Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:51:58 GMT
Unstable Politics and Unstoppable Flair
by Vadim Rizov
In 1986, Tony Scott directed
Top Gun, whose immaculate fetishization of military hardware was in part necessitated by the Pentagon"s involvement, and whose objective success in delivering a coherent, uncomplicated message was validated by the Navy setting up recruitment booths in theaters. In 2006, Scott made
Deja Vu, in which a Jesus freak blows up a ferry. The two films couldn"t be further apart politically, suggesting Tony Scott simply just doesn"t care what his material is; he wants to make a film whenever he can. That doesn"t make him an auteur prone to, say, rewriting Vertigo, as a remarkably overreaching essay by Mark Peranson and Christoph Huber claimed 5 years ago, comparing him not just to Hitchcock but Numero Deux-era Godard to boot. It means his visual interests aren"t yoked in any particular way to what he"s working on.
It"s necessary to dismiss any and all of Scott"s directorial statements: he may claim "all my pieces are character-driven," but most artists need to delude themselves and/or talk massive amounts of shit to keep working. (See also West, Kanye.) Scott may not be an artiste, but he"s certainly a conscientious technician: all his movies are visually massaged to death, to alternately enthralling and smothering effect. The clunkier parts of Unstoppable are like an uncredited mashup of
Apollo 13 and
Armageddon: Rosario Dawson yelling like Billy Bob Thornton about a train "the size of the Chrysler Building," then a finale that cuts prematurely to crowds cheering on the heroic rescue, well aware they"re in a movie where nothing could go seriously wrong. The best parts are, alternately, about things getting destroyed and the underpaid people controlling them.
Posted by: ahillis Read more Source
Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:01:11 GMT
Plot 94
Finally, I’m back home and able to blog. But not before going to the Southside Community Land Trust’s plant sale and loading up on organically grown vegetables to plant at my garden plot at Fox Point Community garden.
I was so excited to be back home, with beautiful weather that was perfect for plant shopping and planting. SCLT has a great, two-day annual plant sale and we saw lots of people we knew. It was a great feeling to be planting again.
We planted a two kinds of tomatoes–a kind that fruits early for northern climates as well as cherries–as well as cucumbers, basil, epazote, spinach, swiss chard, hot peppers, and even a couple of stalks of corn for good measure. I threw in a corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) just for the heck of it. Here’s what it all looked like at the end of the day.
I took some more photos of the whole garden–not just my little plot but the whole community garden itself. I’ll post those in a day or two. It’s a pretty funky little garden and I’m happy to be there!
Posted by: Caroline Brown Read more Source
Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:54:30 GMT
Radley Metzger
81-year-old filmmaker and distributor Radley Metzger has never been an artist who chased cheap thrills. Until the sea change of the "70s, when theatrically-released erotica was rejected in favor of hardcore pornography like Deep Throat, Metzger gained international acclaim for directing sophisticated, literate and lavishly stylized erotic films like
The Lickerish Quartet,
Camille 2000 and Therese and Isabelle. This week, Metzger"s 1972 milestone Score, a film that Interview once said "hilariously hits the bull"s-eye of bisexual chic," has been made available and uncut for the first on DVD/Blu-ray from Cult Epics:
SCORE is based on a 1971 hit Off-Broadway play that follows the erotic exploits of a happily married swinging couple (Claire Wilbur and Gerald Grant) who make a bet that they can seduce a couple of naïve young newlyweds during a weekend get-together at their luxury Riviera Villa. The young couple is played by Lynn Lowry, who starred in the horror classics THE CRAZIES and I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, and Cal Culver, who became an early gay icon thanks to his standout performance in BOYS IN THE SAND.
Though he rarely does interviews, Metzger agreed to meet me over a two-egg brunch on the Upper East Side, where we talked about "nudging the envelope," Sylvester Stallone, transplanting the stage play from a Queens apartment to a hamlet in Croatia, and why he hates me (but not really).
To listen to the podcast, click here. (20:06)
Podcast Music
INTRO: Unknown artist: "Where is the Girl?" (from Score)
OUTRO: Piero Piccioni: "Easy Lovers" (from Camille 2000)
Posted by: ahillis Read more Source
Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:57:58 GMT
Walden
I was sitting on the front porch of the cabin, reading Walden. On my iPad. Actually, it’s become more of Libby’s iPad, which doesn’t bug me too much.
We took the iPad with us when we spent the night at the cabin a couple of weeks ago. Not having electricity out there, we don’t have reading lamps, so when night fell, we were pretty much restricted by what we were left able to do in the dark. Not so with a back-lit ebook reader, however.
It’s a novelty. The iPad, aside from being an ebook reader, does nothing my laptop can’t also do (and do better). And as a book reader, it doesn’t do much that a paperback can’t do as well. (So far, the only thing I’ve found that the iPad can do while I am reading is look up words I don’t know the definition of, which is certainly the case when I’m reading Walden.) But I’ve dropped plenty of paperbacks and they still work fine when I pick them up. And I’ve never had a low battery message on a paperback. And I could even throw a paperback across the room if I hated it.
I’m reluctant to get sucked into the new book marketing paradigm. The iPad can use some of the services and not others. (For example, I can’t download any books from my local library onto it.) The services I have looked into seem pop culture heavy. I’m unlikely to read the latest bestseller, but the novelists I am interested in aren’t available on the services I’ve looked into. I suppose I could find them, but do I want to?
I’ve found that I cannot read out at the cabin. Too much is going on. I want to watch the woods and the lake. I am constantly listening to the birds and the breeze. When I’m out there I’m always thinking of the next thing I can go do or how much I can enjoy the stupor provided by the comfy chairs.
Like most things, though, Pablo will likely evolve.
Missouri calendar:
- Bobolinks migrate from Argentina and some nest in northern Missouri.
Posted by: Roundrockjournal Read more Source
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:40:17 GMT
In Defense of Michael Cera
by Vadim Rizov
Screen comics tend to have shorter and shorter life cycles, as their one schtick gets overexposed, leading to their quick relegation to supporting parts and, eventually, the scaly world of direct-to-video. Thus went Chevy Chase (decried as lazy and contemptuous of his audience), Pauly Shore (no need to recap the obvious) and now Michael Cera, whose commercial and critical track records are flatlining. Ever since Superbad, his career has consisted of movies practically calculated to irritate people who think "hipster" is the most insulting pejorative ever (Juno, Nick & Norah"s Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, Paper Heart and now Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), lest we also forget the whole Year One fiasco. The animosity he arouses in critics-or at least bloggers-is remarkable, and terribly misguided.
"Michael Cera annoying" is its own Google auto-complete entry. Negative reviews of Scott Pilgrim have decried Cera"s "singular note of tiresome twee-ness," which is a concise way of synopsizing the charges. What anti-Cera haters decry is his (presumable) lack of range and his tendency to (for lack of a better term) play man-boys. So, apparently, we"re not only drowning in a culture of men who play cute to avoid responsibility (John Krasinski gets accused of this all the time), but his routine is tiresome and sub-adult. That raises a few questions: is Cera"s range that narrow, is he really that un-self-aware, and is what he"s good at worth doing?
Posted by: ahillis Read more Source
Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:17:12 GMT
Even Small Businesses Need Professionally Printed Marketing Materials
If you are running a small business, you want to be able to present yourself in a professional manner. Your current and potential customers want to feel comfortable knowing they are working with an established business that will provide quality service and products. They don't want to worry about giving their business to a fly by night establishment that will take their money and run. Having professionally printed marketing materials such as business cards and
brochures can help you establish credibility with the customer.
Handing a potential client a professionally printed business card will make a strong first impression. Naturally, business cards should contain pertinent information such as your company name, your name, and all the relevant contact information. Coupling your business card with a well thought out brochure can give you a much needed double punch. A brochure should contain information about your company, services and products that are provided, and ideally it should help to answer questions that may arise. Including visuals such as product photos and logos can help give your brochure a polished appearance.
Don't skimp on these marketing materials. Using your home printer to produce a business card or a brochure isn't worth the time and effort. You'll probably spend more on toner than you would if placed an order with an online printer. Business cards and brochures can be printed inexpensively and can be ordered in small quantities.
Posted by: Jennifer Read more Source
Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:40:35 GMT
Rust never sleeps
Rust never sleeps, so the old saying goes. In this case it’s cedar apple rust, a fungal infection that is commonly manifest in many parts of the country this time of the year.
I haven’t seen a lot of cedar apple rust in my woods through the years, though I would expect to; I have plenty of cedar trees. The specimen you see above is the only one I came across this year, and I had rambled through a good part of my woods during my recent planting adventures. This one is on one of the cedars just below the cabin. I could see its orange glow from the comfy chair, this despite the fact that there was nothing that you could call sunshine for most of that weekend we were there.
I had always thought that this infection was spread by the feet of little birdies, and I suppose it can be as well, but apparently the more common dispersal method is through free-floating spores. Didn’t know that, and this led me to ask myself a question. Is this the same rust as the one that infects hawthorn trees? I’d always understood it to be the case, but now I wonder.
I’ve long wanted to plant hawthorn trees at Roundrock. They are great for the critters, providing food and lodging as well as giving a nice spray of flowers in the late spring and bright red fruits in the fall. The hawthorn blossom is the official flower of the great state of Missouri. But I have resisted planting them, even though they are regularly available from the Conservation Department each year, because I had understood that they could get heavily infected with the rust if they are grown near cedars. (I’ve heard the same thing about apple trees.) Over at that other bit of Ozark forest we used to own we had no cedar trees (nor did our neighbors), and we planted most of our western property line with hawthorns. They’re probably blooming about now. But because we have so many cedars at Roundrock, I’d thought I couldn’t have hawthorns without the high risk of them getting the rust infection. Now I’m not so sure. If it’s not the same rust between the species, is the fear of transmission not valid?
Perhaps the point is moot. I don’t really have any cedars at Roundrock. What everyone calls eastern red cedar, which I do have plenty of, is actually a juniper. Perhaps if I explain this to the rust, it will realize that it has misapplied itself and move on. It’s worth a try I suppose.
Missouri calendar:
- Black locust trees are in bloom.
- Bluegill begin spawning.
Posted by: Roundrockjournal Read more Source
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:59:21 GMT
SimpleTips For Digital Photographers
Sometimes the simplest tip can make a huge positive difference in the results a digital photographer produces.
One simple tip I learned when I first got into photography was the
"Rule Of Thirds".
This simple tip taught me to look at a given scene, or look for a particular scene, that would allow me to place the main subject in an off center place that made for a better focal point than if it was centered.
Check out the list of simple tips on this site's main page and try to find a way to utilize every one of them in an alternative way to your usual approach.
After checking out the posting
"10 Tips To Take Good Photos With Digital Camera" be sure to try out the links on the left side navigation bar for more digital photography advice.
Take a camera with you whenever possible, and look around, you'll find a picture somewhere.
Photo Source:www.2.bp.blogspot.com
Posted by: Karen Read more Source
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:33:19 GMT
What Is Variable Life Insurance?
© AMagillVariable life insurance is a form of whole life insurance that has an investment portion attached to it. The owner of the insurance policy has flexibility to determine how the cash portion of the policy is to be invested.
This type of life insurance policy has sub-accounts, which enable a number of investment options. The cash value can be divided up into various holdings of the insurance company, which enables owners to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more. Money earned from these investments is tax-deferred until withdrawn.
Investopedia mentions that this money can be withdrawn tax-free later if done so through loans used as collateral, instead of the more common method of withdrawals.
The policy owner can change the amount of money going towards the premium and towards the investment portion of the policy. If the investment portion is not doing well, however, more money may need to be put into it. There are no guarantees except that of a minimum amount of interest. This type of policy has to be sold with a prospectus and falls under the SEC.
Posted by: FinanceMan Read more Source
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:19:03 GMT
Zygna Moves Into China
© sabrina.dent
I guess it was bound to happen eventually. US games developer Zygna (famous for Farmville and Mafia Wars) has acquired a Beijing-based social gaming company: XPD Media (see TechCrunch
here and
here, and
Gamasutra).
China has been fertile ground for online social gaming and MMORPGs over the last decade. And the venture capital industry has invested a lot of money into gaming in China. Zygna's move into Beijing may have been unanticipated, but it's far from surprising.
Zygna has been expanding in a variety of way. The move into Asia is a geographic expansion. But Zygna has also recently moved beyond Facebook, into a major partnership with Yahoo. And it has expanded its real world marketing efforts with a five year deal with the 7-Eleven store chain.
(In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I've achieved level 70 - the highest level in the game - in Farmville.)
Posted by: Wendy Read more Source
