Saturday, May 10, 2003
Just saw Anne-Marie Mieville's Nous Sommes Tous Encore Ici, which was preceded by her shorter film How Can I Love a Man (If He Don't Love Me)
I could easily see the latter as part of a program of shorter works about coldness and love. Can't think of anything at the minute it would go well against, but it would be a fun to make a list.
They were both good, the latter being the "feature." She's worked extensively with Jean-Luc Godard on "Numero Deuz" and a pile of TV things. Knowing that, I expected experimental pyrotechnics. I wasn't expecting a quiet, reflective film about intellectual life and relationships.
It's easy to read "How Can I Love a Man (If He Don't Love Me)" as the flip side of the Godard (and, stated in the Village Voice review http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0319/halter2.php Mieville herself) personality as it comes through within his films. What comes through most obviously is the intertwining of intellectual and emotional life. The bulk of the film is a dialogue between Godard and his female companion. Both seem to be financially stable, drink good wine, and go on vacations, but very unhappy. The pair are both very, very well versed in philosophy, and the majority of the dialogue has to do with ruminating upon lots of intellectual themes, few of which stayed with me 5 minutes after leaving the theater.
One gets the sense that all of the philosophy really doesn't matter a great deal to the actual understanding of the story. It seems to be a way into understanding these two characters. On one side, it is very difficult to get into the world of the pair, to become involved in their unhappiness. On the other, the crux of the story is about how these two can't get outside themselves, and relate to the world enough to really actively engage with it on a really meaningful level. There's a lovely little exegesis on solitude spoken somewhere in the film, and it's pretty clearly the major thematic. If this is close to what the Mieville/Godard pair is actually like, then it is good that they've got each other, otherwise they would be unbearable to be around.
Unlike Godard's films, Mieville gets all of this across with clarity (never a word I'd use to describe his work) and grace. The compositions are fairly static (I think there's a reference to Dreyer's Gertrud or two in there) and the pacing is gentle. It's wonderful to see Godard in full cantankerous mode; he's whiny and crabby throughout the entire film, which is a pleasure to watch.
One metaphor I thought of when I was watching the movie. The mind is like an aeroplane, but the soul is like a train.
I could easily see the latter as part of a program of shorter works about coldness and love. Can't think of anything at the minute it would go well against, but it would be a fun to make a list.
They were both good, the latter being the "feature." She's worked extensively with Jean-Luc Godard on "Numero Deuz" and a pile of TV things. Knowing that, I expected experimental pyrotechnics. I wasn't expecting a quiet, reflective film about intellectual life and relationships.
It's easy to read "How Can I Love a Man (If He Don't Love Me)" as the flip side of the Godard (and, stated in the Village Voice review http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0319/halter2.php Mieville herself) personality as it comes through within his films. What comes through most obviously is the intertwining of intellectual and emotional life. The bulk of the film is a dialogue between Godard and his female companion. Both seem to be financially stable, drink good wine, and go on vacations, but very unhappy. The pair are both very, very well versed in philosophy, and the majority of the dialogue has to do with ruminating upon lots of intellectual themes, few of which stayed with me 5 minutes after leaving the theater.
One gets the sense that all of the philosophy really doesn't matter a great deal to the actual understanding of the story. It seems to be a way into understanding these two characters. On one side, it is very difficult to get into the world of the pair, to become involved in their unhappiness. On the other, the crux of the story is about how these two can't get outside themselves, and relate to the world enough to really actively engage with it on a really meaningful level. There's a lovely little exegesis on solitude spoken somewhere in the film, and it's pretty clearly the major thematic. If this is close to what the Mieville/Godard pair is actually like, then it is good that they've got each other, otherwise they would be unbearable to be around.
Unlike Godard's films, Mieville gets all of this across with clarity (never a word I'd use to describe his work) and grace. The compositions are fairly static (I think there's a reference to Dreyer's Gertrud or two in there) and the pacing is gentle. It's wonderful to see Godard in full cantankerous mode; he's whiny and crabby throughout the entire film, which is a pleasure to watch.
One metaphor I thought of when I was watching the movie. The mind is like an aeroplane, but the soul is like a train.
Friday, May 09, 2003
the title of my drawing is:
"F- piss vomit shit"
which accurately describes the rendering style.
we were supposed to do this thing in a "subjective mode." I figure i'll say (I have class in about 5 hours, and I haven't slept yet) i was channeling a rat. fucking hell. and i needed an "A" from this class too. goddamn.
"F- piss vomit shit"
which accurately describes the rendering style.
we were supposed to do this thing in a "subjective mode." I figure i'll say (I have class in about 5 hours, and I haven't slept yet) i was channeling a rat. fucking hell. and i needed an "A" from this class too. goddamn.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Justification for having taken this drawing class:
From Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's (1742-99) Waste Books, NYRB edition, trans, R.J. Hollingdale, p. 36-7
"Herr Captaine-Lieutenant von Hammerstein was much in favor of instruction with apparatus. The principle argument he always put forward was that it could only be a good thing to achieve one's objective as quickly as possible. That was virtually the only arguement he had. But since the investigation of a subject, the effort involved in understanding it, is calculated to teach us to know it better from several sides and to attach it most readily to our system of thought, for people who have the ability a drawing is certainly preferred to a model. An increase in knowledge acquired too quickly and with too little participation on one's part is not very fruitful: erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit. There are a great many shallow heads who are astonishingly knowledgeable. What we have to discover for ourselves leaves behind in out mind a pathway that can also be used on another occasion."
From Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's (1742-99) Waste Books, NYRB edition, trans, R.J. Hollingdale, p. 36-7
"Herr Captaine-Lieutenant von Hammerstein was much in favor of instruction with apparatus. The principle argument he always put forward was that it could only be a good thing to achieve one's objective as quickly as possible. That was virtually the only arguement he had. But since the investigation of a subject, the effort involved in understanding it, is calculated to teach us to know it better from several sides and to attach it most readily to our system of thought, for people who have the ability a drawing is certainly preferred to a model. An increase in knowledge acquired too quickly and with too little participation on one's part is not very fruitful: erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit. There are a great many shallow heads who are astonishingly knowledgeable. What we have to discover for ourselves leaves behind in out mind a pathway that can also be used on another occasion."
my brother just got into a minor car wreck for the 2nd time in the 7 months that he's been driving. no one was hurt, but the damage to the car seems to be kinda extensive from what my mom told me. it'll be rough for him in the next few months, from what my mom was telling me, my dad is *angry.* and when he's angry, he'll make you feel like the worst thing on earth. my mom tells me that my brother is really broken up about it. i can believe it. he was very much into the car, he'd wax it, polish it, vacuum it regularly, while for the 3 or so years i had it, i did none of those things. they recently had the a/c repaired in it a few days ago. hopefully he'll grow from the experience, that's the most you hope for, i guess.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
finally finished the Sans Soleil paper, just sent in the final draft. it's probably the most completed thing i've ever really written, and what i've devoted the most time to. it's still shit, but closer to "good" than i've been before. if anyone wants to read it, let me know, and I'll send it over. it might shed a little light onto the film for you, then again, it might just make it more complicated.
chris gave me a great idea for a story for The Squids Ear. Seems like the perfect way to ease into historical writing, which will probably be a dramatically different mode of working than whatever this bullshit i've been doing it called. i'm pretty excited, gotta talk to him a little more about it, see if i can really get my mind around what the entire topic is, not just what it will seem to be about.
courtney emailed me about her project, wanting my take on it, which i gave to her in no few words. in doing so, i realized that a good chunk of what i know is semiotics/discourse analysis. which annoys me. why do i have to know this stuff, instead of something else? there's loads of other stuff that i would have rather studied, which i guess i'm going to try to cram into my last year of school. i *need* one more year as an undergrad, there's a lot more ground i want to have covered before i go to law school, and actually focus in on something. oh well.
what am i doing still writing here? i need to go to bed, my head feels like it's going to melt. writing about Sans Soleil will do that to ya.
chris gave me a great idea for a story for The Squids Ear. Seems like the perfect way to ease into historical writing, which will probably be a dramatically different mode of working than whatever this bullshit i've been doing it called. i'm pretty excited, gotta talk to him a little more about it, see if i can really get my mind around what the entire topic is, not just what it will seem to be about.
courtney emailed me about her project, wanting my take on it, which i gave to her in no few words. in doing so, i realized that a good chunk of what i know is semiotics/discourse analysis. which annoys me. why do i have to know this stuff, instead of something else? there's loads of other stuff that i would have rather studied, which i guess i'm going to try to cram into my last year of school. i *need* one more year as an undergrad, there's a lot more ground i want to have covered before i go to law school, and actually focus in on something. oh well.
what am i doing still writing here? i need to go to bed, my head feels like it's going to melt. writing about Sans Soleil will do that to ya.
something special happens to books when they go to India, and you read them there. I have a copy of Gitanjali that I bought over there and the only thing that smells remotely like it is my copy of Bergson's Matter and Memory that I read there. It's impossible to define the smell.....maybe something to do with sandalwood? so wonderful, so intoxicating.........
ohmigod. La Flor bakery on 52nd and Roosevelt Ave. Earl recommended it to me a long while ago, and since I saw it mentioned while I was distractedly looking up food stuff yesterday, I decided to take a visit. Just had the best chocolate chip cookie i've *ever* had, along with this chocolate chip bread that's folded over and glazed (and weighs a ton). so amazing, and it's cute as a button too! gotta hit this place more often, it's right by the 52nd street stop, and like a 10 minute walk away from me. hot damn!
Monday, May 05, 2003
ah, blogger is working again. thinking of moving my shit here: http://www.movabletype.org/default_styles.shtml , mainly because the templates are nicer. but then again, i can probably get those to work here. i'll have to ask jim once all of this exam crap is over.
my dreams are becoming more obvious. last night was mostly about sarah, who i'm averaging seeing about once a year. i call her sometimes, occasionally she calls me back. maybe i still love her.
been working on this paper on Sans Soleil all day, being regularly distracted, but I've finally got through the entire thing today. Now I just have to put in all of the quotes, get the individual parts in sync and get a good conculsion done, and it'll be over with. i think it's turning out a lot more clear than i imagined it would be in the beginning, it seems really heady, but less oblique. maybe i'm becoming a better writer? probably not, but at very least, i'm learning how to focus a little bit.
cooked up a massive pot of soup tonight (i do the most cooking when i have other things to do). used leeks for the first time. it turned out pretty well, although i imagine that oil+garlic+water+lentils+potatoes+leeks+carrots+saltandpepper is hard to fuck up. i've mananged to before, though.
lots of death metal and black metal to distract myself from the writing, what i've dug from what i've d/led over the last few days: Abigor, Enslaved, Emperor, Mortician. When I get a chance, I'd like to pick up Emperor's "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" and Abigor's "Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)." I like the synthesizer flourishes sometimes. also have to pick up some Eyehategod work too.....they're astounding. It's like they've come to the really fucked up experimental stuff from the other end, there's a lot of very intricate feeback stuff happening. loads of aggression too, which is rad.
this paper on Sans Soleil looks to be the bridge between what my academic interests were parading under before, and what they look like now. i think it's been like a week since i've watched a movie. my god.....i don't think i've had a week between movies in the last 3 years. what was the last thing I saw? holy shit.....i think it's been longer than that. goddamn.
did i mention that the erstwhile show was grand? it was. Brandlmeyer/Siewert were really astounding. Brandlmeyer is going to be a star, totally. chris and I bought the Trapist cd right after that duo set. it'll probably be one of my favorite discs for the summer. Also picked up during the show: 8 Metamkine 3"'s, Sigtryggur Berg Siggmarson (sp? of course, i don't feel like looking up how to spell that name) on fire, Inc, and all of the latest Erstwhiles. Got 40 minutes through "Duos for Doris" while sitting in the cage waiting for the photo building to close during the printing madness, and that shit sent chills down my spine.
oh shit! I just read Jamie McIntyre's away message. She fucking *totally* has my copy of Burn Collector #2 that she denied having like 3-4 years ago. Fucking hell! it's not so much that she has it, but that she *lied* about not having it. Speaking of which, someone in the world has my Pluramon- Render Bandits cd. I wanted to compare it to Radian's "Rec.extern" a few days ago, and I realized that it's been a good year since I've seen the thing. If I IM'd her, then she'd have my new SN, which I don't really want her to have. Goddamn. My shit is everywhere.
oh, my AIM screename is historyofdecay for anyone curious. dunno who'd be reading this who doesn't have it though.
I'm not really part of the big, smart blogging community. I'm part of the whiny, juvenile set. which is ok.
my dreams are becoming more obvious. last night was mostly about sarah, who i'm averaging seeing about once a year. i call her sometimes, occasionally she calls me back. maybe i still love her.
been working on this paper on Sans Soleil all day, being regularly distracted, but I've finally got through the entire thing today. Now I just have to put in all of the quotes, get the individual parts in sync and get a good conculsion done, and it'll be over with. i think it's turning out a lot more clear than i imagined it would be in the beginning, it seems really heady, but less oblique. maybe i'm becoming a better writer? probably not, but at very least, i'm learning how to focus a little bit.
cooked up a massive pot of soup tonight (i do the most cooking when i have other things to do). used leeks for the first time. it turned out pretty well, although i imagine that oil+garlic+water+lentils+potatoes+leeks+carrots+saltandpepper is hard to fuck up. i've mananged to before, though.
lots of death metal and black metal to distract myself from the writing, what i've dug from what i've d/led over the last few days: Abigor, Enslaved, Emperor, Mortician. When I get a chance, I'd like to pick up Emperor's "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" and Abigor's "Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)." I like the synthesizer flourishes sometimes. also have to pick up some Eyehategod work too.....they're astounding. It's like they've come to the really fucked up experimental stuff from the other end, there's a lot of very intricate feeback stuff happening. loads of aggression too, which is rad.
this paper on Sans Soleil looks to be the bridge between what my academic interests were parading under before, and what they look like now. i think it's been like a week since i've watched a movie. my god.....i don't think i've had a week between movies in the last 3 years. what was the last thing I saw? holy shit.....i think it's been longer than that. goddamn.
did i mention that the erstwhile show was grand? it was. Brandlmeyer/Siewert were really astounding. Brandlmeyer is going to be a star, totally. chris and I bought the Trapist cd right after that duo set. it'll probably be one of my favorite discs for the summer. Also picked up during the show: 8 Metamkine 3"'s, Sigtryggur Berg Siggmarson (sp? of course, i don't feel like looking up how to spell that name) on fire, Inc, and all of the latest Erstwhiles. Got 40 minutes through "Duos for Doris" while sitting in the cage waiting for the photo building to close during the printing madness, and that shit sent chills down my spine.
oh shit! I just read Jamie McIntyre's away message. She fucking *totally* has my copy of Burn Collector #2 that she denied having like 3-4 years ago. Fucking hell! it's not so much that she has it, but that she *lied* about not having it. Speaking of which, someone in the world has my Pluramon- Render Bandits cd. I wanted to compare it to Radian's "Rec.extern" a few days ago, and I realized that it's been a good year since I've seen the thing. If I IM'd her, then she'd have my new SN, which I don't really want her to have. Goddamn. My shit is everywhere.
oh, my AIM screename is historyofdecay for anyone curious. dunno who'd be reading this who doesn't have it though.
I'm not really part of the big, smart blogging community. I'm part of the whiny, juvenile set. which is ok.
Sunday, May 04, 2003
Now listening: Slayer, "Raining Blood"
I had my first castration dream last night. At least the first one I can remember. It was an auto-castration. I remember not being so scared about it, and walking around with my dick in a plastic tupperware.
Here's what I'm making for dinner tonight: http://www.vegweb.com/food/stirfry/1194.shtml
If I was a painter, I would paint a giant canvas of the guys from Mayhem, feasting on Dead soup. Maybe I'd throw in some allusions to The Last Supper, or something.
I had my first castration dream last night. At least the first one I can remember. It was an auto-castration. I remember not being so scared about it, and walking around with my dick in a plastic tupperware.
Here's what I'm making for dinner tonight: http://www.vegweb.com/food/stirfry/1194.shtml
If I was a painter, I would paint a giant canvas of the guys from Mayhem, feasting on Dead soup. Maybe I'd throw in some allusions to The Last Supper, or something.
