite part of the movie… the preview for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.
Later that night, I went with Jenny and George Michael to see another film at the SAME theater – District 9. Sold out show. As I walked into the theatre, I was expecting “Starship Troopers on Earth” — don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Starship Troopers. Peter Jackson proved my wrong. Two hours of robot-like aliens and guns and mutant regeneration and alien blood and human puke and weapons blowing off heads and and a gigantic space craft hovering over a ghetto… No napping through this one. And it looked like it was shot with three cameras and no tripods. Loved it.
To round off the weekend of sloth, I think I’ll throw on a baseball cap and flip flops and go see Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards.
PCE Release Party
August 20, 2009
Porkchop Express’s Fault Lines & Good Times just dropped, and Thursday night’s CD release party was a rockin’ good time. Rumor has it they will be the first opening band for Def Leppard’s SF/Mtn View show, along with Cheap Trick and Poison. THAT would be HUGE.
It's HUGE!
ELEW = Eric Lewis
May 31, 2009
“Mr Brightside” at the DNA Lounge
Eric Lewis (aka ELEW). Mir Brightside. Sick.
Here in Your Arms
Mr Brightside – remixed
May 9, 2009
Great remix of The Killers “Mr Brightside” …
I know the intro is long, wait for it. You’ll love it.
iPhone MADNESS
March 8, 2009
Live iPhone musical performance — “Kids”
by MGMT played on iPhones and iPod Touches
These geeky gadget girls ROCK!
Radiohead’s NUDE remixed by AMP_LIVE
February 26, 2009
Download RA DIOHEA_D RAINYDAYZ REMIXES
Nude(z)
Radiohead remix by AMP_LIVE ft. Too $hort & MC Zumbi
Video footage from the Radiohead film Scotch Mist
Radiohead & Apm_Live
Do you BAMBOO?
February 21, 2009
My grandmother lived in a BAMBOO nipa hut
My dad is the youngest of 10 kids. My grandmother survived her husband more than 40 years. She never remarried. While she rolled her own cigarettes and drank dark beer every day, she lived for more than a century. She loved life. On her 102nd birthday, she insisted she was 110 and that no one can prove her wrong. She lived most of her life in a provincial town in the Philippines. Even when a 3 bedroom house was built on her land, she insisted on spending most of her indoor time in her bamboo nipa hut built on stilts. I will write more about her in the future.
BAMBOO is not a tree, it’s grass
Bamboo is fast-growing and durable. Some can grow up to 24 inches per day. It can be harvested in 3 years to make hardwood, unlike 15 years for most trees. There are close to 1,000 species of bamboo that can be found around the world in diverse regions – from cold mountains to hot tropics. Many of us may see bamboo as garden decor, but it’s also extensively used as building material and a food source.
CNN recently published a video that highlights bamboo.
Watch the CNN video – http://tr.im/bamboovideo
More BAMBOO
The ASUS Ecobook BAMBOO Laptop
BAMBOO – the rock band
This American Life… perfect for rainy days
February 15, 2009
Rainy days are perfect for catching up on podcasts. Familiar voices can be like comfort food. Such is the case with Ira Glass, host of This American Life. Some rainy days I go back and re-listen to old favorites.
Today I went back a few years to Episode 281: My Big Break.
Skip to Act Three: Oedipus Hex – Shalom Auslander reads his true story, “The Blessing Bee.” It’s like a spelling bee, but instead of words, kids compete reciting complicated Hebrew blessings said before eating certain foods.
It tickles me every time Auslandert gratuitously throws in quick admissions of all the sins he committed as a kid. Watch Auslander’s video – Foreskin’s Lament.
What are your favorite podcasts? Leave a comment
More on Kurt Vonnegut…
February 8, 2009
From channel — http://www.youtube.com/GottfriedGeist. There’s a playlist of 8 Vonnegut videos. Amazing!
( Reposting some previous Vonnegut… )
Slaughterhouse Five is the first book I read by Kurt Vonnegut, an definitely not the last. It’s the story of Billy Pilgrim. My initial thoughts about this name—BILLY is the name of someone fun and approachable. I never met a Billy who was a jerk. PILGRIM is a someone on a religious journey or an a quest to find something new or sacred, like the pilgrims on the Mayflower. Well, this Billy Pilgrim is an eye doctor who is sent to fight in World War II. He becomes unstuck in time and travels to and from different stages of his life and the far far off planet of Tralfamadore, where he is caged with a Hollywood pornstar for observation and on display in a Tralfamadorian zoo.
So it goes. Thank you, Kurt Vonnegut, for challenging me to think for myself and encouraging me to occasionally go “elsewhere.” You are one of the main reasons I enjoy reading.
Borrowing Money
January 25, 2009
Borrowing Money in Plain English… the latest from our friends at Common Craft. Perhaps this should be included with every loan application, so people understand the concept of loans, term benefits, flexibility (if any), and consequences if they fail their commitment.
Saving Money
January 21, 2009
These Common Craft vids are awesome. Saving Money in Plain English is awesome. Just plain awesome.
If I were to make my own CC vid that represents how I manage my money, it would be… If I Have Cash in My Wallet, I Will Spend It… In Plain Engkish.
You’re a Christian Boy and you can’t say No…
December 24, 2008
For all of us still stuck in the 80’s, here’s a rage gem. Robert Seidler’s “Christian Boy” features that hard to forget chorus haunt “No more scooter rides in the cemetery.”
The actually content doesn’t start until 30+ seconds into the clip. And towards the end he breaks out those signature 80’s moves. Even better than Molly Ringwald in “The Breakfast Club” - See below.
Y-Love? B-Cuz…
December 20, 2008
Orthodox rapper Y-Love and beatbox superstar Yuri Lane create all their music non-instrumentally. Here is a clip from an improvised piece filmed on a handheld at their CD release party for Count It, their Sefira album. (From youtube channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/modular)
Rollins Uncut – Israel
December 3, 2008Annyong.
November 14, 2008
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds—Set List
September 20, 2008
Sept. 19, 2008 / The Warfield San Francisco CA
- Night of the Lotus Eaters
- Dig, Lazarus, Dig
- Tupelo
- Today’s Lesson
- Red Right Hand
- I Let Love In
- When Numbers Get Serious
- Mercy Seat
- Deanna
- Moonlight
- The Ship Song
- We Call Upon the Author
- Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry (my favorite song of the night)
- More News From Nowhere
Encore:
- The Lyre of Orpheus
- Into My Arms
- Get Ready For Love
- Hard On for LoveGod is in the House
- Stagger Lee
The gods grew quite scared…
September 20, 2008Some of you may know I studied the Classics at UCLA—ancient Greek art, architecture and literature. One of my favorite stories is told in Plato’s Symposium. The comic playwright Aristophanes tells the story of the Origin of Love.
In John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig & the Angry Inch, they put it to music and animate it. It’s pretty awesome. I also found a video where someone illustrates the story on the actual pages of a Penguin paperback.
The Origin of Love
Clip from the film Hedwig & the Angry Inch
Video that illustrates the story
