Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Artchives! from Sierra: This is for multi-media folks

Italic
































Kurt Schwitter’s Ohne Titel/Untitled Self Portrait (1937-1938)


Trendin’ Typography


Whether I see mixed art forms used in a catalogued Hobby Lobby- branded -collage maker; (Supplied with snippets picz of ample flappers, and early 20th century French stamps) Or pasted consortiums in the Fort Worth Community Art Museum! (Sometimes the Modern, as well.)

Collages have always been something that always struck me as a very creative format! Who ever knew something so broken was such an definitive art?
I always thought the most memorable of the typographies were those of the DaDa/Anti-Art movement.


and Oh, A brazen lot they were! I still wonder what it would be like to chillax with Bahaus in the Cabaret Voltaire...but here are some eyecandy goods:





More Modern multi-media, montage makers! (Or Post-Modern, or Post-Post Modern??)













































Mary Emma Hawthrone & Sophie Kern

































Eduardo Recife





Friday, December 12, 2008

Must see movie- Sierra



70's British Talking Head Starlet Versus America's Infamous Presidential Felon

This movie is pretty damn good, and should be a more notable Oscar winning film for this year IMO.

Often people view historical figures with unidimensional portrayals, even to the point of dehumanizing them completely as mere caricatures upon how they shaped and influenced their generation.
This happens for pretty substantial reasons of course, however, with this film- Morgan’s rendering of both Nixon (Frank Langella) and Frost (Michael Sheen) are exemplary and not so shortsighted.

This movie is about when TV personality David Frost had reaped about 60,000 dollars in an agreement to interviewing Nixon, (Being inspired by this idea after knowing the amount of people who tuned in to Nixon’s resignation speech in 1974. The interviews took place in 1977)

Frost’s associates happen to be Swifty Lazar, John Brit, Bob Zelnick, and James Reston Jr. who’s objective is to have Nixon to admit of the crimes he’s been accused of. (Anything regarding the Watergate scandal and wiretapping.)
Frost wants badly to have some remarkable almost interrogational interview that has never been attempted before. Especially realizing Nixon was pardoned and about to exile himself of to an sumptuous West Coast locale; This kind of illicit exoneration couldn't go without some "hard-hitting" trial.

In the duration of Frosts’ various interviews he begins with biting, direct disapproving questions (“Why did you burn the tapes?/Why did you cover up? Etc,) presented toward Nixon (As well as graphic footage of Vietnam and Cambodia etc,) at first Nixon strayed from the core of the question with gracious yet, vague answers that made him seem more admirable.

Eventually, in a built up of unfounded questions, Frost finally seizes moments where he gets Nixon’s stuttering and contradictories together where Nixon finally breaks down with the acrimonious trailer-worthy rebuttal.
The confluence of pothered shame and sorrow of the Ex-President’s expressions performed by Langella are outstanding. No one can really fathom that kind emotion “I let the American People Down…..and that’s a burden I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life.”

This is a great film that captures a less myopic sense of Nixon asa man of criminal connections but also a forlorn man- who understands he has failed at one of the most grandiose responsibility’s ever.
Everyone please, go see it. Truly an Incredible film.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Is Radiohead going to be there? No? Well then neither will I.




(Sure ACL was a couple of months ago but better late than never!)




Never again. Well, not unless Thom Yorke and company are there. Never again will I attend Austin City Limits and maybe my boycott will extend to all music festivals. I haven’t decided yet. It’s not that I didn’t have a “good time”. I have just come to the conclusion that I would rather spend the $160 I spent on a 3 day pass (This is not including the cost of food. $3 for a coke? I think I’ll pass) on individual shows. It really boils down to the fact that I simply don’t enjoy the music festival atmosphere/experience. Your day consists of running from stage to stage in attempt to see as many of the bands you WANT to see as you can, while hopefully securing a spot close enough to where you can distinguish band member from equipment. All the while you are surrounded by 15 year olds who are either drunk or high or both and who, by the way they are dressed, are apparently under the impression that they are hippies. They probably don’t even know what a hippie is or should I say was. By the end of the day, if you managed not pass out from the heat, your feet are covered in calluses and you find that you have never been in area with such a high concentration of douche bags, because I’ll tell you this right now: All the cool hip people who really care about music are smart enough not to go to these things. They, my friend, are at the after shows. The ACL crowd DOES enjoy the atmosphere. I’m sure half those people would go to ACL if the headliner was Hannah Montana.
I don’t regret my decision to go to ACL. I met The MARS VOLTA for heaven’s sake. It took a lot of determination and let’s be honest luck. The tour bus was conveniently located by one of the exits. This brings me to another one of my points in the case for shows over festivals. At shows not only are you more likely to be front and center, but meeting the band is much more likely. One more thing worth noting, I personally don’t find a performance enjoyable unless I am fairly close to the stage and have room for dancing. At ACL, Beck was a raisin from my point of view and I was a sardine amongst all those people. Come next year or any year for that matter, don’t expect to find me in that sardine can unless Radiohead is performing exclusively there. I only really went this year to see my main men Omar and Cedric anyway.

(I saw some awesome artists but I missed twice as many. That’s the cruelty of festivals, knowing that yards away from you is a band that under normal circumstances you would give you sister’s right arm to see. It’s pick and choose mates. Here’s a list of bands that where on the line up but do to the fact that I didn’t see them I have decided they were never in Austin to begin with.Hot Chip, The Swell Season, Jenny Lewis, Yeasayer, Manu Chao, Iron and Wine, The Raconteurs, Okkervil River, Band of Horses, and the list sadly goes on.)
-Y
Photo: Best Friends-Me, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Diane