TGIF

Wow, busy week... had to move the whole art dept. to the Paramount lot. Ahh, Hollywood, here we come.

Nick Thune

I saw this guy live the other night, one of my new favorite comedians, definitely one to watch his site

Jeremy Blake R.I.P

One of my favorite L.A. artists mysteriously drowned himself this week. Read about it here

Maneater

Funny thing, a while back I was working on a David O. Russell film that was about a geeky kid who switches bodies with Vince Vaughn, anyway... about the only thing I liked about the script was that the kid was obsessed with the musical act, Hall and Oates. Because the thing with Hall and Oates is, the music isn't horrible, but they have such a funny 80's style. Anyhow, recently H & O held a Youtube lip syncing contest and here is one of the videos here

Another Kitchen Shot

Sunshine

I saw Danny Boyle's Sunshine this weekend, I must say I was a fan of his previous films, but this new one was confusing in several ways, but overall entertaining. I really liked the sets, and the way that space travel to the sun was dealt with but about 3/4 way through, the movie changes tone, and I can't say it's for the better. Interesting note, A's work always screens these films the day of release, but for some reason Searchlight opted not to do an employee screening... hmmm. I wonder why? Certainly it wasn't because the film was a dud, who knows... If you liked Event Horizon, or for that matter Armageddon, you will like Sunshine, and if you've seen the film, then be sure to check out this site which offers back stories of all the characters and an interactive virtual tour of the spacecraft, the Icarus II.

The Short House Show

Saturday night, Culver City got a tad bit brighter as a group of Otis MFA artists put on a house show... it was refreshing to see these artists exhibiting such high quality work, taking risks, and having fun. Nice job folks. The image shown is by artist Terra Kuroda.

The Forbidden Kingdom

"Perhaps there is a bit of fear and trepidation in the film-geek community about hyping up a martial arts/family film directed by the guy who helmed The Lion King and Stuart Little. Forbidden Kingdom tells of an American kid who accidentally travels back to Ancient China by a magic [staff] and he has to team up with three masters to rescue the Monkey King. We want to love this film because it has teamed up Jet Li and Jackie Chan. By golly, this is a match made in heaven. Here we see our four leads in full costume - (L to R) Michael Angarano, Jet Li, Liu Yifei and Jackie Chan." A friend of mine read an early version of the script and said it was terrible... but he had heard since, that the rewrites were better... Could be cool, we'll see Sept. 2008.

Sonic Youth Tonite!

I am going to see a special Sonic Youth performance of "Daydream Nation" tonite at the Greek which is a great concert venue under the stars. Also, I found this blog journal of when Sonic Youth went to China this past April... to read about the trip click
here

Toy Vader LapTop

This is a faux laptop that children can play games on...The ad for the product reads, "Are you part of the Dark Side? Pick up the interactive light sabre and choose a learning path with Darth Vader. Darth Vader laptop is the ultimate learning toy for your children. Enter Sith’s realm and let Darth Vader challenge young children’s skills in mind-blowing games in logic, music, and other breathtaking activities."

Zenviroments

Zack Johnson's stuff is really nice... from drippy paintings to large scale installations... I dig it... you should to!

Incredible Photo

Run Bambi Run!

Rubber Ducky

Title: Rubber duck
Year: 2007
Location: river the Loire, France
Dimensions: 26 x 20 x 32 meters
Materials: inflatable, rubber coated PVC, pontoon and generator
Production: le Lieu Unique and the Biennial Estuaire
more pics

I'm back, but started with a hectic week... But Enjoy this!

Bienart Surreal Art Collective

Great online museum of surreal art... link

Congrats Bao Xishun

Bao Xishun, 56, a 2.36-metre (7 ft, 7 inches) herdsman listed by the Guinness World Records as the tallest living man, and his bride, Xia Shujuan, 29, 1.68 metres (5 ft., 5 inches), take part in an Erdos Wedding Ceremony at Genghis Khan's Mausoleum, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region July 12, 2007

Bao Zi Blunder

Crazy story on Yahoo today, how China's favorite snack, a Bao Zi or steamed Buns have been filled with a mixture of pork and cardboard... I love the quotes from the Bao Zi maker himself... link

Pumpkin Head

The new Smashing Pumpkins record came out yesterday, after seven years Billy Corgan has given the world a taste of the band that made him famous/infamous. With that said, I bought the record and liked it. I have to give it a few more listens to put it into context over the life span of the band... but my immediate feeling was that there were some satisfying ROCK RIFFS, that any Pumpkins fan will like. Check out their new multi-media site, and look for them on Letterman Friday night. link