Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Buchla Music Easel

Those with even a passing interest in sound synthesis and/or the bending of circuits owe it to themselves to check out the following video, also available in HD.



via Music Thing

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Sanshô dayû

Shanso the Bailiff
(Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)

Family (royal) torn asunder, sold into servitude.

Second viewing of this fellow. Amazing stuff. Pretty freakin' heavy tho. I can see where most aren't going to like since they'll have to think while watching. Makes a stitch of sense why the ancient French dug on this shiz. Feminist types should enjoy for study of women's role in JP society. Heavy on social commentary on other levels as well. Might be the first old JP film I've seen where I did not recognize any of the actors. Feels longer than it is. BEAUTIFULLY shot. Dialog is pretty sharp, recall the same for umm... what was it... Ugetsu monogatari (which got me a bit emotional and the Books have sampled).

RECOMMENDED (but more for academically minded)

nnnnaaaahhnrgh nrrrr

Dead Man's Shoes
(Shane Medows, 2004)

Vengeance exacted on retard's behalf.

What a lovely little corner of the world the British Isles are! Wonderful costuming. Seemingly appropriate musical scoring. Totally sweet bolt action action! Best usage of the word cunt in a film from 2004, I'm sure. All characters are very "so-what" or nobodies. A story that could be anywhere really, but something more interesting about it being quieter versus big city. Shades of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, perhaps?

Recommended

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Ay, there's The Rub


NYC-based hip-hop DJ collective The Rub have apparently been hard at work on a series of historical mixtapes—one for each year since 1979. More importantly, all of the releases, which so far stretch to the end of the millenium, can be had on mp3 at their website for frizzle.

via RapidShare

Thursday, March 13, 2008

No End in Sight

(Charles Ferguson, 2007)

Outlines the poor decision process which yields today's Iraq.

Documentary. So pretty much goes into detail about various poor choices which has made Iraq an absolute cluster fuck. Lessee... from the film it doesn't look like the administration was in it for oil, democratization, uh, peacekeeping? More like somebody just really really really had the need to beat down Saddam and didn't think about anything else. Fortunately, no weird 3D photos in this one. Fairly mellow soundtrack, could have used a bit more ambient sound. Bit heavy handed w/ montages at the fore and aft. Just give me the plump, I do not require the appeal to emotions. That will be handled thru media snippets and interviews. None of the interviewees came across as wackos. Sane, straight forward presentation. No sensationalism. Suggest watching also The Power of Nightmares.

Recommended

Crazy Love

(Dan Klores, 2007)

Loose nut gets woman to cave.

TRUE STORY. DOCUMENTARY. Yeah, well probably the best example of not letting go until the goal has been obtained, despite the lives ruined along the way. Ah... New York Jews don't age well? Like these people were uglier than usual. And then there was the fellow who looked a bit like the character art from the flop gaming title Kain & Lynch. Hrm, pretty standard documentary fare. Awesome soundtrack (until the end). Cool photos, however, many of them were ruined by that "let's make them look 3D and zoom around in them and stuff" manner which I guess is supposed to attract attention. Felt odd, as though the documentary wants you to sympathize and be cool about how things turned out. Sad really.

Not recommended

Det Sejunde Inseglet

The Seventh Seal
(Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

Doubtful Crusader seeks respite to seek knowledge in the face of the plauge.

But really the star character is the squire. Tough, true to his, witty, and centered. All aspects of the story feel well developed. AND HOLY COW! What they've to say about SVENSK ladies is true... even the kinda ugly one is still pretty hot. Dialouge is sharp! Esp betwixt death and Antonius Block (raddest name ever) & to a fairly even degree just about anything his squire utters. Stark, well composed, no need for cultural knowledge.

Recommended

GIZMO

Got 80 minutes to kill? You do now. YEAH....

hot/cold chicken noodle salad

1) bake some chicken yesterday
1a) hopefully you put it in the fridge, otherwise FAIL
2) today, boil your fav noodle, but not too long. firmness is desirable
3) get out chicken and cut into pieces that are pleasing to you
4) drain noodles and let sit until you get bored
5) put noodles in a receptacle appropriate for eating
6) add red pepper flakes (like pizza joint) to noodles
7) add chicken bits
8) add pepper to the top of it all
9) observe your creation
10) masticate

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Baby Dee @ the Triple Door 2/11/08



I won't bother recapping here, since the full review is available over at mel.opho.be.