i like to whisper too..: September 2008

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Wow. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I'm somewhat a David Fincher fanboy. It's no surprise that the film I'm looking forward to most this year is what looks to be his most romantic film yet, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which reunites him with Brad Pitt, who plays a man who ages backwards. The second trailer for the film has been released on Apple's trailer website and I suggest you check it out.

On a side note, I think I've come around to like how digital looks nowadays. Granted, Fincher's films are always superbly lit and colored, but something about the patina seen on this trailer makes digital beautiful. It's not the beauty of celluloid, but something all it's own. Perhaps it's how close digital cinema has come to large format photography; the trailer looks like a Gregory Crewdson chromira print.

Example here:

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Nike + Break dancers = Sunday Fun

Foto from http://slamxhype.com/

nike is having bboy battles this sunday at the Montalban in la and theyre looking for bboys.

Sports on Stage at The Montalbán
Come watch a different sport every Sunday.

Sunday September 28, 2008
B'Boy Breaking
2pm

The Montalbán
1615 Vine St.
Hollywood, CA 90028
(Just south of Hollywood Blvd. & Vine St.)

http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/sportswear/en_US/view_post?country=US&lang_locale=en_US&blog=en_US&post=en_US/2008/09/03/928-sports-on-stage-at-the-montalb-n

email:
silverdeacon@hotmail.com

And inspired by Tuesday's screening of Megunica, Muto:

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dic - Tation

Oh that Jonah Takalua from Summer Heights High...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Off-Register @ LittleBird Gallery.

LittleBird Gallery in Los Angeles will be the host of Foundation Project's OFF-REGISTER traveling exhibition of experimental fine-art printmaking. The show features the work of illustration and design heavyweights such as Cody Hudson, Geoff McFetridge and Andy Mueller among other talented individuals. Each artist will show one print made via traditional fine art printmaking techniques, with some incorporating more experimental techniques culled from other areas of printmaking. The show will open on September 27 with a reception going from 7-11PM. The show continues until October 7th.

For more information, visit LittleBird Gallery's website.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives.

Muy interesante. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt gave a talk regarding the liberals, conservatives, and centrists, and explains that there are about five values that make up our morality and influence where we fall in that spectrum. Haidt posits that these five values are there when we are born-arguing against the idea of the blank slate-and are then modified by experience. It's a great talk and deserves to be watched in full (Haidt delivers one hell of an uppercut to the jaw in the end) with an open mind. It's definitely enough to make you more understanding of those that fall outside of your ingroup.

Synecdoche.

'Synedoche New York' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

I don't think they're ready for this jelly. Charlie Kaufman, the writer of Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, releases his directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York in a couple of months and the boxfresh trailer has me hyped (and scared, if I'm to be completely honest). The early buzz is mixed and the release of the film could signal Kaufman's emergence as a great director on his own right, or it could spread the idea that the brilliance of his previous scripts were brought about by Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. Or it could turn out as just "okay", and he'll get another chance to swing for the fences.

Either way, the trailer displays some signature Kaufmanisms: characters yearning to create great work, the search for human connection, receding hairlines, etc. By the look of it, the film is not afraid to explore deep, dark places. I just hope there's a rewarding light at the end of the tunnel.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Remedee + Good @ SiteLA.

Remedee, a nonprofit organization aiming to give a voice to the youth and their issues by providing education and resources, will be making its debut over at Echo Park's SiteLA on September 18th. The event is presented by GOOD Magazine and will include an opening reception with free cocktails and a live set by DJ Morgan. Remedee will then premiere Reel Earth, a series of documentaries made by New Orleans youth.

The event is free, although you are required to RSVP via e-mail.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Particle physics: fun for the whole universe!

Originally, I had the idea of attempting to write a much longer, more in-depth blog about the amazingly vast arrays of intricacies that coincide with this machine, its creation and its possible applications to our real world... but then I remembered that an awesome scientist took the time to make this video for all of us to easily digest.

So I'll spare you the fact that many people have attempted to keep this machine from running; and I'll skip over the part about how this awesome little toy could eventually be the spark in quantum technology that would bring Moore's Law around full circle...

I'll spare all that and say this much:

+ The LHC is a particle accelerator/collidier: it speeds atoms up really fast and then smashes them together.

+ The LHC is gigantic: 25km into the planet and big enough to hold all of Manhattan within it.

+ The LHC has the power to create tiny universes: it'll be creating many small-scale big bangs.

+ The LHC worries some because it could create miniature black holes that could envelop our universe: in reality though, many, many scientists have shown that the possibility of this happening isn't likely.

+ The LHC may revolutionize science: and other stuff too.

In any case, let's all put our hands together for a project that's been twenty years in the making and has had the power to bring together the sharpest minds from around the world. LHC, you are awesome.

For more info check here: CERN and LHC 2008

For a live webcast of the event, look here: AMAZING!

Universal Mind Control.

UMC Teaser from kwest on Vimeo.

Finally.

Common's "UMC", my favorite leak of this summer ("Swagger Like Us" being a close second), is finally getting some motion love. Kinda.

Okayplayer posted a preview of the final music video by Hype Williams, one of the few dudes who can still pull a decent budget nowadays. The post-heavy clip fits well with Pharrell William's back-to-the-future electro beat and it looks like Hype is making an attempt at leaving his usual sandbox. Kinda. Can't wait for the full-length to get finished and released.

On a personal note, I actually almost ran Common over ~~a couple of months ago~~ a while ago when he was jaywalking on La Brea after walking out of American Rag Cie. Whoops.

Cinefamily: Old-School Hip Hop Film Fest!

Every Thursday for the month of September Cinefamily will be showing the best of 80's hip hop films such as Wild Style, Style Wars, Beat Street and more. With live DJ sets by the very best.

September Cinefamily Film Program

Digital Cribs

Filmaka.com has just added on another great film competition. This time they've teamed up with Cisco Systems and are looking for a 3 minute film about a digital crib.

The winner of the contest wins $7500.

For more info and the specifics visit filmaka.com

Here is a great example of one of the digital cribs:

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Slacker Uprising.

Always one to put his money where his mouth is, political documentarian Michael Moore is making his film, Slacker Uprising, available for free download starting September 23rd. The documentary chronicles Moore's 2004 tour of colleges in background states as a way to encourage the students to vote.

The move to distribute the film is a contemporary extension of that cause-and a costly one at that. The film took about $2 million to make, with half of that amount coming directly out of the director's pocket. Moore plans for the film to be screened in private neighborhood screenings on October 4th, the "Night of A Thousand House Parties". If you like hard copies of your films, don't fret, the film will also be released on DVD on October 7th.

Sign up to be notified of when the film will be available for download at the official website. The trailer can be viewed below.

P.S. On a somewhat related note, I've changed my clan tag for Call of Duty 4 to "OBMA" and can count on getting shit for it in every game lobby and even getting teamkilled when playing Hardcore Team Deathmatch. Who knew conservatives were the only ones on XBox Live?

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

It's That Time Again For The Los Angeles Beat Swap Meet!

The Los Angeles BEAT-SWAP-MEET is a Record swapmeet consisting of over 20 invited vendors & collectors from the LA and surrounding areas vending music genres of a wide array, but more-so focusing on Blues, Funk, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Punk, Reggae, Rock, Soul, and World 12" and 45 Records. An event considered to be the 1st of it's kind in the LA area, The Beat Swapmeet hopes to reunify LA in a way that is long overdue. Come through, listen to Beats, Swap records & Meet some new people.

Casual drinking for the 21+. ALL ages are welcome. 12-6pm, on a Sunday afternoon - Season III coming September 21st, 2008.

For more information visit:

www.beatswapmeet.com

www.myspace.com/beatswapmeet

MILK.

Looks like Bela Tarr is completely out of Gus Van Sant's system. GSV, as he shall be referred to from now on, spent the better part of the last decade trying to earn back his indie cred after directing Good Will Hunting, the Psycho remake, and Finding Forrester, by focusing on making long films with long takes about not-so-long lives. With those projects completely behind him, it looks like GSV is just about ready to return to mainstream Classical Hollywood Cinema with Milk, his soon to be released biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to serve in public office.

I have to say, the movie looks damn good on many levels. GVS was able to cast the perennially angsty Sean Penn, the recently resurrected Josh Brolin, indie cred magnet Diego Luna, and jailbait magnet James Franco plus Harris Savides is lighting the whole soiree. A well-lit ensemble cast in a movie depicting the tragic death of a historical figure may sound like utter Oscar bait, but with GVS on the canvas chair keeping the saccharine levels low, I'm sure that this will definitely be one of the films to watch in 2008.

Agenda Trade Show

The coolest designers and brands in action sports (see: enjoi) and streetwear (see: anything on digitalgravel.com) will be attendance this Thursday through Saturday in San Diego for one of the coolest trade shows of the year, the Agenda Trade Show.

The Agenda Trade show is a meeting place for lovers of all things awesome and promises to exhibit only the best and most innovative work available. From small, up-and-coming brands like Jedidiah (<--really cool) to giants like OBEY (<--- also, really cool), each exhibitor is sure to leave you inspired. The event will take place September 4th through the 6th at the San Diego Concourse. Admission is fifty dollars cash (cash only) to non-exhibiting sales-reps, designers, manufacturers and suppliers and can be purchased the day of the event. Buyers, distributors and members of the press get in free with business card!

Sorry, members of the general public are not allowed.

The address and show times are as follows:

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH

10:00AM - 7:00PM

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH

9:00AM - 7:00PM

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH

9:00AM - 5:00PM

The San Diego Concourse 202 C Street

San Diego, CA 92101

Sketch Theatre

Grandma By Vincent Hui

Wouldn't it be cool if you could watch your favorite artists start on something from scratch? To watch the mistakes, the edits and more importantly, to see the process? Well, now you can.

The good people over at Sketch Theatre do just that. The basic premise is to create a spot for other aspiring artists to watch streaming video of some of the most creative contemporary artists doing the thing that they first fell in love with... sketching. Featured artists include Corey Miller, Steven Daily, Gary Baseman, Cameron Davis, Vincent Hui and so many more.

But wait, there's more... Rifling through the website you'll find cool streaming music (from Mountain Goats to BRMC) to get you inspired, contests that you can enter in to win cool stuff and exclusive merch that will keep this site afloat.

For anyone that was ever put a pencil down to paper, I'll wrap this post up with Sketch Theatre's mission statement:

Sketch Theatre serves to motivate and inspire artists from all walks of life. Here, aspiring artists are exposed to contemporary artists and the various career paths taken by these like-minded individuals who all began their careers with the primary process of putting ideas and expressions down with a pencil & paper. The brilliant myriad of artists featured on Sketch Theatre strip down and expose raw sketches on camera, never failing to captivate and inspire. Enjoy the show.