Blog
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Bad Word Pairs #028
“Man Boobs”
This pair speaks for itself. Fortunately, I do not suffer from this condition. Not yet, anyway. Apparently, in some situations the man boobs are, in fact, a disease known as gynecomastia—a glandular growth of the fatty tissues in a man’s breast. So don’t judge thy neighbor too quickly, okay? He may just be suffering from a disease.
Nonetheless, man boobs, or moobs as the cool kids like to call them, or bologna tits as Jerky Boys once coined them, earn a special place on the bad word pair list.
Also, why the hell do men even have breasts to begin with? I don’t know if I should be mad at God or Darwin, or maybe both.
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The Lost Film Rolls Vol. 3
Now I’m going back to the beginning of my relationship with my wife. This is the year we met…
Road Trip (1998)
We packed up our stuff and drove from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. My wife had taken a job as an assistant at House of Usher (commercial director Kinka Usher’s production company). I decided to spend a semester at Otis Parsons.
The trip was just that, a trip. We had a Toyota U-Haul, a run down Chevy Celebrity, and our puppy Atticus. We also had a windshield wiper malfunction in Denver, and got snowed in 45 minutes down the road in the Rocky Mountains (Idaho Springs, CO).
I liked this image pair. Something about looking back, and seeing blackbirds and emptiness. We never did make it back to Minneapolis, not exactly. I wonder if we ever will?
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The Lost Film Rolls Vol. 2
The Lost Film Rolls continue with a pair of images I find both haunting and nostalgic. The subjects of these photos are Atticus, Scout, and Christine (my wife’s mother).
Barrington (2005)
Both a sad and happy year for me, as it was the year my wife and I lost our first dog Atticus. He had lymphoma, and had begun shutting down into an even deeper state of lethargy (for those who knew Atticus, you will know how mellow that actually means).
However, in the second image, you’ll see my mother-in-law holding our second (and current) dog Scout. For all the OCD tendencies Scout has (he licks everything, and fixates like none other) he is a fun addition to our household.
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With(out) Color
The art of Lisa Oppenheim.
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The Lost Film Rolls Vol. 1
This is the first in a series of five volumes, each revealing a couple images from lost film rolls I have had developed. This is a phenomenon we are all familiar with, but it’s still like Christmas Day when you show up to pick up your developed rolls of film from God-knows-when.
Rome (2002)
Here are a pair of double exposures that cropped up on one of my rolls. The images are of Rome, the city wherein my wife and I were married, which makes it sort of tragic, as these are the only two photos that developed on this roll (the rest came out blank).
I think the film must have gotten caught and stopped advancing. Strangely, I have a vague recollection of this happening, almost seven years ago now.
At least the two that did develop are sort of interesting to look at. Maybe there’s a metaphor in the whole thing, but I’m not caffeinated enough to figure it out.
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A Fan of Fanfarlo, So Far
Yeah, I suppose there are elements of Midlake and Arcade Fire and Devotchka here (and a track that really reminded me of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s, “The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth”), but lead singer Simon Balthazar’s London indie pop band seem to embrace the grandiose and lush sound with guilt-free arms.
Trumpets, violins, mandolins, timpani and harmonies galore adorn their latest LP, Reservoir, and I have to say, even with Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast, Alela Diane’s To Be Still and Fever Ray’s self-titled debut all heavily on my radar, Fanfarlo’s album is currently sitting at the top of my list for year’s best.
Please check them out, here’s are some samples…
Listen to I’m a Pilot,
The Walls are Coming Down,
and Comets. -
American Idol – Danny Gokey
It is for stories like this that I watch American Idol every year. I still don’t own any music from any of the contestants, but the show has become its own microcosm, it’s own beginning and end.
Also, I predict Danny Gokey, featured in the heart-wrenching video below, will win American Idol. I predicted it after the second round of cuts, and I’m sticking to it. As of this posting, he is in the top 36, which will be cut down to 9 next week.
UPDATE: Last night, Danny made the cut, and is now part of the top 9. So far so good.
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Bye Bye Red Balloon
The art of Mike Garlington.
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Google’s New Auto Complete.
It’s amazing what you can learn about our culture by entering just a few words. Try it for yourself.
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Ground Control Et Al
The art of Broomberg & Chanarin.
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Shuffle Madlib
Not sure where this originated, but I saw that my friend Lee Gardner had done the list on Facebook. I did one of my own for fun (see the comments), and it was amazing. Check it out, and post your own results in the comments. I impolore you!!
RULES:
1. Put your iPod, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Have Fun!If someone says ‘are you okay’ you say….?
How would you describe yourself?
What do you look for in a guy/girl?
How do you feel today?
What is your life’s purpose?
What’s your motto?
What do your friends think of you?
What do your parents think of you?
What do you think about very often?
What do you think about your first kiss?
What do you think of your best friend?
What is your life story?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you think when you see the person you like?
What will you dance to at your wedding?
What will they play at your funeral?
What is your hobby/interest?
What is your biggest fear?
What is your biggest secret?
What do you want right now?
What do you think of your friends?
What will you post this as?
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Top 5 Films I Haven’t Seen
(BUT VINCE THINKS I REALLY SHOULD.)
5. Let the Right One In (2008)
Director: Tomas AlfredsonVince: Two kids, ones a vampire both in love. What a great plot. This film is beautifully shot, a stunning and original horror film.
Ryan: I actually really want to see this. It was not at many theaters and I didn’t get a chance to see it when it was out. I’ll be renting this DVD.
4. Reprise (2006)
Director: Joechem TrierVince: Really fresh movie making. One of the few movies that can make you happy, sad, happy, sad every 15 minutes.
Ryan: Sure, why not?
3. Paris, Texas (1984)
Director: Wim WendersVince: This is one of my favorite movies. A great achievement in style, characters, film making.
Ryan: Seems like a boring but beautiful film to me. And the protagonist, Harry Dean Stanton (he’s in Big Love now I think), I find to be somewhat turnoffish.
2. Before Night Falls (2000)
Director: Julian SchnabelVince: Beautiful movie. Rich with texture, great film making, amazing story. Javier Bardem’s performance is stunning, one of the best true story reenactments that I have ever seen.
Ryan: I like Javier Bardem, but that Julian Schnabel dude really irks me in interviews. I don’t know why. I’ll give this film (and his Diving Bell films) a chance, eventually.
1. The Wrestler (2008)
Director: Darren AronofskyVince: No explanation needed here. Hands down one of the best movies this year. Mickey Rourke, Darren Aronofsky, Pro Wrestling and Marrisa Tomei are enough to get me in the theater.
Ryan: This one is heavy on my radar, as in NEXT UP. I want to see it before the Oscars so I can firmly say whether or not Slumdog is as unbeatable as I think it is. -
Addicted to Tiny Buildings
Made of business cards, retail flyers, packaging and other “nice papers”, Sharon’s pass time has become my obsession. I love reading about how she builds these tiny buildings. The passion in her descriptions carry into the works themselves.
The three houses made from the Kido cards is special to me, as it was one of the first baby stores I looked at in NYC, before we had our first baby, Grace, whom you may have noticed popping up on my blog from time to time.
View the Buildings.
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Between Dogs & Wolves
The art of Jodi Bieber.
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Graphite Genomics
The art of Isobe Ichiro.
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Prime Mates
The art of Kiki Lamers.
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Quote of the Week #035
“It’s not where you take an idea from, it’s where you take it to.” – Jean-Luc Godard
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Sans-Serif Synonyms
The art of Mel Bochner.
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Quote of the Week #034
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” – Pablo Picasso
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Kara Walker meets The Brothers Grimm
The art of Kate Simmons.
