Food, Stuff
The first is an iPad app called The Photo Cookbook. The photography and typography are both beautiful and the dishes are non threatening even for me. Additionally this app would be a great excuse for me to finally get an iPad. However, I may have to actually successfully prepare some foodstuffs before I can really make that justification.
Cooking Dinner Vol. I from William Hereford on Vimeo.
Bradley Castaneda
Bradley Castaneda is from our sister city to the north, Seattle. His work first caught my eye when I saw a series of photographs shot while flying over the Yukon Territory. Interesting, I’m curious where he was headed. Does one really fly over the Yukon from Seattle to Alaska? Perhaps he was heading to Tuktoyaktuk!
The rest of his work is delicate & thoughtful. I appreciate his visual sensibilities and composition, it seems to be honest and straightforward. Nice work Bradley! Come on down to little Portland and tell us why on earth you were going to Tuk!
Abuela Grillo
Abuela Grillo translates to Grandmother Cricket. She has antennae, duh. She walks around Bolivia singing her incredible little rain song bringing life and nourishment to her people. This time, however, she is taken advantage of by boxy business men and used for profit.
She is nearly destroyed, her very tears being bottled into plastic containers and sold at a price the people can not afford. What a little allegory of the corporate experience. My favorite stories are when a victim realizes they no longer wish to be a victim, and they fight back. Grandmother Cricket gets angry at her captors and sings a storm song which floods the city and frees her in a wash of flash flood. She returns to her people, bringing life and greenery to the parched fields.
This 12 minute animation is completely captivating. Her rain song is an interesting mix of haunting and cute, something I rarely experience (similar to chim-chim-cheree by Dick van Dyke). The director’s choice to use Luzmila Carpio as the vocal talent probably provides an incredible amount of the appeal to this piece. Her voice is certainly unique, but sounds itself like Bolivia & the exoticism of South America.
A cross-stitched opening and closing sequence only adds to the charm and incredible craft of this animation. Mesmerizing.
Tarantino vs Coen Brothers
Filmlist…
Dir.: Joel and Ethan Coen:
Blood Simple (1984)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Barton Fink (1991)
Fargo (1996)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Burn After Reading (2008)
A Serious Man (2009)
Dir.: Quentin Tarantino:
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Death Proof (2007)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Leandro Copperfield has done the world the great service of stitching some of the most memorable scenes in film together for us. I can’t imagine how much free time this man has. At first I wondered if slicing up these iconic films would be a slap in the face to the creators of them, but after watching this it only makes me want to see the original films all over again.
There is alot of blood spilt in these sequences. Try to remember that it is fake. The last 2 minutes of this little collection is remarkable. So if you don’t want to see people’s heads being blown off, just watch the end, it’s incredible.
Alternate: Kubrick vs Scorsese
Love your clouds!
At first I sat back in my chair with my legs crossed for this one, I admit I was a bit resistive. Living in the Pacific Northwest we have an interesting and intimate relationship with clouds. We’re usually bitching about them. This little spot is a one-way ticket to giggletown and affection for those little guys. When you think about it, they’re only dumping the building block of life itself all over us, so perhaps I should be more grateful.
Cute little clouds. Don’t you dare come back until October though or I’ll throw stuff at you too.
