Ever since the Ten Commandments, people have loved lists. At every end of the year you'll see them appear - whether it's movies or music - critics, bloggers and other people on the web putting up their top tens of the year. Or top 5 if you're Rob Gordon. Or top 25s, or whatever...
I love lists aswell, and because the year is almost finished, it's about time I put up mine. I'll start with my favourite movies of the year. Please note: it's just a list of movies I've seen in the cinema this year, some of these were released in 2008in American cinemas and some of them haven't been released yet in Dutch cinemas. It's just that I've seen most of them in Dutch cinemas and a few in English cinemas, so it's a bit mixed when it comes to official years of release.
Keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to see the following movies:
Das WeiBe Band, Doubt, Revolutionairy Road, Synecdoche New York, Bright Star, Let The Right One In, Antichrist, Whatever Works, Moon, Gran Tarino, The Limits Of Control, Ponyo At The Cliff At The Sea
01. Milk
Sean Penn well deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of the late Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist turned politician. Set in the 60s, we witness a story of hope and a fight for equality for the homosexual citizens of San Francisco and the rest of the United States. While Harvey becomes a Messiah figure for the gay community and gains more and more success in his battle against inequality, and fights for a place in the City Hall, his private life is ruined by his ignorance towards his lover(s) due to his focus on politics and the cause he’s fighting for. Also, in the still conservative country and politics that is the USA in the sixties, not everyone appreciates this flamboyant man shaking hands with the mayor....
Milk is one of those movies where everything seems perfect: the acting, the story, the script, and just the way it looks. Amazing achievements by Gus van Sant, Dustin Lance Black and ofcourse Sean Penn.
Also very good supporting roles with James Franco as the housewife, Dan Brolin as the arch nemesis, Emile Hirsch as the young Cleve Jones and Diego Luna as the unstable lover.
02. A Serious Man
The latest Coen Brothers films is incredibly different from everything they’ve ever done. You’d expect a typical Coens crime-gone-wrong comedy, but no crime is involved whatsoever; no murder, no kidnapping, no idiotic criminals. Nonetheless, A Serious Man is an amazing movie, questioning the motives of religion, faith, misfortune, mortality, guilt and family, and tributing, while at the same time non-insultingly mocking, Judaism.
Set in the late 60s, it tells the story of Jewish professor Larry Gopnik, ‘trying to be a serious man’ but instead finding his life falling apart: his wife suddenly wants a divorce so she can marry his best friend, he has problems at work, with a student trying to bribe him, and with possibly not getting a promotion, his son is high on weed during his bar mitzvah and his daughter is saving up money for a nosejob. While constantly claiming ‘But I didn’t do anything’, Larry tries to find out why he is being punished, by speaking to several rabbis. However, none of them seem to be able to provide him with helpful answers.
‘A Serious Man’ is still typical Coens, with the funny caricatures and dark humor, but not what you’d expect from them, it’s a whole new opened door for them and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next.
03. An Education
The uncomforting coming of age of 16 year old Jenny (great acting by Carey Mulligan), an intellectual rebel from the 60s, looking for a way out of her ‘boring’ teenage school life. After she gets swept off her feet by the charming, much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), she finds herself at a crossroads in her life: is she going to choose for Oxford University to study and be bored, or will she decide to go to David’s ‘University of Life’, and have fun? How grown up she may think she is, her naivety makes her bound to end up being hurt. Nonetheless, this is what makes her stronger, as these things always do.
04. Up
Up is one of those films that is build on the ‘Le Petit Prince’ motive: it’s actually for the kids, but adults can enjoy and learn from it too. Pixar has been doing very well with these kind of movies, and Up is the next chapter in their book of touching, animated stories. The story Up tells us, is the one of an old man, dreaming of going on a great adventure to Paradise Falls ever since he was a child. He and his wife never had the chance to go, and after she dies, the old man becomes a bitter and moody. One day he decides to go on the adventure after all, and he flies away with his house stuck to a gazillion balloons. Add a fat scoutsboy, some talking dogs , a rare bird and an evil villain, and you’ll get an abstract, extremely funny story that makes you feel warm inside.
05. Precious
Some people seem to find all the bad things there are in the world coming their way. 'Precious' tells the shocking and heartbreaking story of an obese, illiterate 16-year old black girl trying to cope with the physical, mental and sexual abuse she faces in her household, and the fact that she’s pregnant for the second time... by her father. A light at the end of this dark tunnel seems to be the chance to learn how to read and write in an ‘alternative’ school. Great supporting roles by Lenny Kravitz as a male nurse and Mariah Carey (she looks like chimpanzee without make-up) as a social worker.
06. Gomorra
Compared to the brutal reality of Gomorra, the Godfather seems a romantic fairytale. Set in Napoli, Italy we see several stories of its inhabitants, who – no matter how young or old, or from which social class – are all involved in the war that is corruption. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, who has been under police protection ever since the release of his book.
07. The Reader
08. Il Divo
09. Los Abrazos Rotos
10. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Looking forward to see in the new year:
30 December 2009
28 December 2009
27 December 2009
26 December 2009
Them Crooked Vultures #2: A New 'Supergroup'
A while ago I found this video on the Pitchfork website, it features a musical collaboration between Randy Randall (from No Age), Jim Jarmusch (from films) and Bradford Cox (from everything else) performing the song 'Cortez The Killer' by Neil Young. In an earlier documentary showed on Pitchfork, we saw No Age hanging around a hotel for some ATP thing, and they were totally Jim Jarmusch fanboying. I'm wondering if the collaboration is a result from the meeting that occured in the documentary, as it sort off looks like it was filmed in the same hotel....
anyone else think Cox looks like an anorexic Bob Dylan in this video?
anyone else think Cox looks like an anorexic Bob Dylan in this video?
25 December 2009
Goodbye England (covered in snow)
I'm back in the Netherlands for a few days :) Me and my family arrived in Rotterdam yesterday morning. It's a bit odd to be back, nothing feels like home anymore. There's also so much snow here, way more than in London atleast, as you can see:
It's good to be back in my old room though, sleeping peacefully in a non-squeking, soft bed for the first time in 3 months was quite enjoyable. Spent yesterday afternoon listening to the new Los Campesinos! album 'Romance Is Boring' (out next year) I love it already, it's great, especially the songs 'Romance Is Boring', 'The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future' and 'Straight In At 101'. Some great lyrics again (from Straight In At 101):
I think we need more post-coital
And less post-rock
Feels like the build up takes forever
But you never get me off
[...]
I phoned my friends and family
To gather round the television
The talking heads count down the most heart-wrenching breakups of all time
Imagine the great sense of waste
The indignity, the embarrassment
When not a single one of that whole century
Was mine
On another note, I started wondering whether I should think about getting a new or an extra book case, since it's completely full now. (yes I could stack everything up, but thats just not usefull, and I love alphabetizing - dont now whether thats even a word - my books and dvds [yes I might have an OCD when it comes to that, SO WHAT]). Evidence of the state of utter boredom I've been in since I came home:
And as for my parents' pre-Christmas break in London; it was OK. After 4 days with them in a room I'm really glad I now can sit on my own in my old room the whole day. (They really took over my room by the way, why the fuck is there a miniature christmas tree in my room? and what is that old computer of theirs suddenly doing here?)
I was supposed to meet my parents on sunday night at the hotel, near Victoria station, but at first their flight was delayed, so I was sitting there in the hotel lobby, waiting for a few hours. Then they texted that the flight was cancelled because of a blizzard, and they had to take a plane the next morning, so I checked myself in and just stayed on my own in the hotel room.
Over the few days I just showed them around the city a bit, drank beer at their expenses and had the chance to do some photography, as I was allowed to be a tourist for a few days ;) Just visited the regular tourists attractions; Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Trafalgar Square by night, Oxford Street, Picadilly Circus by night, the National Gallery, Tower Bridge, St Pauls and the Arsenal Stadium.
Pictures will follow at some point, I'm not saying when, since I still haven't worked on all those other pictures from November untill my move to London.
I also managed to waste an evening travelling to Pure Groove Records. I wanted to see Comanechi, which according to the Pure Groove website, would start at 9 pm. So I dumped my parents at the hotel and went all the way to Pure Groove. There were not many people, but the band was walking around there, so I thought, mmm kay, they'll probably start in a minute and I sat down with a paper. Then I started noticing that it seemed the guy from the band was clearing the stage, rather than putting up the equipment, so that's when I started having doubts on whether they might have already played or not.... Next minute, a girl and a boy came in, and then I heard the boy saying to the girl: 'We've missed them, they've played already', or something along those lines, and he sat down opposite me, while the girl went to the toilet. So he started asking if they were any good, and I confessed that it seemed I missed them aswell. We had a bit of a chat and he thought I was from South-Africa, which might be a clue for me to work on my accent -.-
On the topic of Pure Groove Records; I found some videos from the Slow Club instore on youtube. And to put you all in the Christmas spirit: this is the last song they played, off stage, in the middle of the store (you can see [a silhouet of] me behind Charles, right from the pillar):
It's good to be back in my old room though, sleeping peacefully in a non-squeking, soft bed for the first time in 3 months was quite enjoyable. Spent yesterday afternoon listening to the new Los Campesinos! album 'Romance Is Boring' (out next year) I love it already, it's great, especially the songs 'Romance Is Boring', 'The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future' and 'Straight In At 101'. Some great lyrics again (from Straight In At 101):
I think we need more post-coital
And less post-rock
Feels like the build up takes forever
But you never get me off
[...]
I phoned my friends and family
To gather round the television
The talking heads count down the most heart-wrenching breakups of all time
Imagine the great sense of waste
The indignity, the embarrassment
When not a single one of that whole century
Was mine
On another note, I started wondering whether I should think about getting a new or an extra book case, since it's completely full now. (yes I could stack everything up, but thats just not usefull, and I love alphabetizing - dont now whether thats even a word - my books and dvds [yes I might have an OCD when it comes to that, SO WHAT]). Evidence of the state of utter boredom I've been in since I came home:
And as for my parents' pre-Christmas break in London; it was OK. After 4 days with them in a room I'm really glad I now can sit on my own in my old room the whole day. (They really took over my room by the way, why the fuck is there a miniature christmas tree in my room? and what is that old computer of theirs suddenly doing here?)
I was supposed to meet my parents on sunday night at the hotel, near Victoria station, but at first their flight was delayed, so I was sitting there in the hotel lobby, waiting for a few hours. Then they texted that the flight was cancelled because of a blizzard, and they had to take a plane the next morning, so I checked myself in and just stayed on my own in the hotel room.
Over the few days I just showed them around the city a bit, drank beer at their expenses and had the chance to do some photography, as I was allowed to be a tourist for a few days ;) Just visited the regular tourists attractions; Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Trafalgar Square by night, Oxford Street, Picadilly Circus by night, the National Gallery, Tower Bridge, St Pauls and the Arsenal Stadium.
Pictures will follow at some point, I'm not saying when, since I still haven't worked on all those other pictures from November untill my move to London.
I also managed to waste an evening travelling to Pure Groove Records. I wanted to see Comanechi, which according to the Pure Groove website, would start at 9 pm. So I dumped my parents at the hotel and went all the way to Pure Groove. There were not many people, but the band was walking around there, so I thought, mmm kay, they'll probably start in a minute and I sat down with a paper. Then I started noticing that it seemed the guy from the band was clearing the stage, rather than putting up the equipment, so that's when I started having doubts on whether they might have already played or not.... Next minute, a girl and a boy came in, and then I heard the boy saying to the girl: 'We've missed them, they've played already', or something along those lines, and he sat down opposite me, while the girl went to the toilet. So he started asking if they were any good, and I confessed that it seemed I missed them aswell. We had a bit of a chat and he thought I was from South-Africa, which might be a clue for me to work on my accent -.-
On the topic of Pure Groove Records; I found some videos from the Slow Club instore on youtube. And to put you all in the Christmas spirit: this is the last song they played, off stage, in the middle of the store (you can see [a silhouet of] me behind Charles, right from the pillar):
24 December 2009
20 December 2009
Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Brixton Academy
1st of December: Yeah Yeah Yeahs at 02 Academy Brixton, London.
Pictures taken with disposable camera; the ones that turned out best.
Pictures taken with disposable camera; the ones that turned out best.
My first week in London
I'm already thinking about New Years resolutions, and two of them are:
- putting more effort into this blog
- try to keep a diary of my life in London
So this a first attempt to kill those two birds in one stone.
I already tried keeping a diary in Oxford, but I failed and only wrote some stuff on several days (never posted any of it), so hopefully I'll have more success this time.
So... I already finished my first week in London, damn, how time is passing quick.
When I came here last saturday I didn't really know what to feel, about my situation, my hostfamily, my 'new' life, so the only thing felt was 'lost' and a bit confused. Now I feel much more at home.
My hostfamily, house and especially my room are quite nice. I found it hard to 'judge' the family, as I realized I was so used to my comfortable situation in Oxford and the family there - i could basically do whatever i wanted and had a sortoff friendship relationship with the mother -, that I couldn't put things in perspective anymore. I found it really hard not to compare them to my hostfamily in Oxford, and they would in no way measure up to them. Nonetheless, they are nice people and I could've ended up at worse places.
My house is in a nice street in Kenton/Kingsbury about an hour from the centre, in zone 4, past Wembley stadium. It's quite far from the centre,which is a bit dissapointing, but hopefully I can adapt to that... (and if I don't I'll have to move) The nearest tube station (Kingsbury) is a 15 minute walk and there are 2 other tube stations in the area. Unfortunately Kingsbury station is closed on the weekend, due to improvement work (2012 Olympics, etc), so if I want to go out on the weekend I have to take the bus to Kenton station. The tubes also stop going between 12 and 1, so if I go out or to gigs or something, I should really keep that in mind... no all night parties, I'm afraid.
My room is quite big and I finally have a desk (and an uncomfy chair though), which is nice. Here's some pictures [as you can see I alreay managed to make quite a mess]:
I live with 5 people in the house now, the hostparents, hostbrother and sister (16 and 22-year olds) and another student, a Swiss girl called Lucie. She goes to the same school, has been here 2 months and is leaving in April. I haven't seen the hostsister and the other student much though, as I've been out most of the week.
I've spend most of the week exploring London, collecting luggage, buying concert tickets, going to some instores and taking care of some bureaucratic (school) stuff.
On monday I visited the school, it took me hours to find it, as it was not actually in Covent Garden (where I made the terrible mistake of taking the stairs at the station - about 200 steps - and nearly had a heart attack when I reached the top), but across the street from the Holborn station. Note to self: never rely on your intuition only, always take a map as back up. The school seemed quite nice. I've been trying to apply for a student oyster card, which took some effort (i've been sent back and forth to tube stations, post offices etc), but at the end of the week I managed to get the answer: 'you'll receive your student oyster card in 2 or 3 weeks'.
I also sorted out something with the director of studies about what i'll be doing in London. I'll start in higher advanced/profiency class at the Covent Garden school and take IELTS-elective classes. When there's space in the IELTS class at Leicester Square, I'll transfer to that school. And for the time left, I'll just have to wait and see what the options are going to be. Was a bit dissapointed though, when I didn't hear back from my tutor in Oxford, as he promised.
I've been to a friends house in London to pick up some luggage and later back to Oxford to pick up more luggage there and say goodbye to the hostfamily. When I came back from Oxford in the evening, it had started snowing and I had to pull my suitcase through 8 centimetres of snow, which was not very fun.
It has been very cold since I arrived in London, well it is winter after all, and it has also been snowing a bit. Not much snow in the centre though, probably good as else it might cause problems with the tube.
I've also been exploring Camden, East London and Brick Lane, the spots where all the 'London hipsters' hang out. Found some really cool stores and markets and had some nice conversations, one with an old stinking guy in a vintage camera store, about analogue photography and also one in an Episode store in Camden, where I found out - after noticing a picture of the Dutch crownprince behind the counter - Episode is actually a Dutch company. Strolling around in London makes me feel really good, I feel very much at home in the city itself, too bad I don't live closer to the centre. I also love tubing already: I mean what is more enjoyable than watching a 4 year old girl doing a pole dance act? Or watching a man next to you play tetris on his mobile phone? Also managed to trick a group of Brabanders (dutch people from the south of the country) into a state of confusion, by saying they were going the wrong way/were on the wrong tube line. It was funny. Evil, but funny.
Buying concert tickets turned out to be a real pain in the arse, atleast without a credit card. I can't buy tickets online, so have to go by all the box offices, and some gigs don't do box office sales, which is fuckin great -.- It gets even worse when newbies fuck up your ticket/don't provide you enought information and you have to go back all the way to sort it out. This week I spent almost 200 pounds on concert tickets for the next year, so I should really stop for now...
I saw Slow Club at Pure Groove Records on the 15th (PGR are having some sort of christmas festival instores) and 3 days later I saw Bombay Bicycle Club (acoustic). BBC was quite short, since they were afraid to miss their gig at Koko, but it was OK. Slow Club was awesome and Charles from the band came up with a funny quote: 'Yesterday I had a ginger ale and it was called 'ginger tosser'... It had a picture of Mick Hucknall on it...'.
So, what's next, with the first week London gone? Well, tonight I'm meeting up with my parents & brother at a hotel in Victoria. They're going to be here for a 4-day holiday, which should be quite nice :) The 24th we're flying back to the Netherlands for Christmas. I'm looking forward to meeting my friends again. And I get a chance to dump all my bought stuff and sleep in my own bed for a few nights...
The 30th I'm flying back to London, so I can spend New Years in London. Before my school starts I also want to do some photography in London, I'll have a few days for that I think, since my school starts the 4th.
I'll be back on my blog, in the Netherlands in a couple of days. (i'll do another disposable camera post today. should also really catch up on my digital photography work from oxford, still have to work on pictures from november 0.0)
- putting more effort into this blog
- try to keep a diary of my life in London
So this a first attempt to kill those two birds in one stone.
I already tried keeping a diary in Oxford, but I failed and only wrote some stuff on several days (never posted any of it), so hopefully I'll have more success this time.
So... I already finished my first week in London, damn, how time is passing quick.
When I came here last saturday I didn't really know what to feel, about my situation, my hostfamily, my 'new' life, so the only thing felt was 'lost' and a bit confused. Now I feel much more at home.
My hostfamily, house and especially my room are quite nice. I found it hard to 'judge' the family, as I realized I was so used to my comfortable situation in Oxford and the family there - i could basically do whatever i wanted and had a sortoff friendship relationship with the mother -, that I couldn't put things in perspective anymore. I found it really hard not to compare them to my hostfamily in Oxford, and they would in no way measure up to them. Nonetheless, they are nice people and I could've ended up at worse places.
My house is in a nice street in Kenton/Kingsbury about an hour from the centre, in zone 4, past Wembley stadium. It's quite far from the centre,which is a bit dissapointing, but hopefully I can adapt to that... (and if I don't I'll have to move) The nearest tube station (Kingsbury) is a 15 minute walk and there are 2 other tube stations in the area. Unfortunately Kingsbury station is closed on the weekend, due to improvement work (2012 Olympics, etc), so if I want to go out on the weekend I have to take the bus to Kenton station. The tubes also stop going between 12 and 1, so if I go out or to gigs or something, I should really keep that in mind... no all night parties, I'm afraid.
My room is quite big and I finally have a desk (and an uncomfy chair though), which is nice. Here's some pictures [as you can see I alreay managed to make quite a mess]:
I live with 5 people in the house now, the hostparents, hostbrother and sister (16 and 22-year olds) and another student, a Swiss girl called Lucie. She goes to the same school, has been here 2 months and is leaving in April. I haven't seen the hostsister and the other student much though, as I've been out most of the week.
I've spend most of the week exploring London, collecting luggage, buying concert tickets, going to some instores and taking care of some bureaucratic (school) stuff.
On monday I visited the school, it took me hours to find it, as it was not actually in Covent Garden (where I made the terrible mistake of taking the stairs at the station - about 200 steps - and nearly had a heart attack when I reached the top), but across the street from the Holborn station. Note to self: never rely on your intuition only, always take a map as back up. The school seemed quite nice. I've been trying to apply for a student oyster card, which took some effort (i've been sent back and forth to tube stations, post offices etc), but at the end of the week I managed to get the answer: 'you'll receive your student oyster card in 2 or 3 weeks'.
I also sorted out something with the director of studies about what i'll be doing in London. I'll start in higher advanced/profiency class at the Covent Garden school and take IELTS-elective classes. When there's space in the IELTS class at Leicester Square, I'll transfer to that school. And for the time left, I'll just have to wait and see what the options are going to be. Was a bit dissapointed though, when I didn't hear back from my tutor in Oxford, as he promised.
I've been to a friends house in London to pick up some luggage and later back to Oxford to pick up more luggage there and say goodbye to the hostfamily. When I came back from Oxford in the evening, it had started snowing and I had to pull my suitcase through 8 centimetres of snow, which was not very fun.
It has been very cold since I arrived in London, well it is winter after all, and it has also been snowing a bit. Not much snow in the centre though, probably good as else it might cause problems with the tube.
I've also been exploring Camden, East London and Brick Lane, the spots where all the 'London hipsters' hang out. Found some really cool stores and markets and had some nice conversations, one with an old stinking guy in a vintage camera store, about analogue photography and also one in an Episode store in Camden, where I found out - after noticing a picture of the Dutch crownprince behind the counter - Episode is actually a Dutch company. Strolling around in London makes me feel really good, I feel very much at home in the city itself, too bad I don't live closer to the centre. I also love tubing already: I mean what is more enjoyable than watching a 4 year old girl doing a pole dance act? Or watching a man next to you play tetris on his mobile phone? Also managed to trick a group of Brabanders (dutch people from the south of the country) into a state of confusion, by saying they were going the wrong way/were on the wrong tube line. It was funny. Evil, but funny.
Buying concert tickets turned out to be a real pain in the arse, atleast without a credit card. I can't buy tickets online, so have to go by all the box offices, and some gigs don't do box office sales, which is fuckin great -.- It gets even worse when newbies fuck up your ticket/don't provide you enought information and you have to go back all the way to sort it out. This week I spent almost 200 pounds on concert tickets for the next year, so I should really stop for now...
I saw Slow Club at Pure Groove Records on the 15th (PGR are having some sort of christmas festival instores) and 3 days later I saw Bombay Bicycle Club (acoustic). BBC was quite short, since they were afraid to miss their gig at Koko, but it was OK. Slow Club was awesome and Charles from the band came up with a funny quote: 'Yesterday I had a ginger ale and it was called 'ginger tosser'... It had a picture of Mick Hucknall on it...'.
So, what's next, with the first week London gone? Well, tonight I'm meeting up with my parents & brother at a hotel in Victoria. They're going to be here for a 4-day holiday, which should be quite nice :) The 24th we're flying back to the Netherlands for Christmas. I'm looking forward to meeting my friends again. And I get a chance to dump all my bought stuff and sleep in my own bed for a few nights...
The 30th I'm flying back to London, so I can spend New Years in London. Before my school starts I also want to do some photography in London, I'll have a few days for that I think, since my school starts the 4th.
I'll be back on my blog, in the Netherlands in a couple of days. (i'll do another disposable camera post today. should also really catch up on my digital photography work from oxford, still have to work on pictures from november 0.0)
12 December 2009
7 December 2009
Morrissey being miserable on his desert island.
On monday (last week), my teacher Charles recommended me the radio 4 program ‘Desert Island Discs’. The concept: an interviewer has a (famous) guest on, who gives his /her top 8 tracks they would listen to, were they stranded on a desert island. The persons in question can tell a bit about themselves as well during the interview. Charles recommended it to me, because this weekend’s guest was Morrissey – and he knows I’m into him. He said I could listen to it on the BBC iPlayer, and he himself hadn’t listened to it yet either. I predicted the New York Dolls would be Moz’ number 1 and Charles jokingly said that he probably chose one of his own tracks.
So that day after school I decided to give it a listen. Naturally, I was right and the first track he chose was ‘New York Dolls – (There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown’.
Here's the rest of his top 8:
1 New York Dolls - (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown
2 Marianne Faithful - Come and Stay with Me
3 Ramones - Loudmouth
4 Velvet Underground - The Black Angel's Death Song
5 Klaus Nomi - Der Nussbaum
6 Nico - I'm Not Saying
7 Iggy and the Stooges - Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
8 Mott the Hoople - Sea Diver
Of course, during the interview Mr. Moz also had to keep up his status of being the most whiney and moany bitch in pop music. Often I don’t even take it serious anymore, you just know that it’s ‘his thing’, being a miserable, vain, lonely, animal-loving bastard. Ironically, a desert island would be exactly the place Morrissey would be most ‘happy’ with himself.
Several parts of the interview just made me laugh really, how can you not laugh when you hear good old Moz saying things like ‘I think self-deconstruction is honourable’ and ‘Nothing in this world comforts me’. You just never know when he’s actually being sarcastic towards himself.
At the end of the interview the interviewer, offered him ‘The Complete Works of Shakespeare’ and ‘The Bible’ as reading material for his desert island. To the question ‘Which book would you choose to take to the island?’, he replied: ‘The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde’, oh well what a fucking surprise. Mozzie, you’re just so predictable, tut tut.
Nonetheless, this is how we love Mozzie best: just being a miserable einzelganger. and ‘Desert Island Disc’ seems like something I should continue checking out.
So that day after school I decided to give it a listen. Naturally, I was right and the first track he chose was ‘New York Dolls – (There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown’.
Here's the rest of his top 8:
1 New York Dolls - (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown
2 Marianne Faithful - Come and Stay with Me
3 Ramones - Loudmouth
4 Velvet Underground - The Black Angel's Death Song
5 Klaus Nomi - Der Nussbaum
6 Nico - I'm Not Saying
7 Iggy and the Stooges - Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
8 Mott the Hoople - Sea Diver
Of course, during the interview Mr. Moz also had to keep up his status of being the most whiney and moany bitch in pop music. Often I don’t even take it serious anymore, you just know that it’s ‘his thing’, being a miserable, vain, lonely, animal-loving bastard. Ironically, a desert island would be exactly the place Morrissey would be most ‘happy’ with himself.
Several parts of the interview just made me laugh really, how can you not laugh when you hear good old Moz saying things like ‘I think self-deconstruction is honourable’ and ‘Nothing in this world comforts me’. You just never know when he’s actually being sarcastic towards himself.
At the end of the interview the interviewer, offered him ‘The Complete Works of Shakespeare’ and ‘The Bible’ as reading material for his desert island. To the question ‘Which book would you choose to take to the island?’, he replied: ‘The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde’, oh well what a fucking surprise. Mozzie, you’re just so predictable, tut tut.
Nonetheless, this is how we love Mozzie best: just being a miserable einzelganger. and ‘Desert Island Disc’ seems like something I should continue checking out.
30 November 2009
Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus
I was born into self-actualization, I knew exactly who I was, but I never got my chance to be young, so when you lay me inside of a coffin, bury me on the side of the hill. That's a good place to get some thinking done. It didn't work out the way that I planned it. They all seem to want to take it away, everything that I thought to be true, so it's obvious to me somebody, somewhere must have really done a number on you and I know because the fuckers got me too. All the pretty horses, all flowers and trees, they will all mean less than nothing when it all has come to be.
God sent me a vision of the future in a dream on a Saturday night and I see no reason to celebrate, for when I saw it I wept like a child. It came to me like a knife in the chest. You and me and everyone, forever, to ache and ache and ache. So Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass me by, but if it can't without my drinking it, then thy will be done.
26 November 2009
24 November 2009
A question of art
As Jim Jarmusch once said:
"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery-celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from-it's where you take them to."
This next video could be an example of this quote; a very interesting video, which I happen to came across this weekend, directed by Keith Schofield.
The video, as you may have seen, contains a great amount of abstract and obscure images. It’s a great video to watch, you can see it over and over again and every time discover something new. What makes it so interesting though is not necessarily the video itself, but the whole discussion that followed.
People interested in art and photography, or those who are just very active on the internet, might have noticed a lot of ‘references’ to artwork (Rene Magritte, William Hundley), and random photographs circling around on the internet (fat kid with guitar, man with half-beard, spongebob being arrested, pancake astronaut). The references however, are not extremely obvious or that well-known, so people who are not familiar with the images, won’t see that most of the video is a re-enactment of already existing images.
In the controversy that followed after the release of this video, a lot of people questioned whether this video was based on stealing, or an attempted tribute to either obscure images in general, or to several artists. Keith Schofield himself however said he was inspired by the website ffffound.com (one of my favorite websites ever by the way), and the images he had seen there.
So what is this video exactly, regardless of what Schofield himself says; using already existing obscure images in a not necessarily obvious way (aka stealing)?, re-enacting images as a tribute/reference, either positive or negative, to the concept of websites such as ffffound? or a tribute to the artists themselves, as a way of showing interest in obscure images? Answer: I don’t know really. It could be all, could be none.
What I find interesting about the whole video and discussion is that it, probably subconsciously, shows what happens to art in this day and age when it comes to the internet: pictures get linked and linked everywhere, due to websites like ffffound and blogs (yeah including mine, I know).
This raises a few questions: ‘Is this a bad thing? Do artists and their work lose their authenticity?’, or ‘Is it a good thing; because people can easily access art and an artist’s name can grow more easily (depending on whether people mention names on their blogs etc)’, another one being: ‘Is anything (read: images) really owned or copyrighted when on the internet?’ It’s quite hard to answer these questions, as there are both pros and cons, so multiple answers to each question. And I think there isn’t any right or wrong answer, it’s just a matter of opinion. And it shows us one of the many forces that ‘art’ has one us: it can be controversy and it makes people discuss. And I like that.
Nonetheless; the song is awesome, Beck and Gainsbourg form an interesting music duo, and the video remains an interesting piece of surrealism and a good topic for discussion. And if Jim Jarmusch is right or not, or if Keith Schofield is an thief or a great artist, well that depends on one's own opinion.
"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery-celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from-it's where you take them to."
This next video could be an example of this quote; a very interesting video, which I happen to came across this weekend, directed by Keith Schofield.
The video, as you may have seen, contains a great amount of abstract and obscure images. It’s a great video to watch, you can see it over and over again and every time discover something new. What makes it so interesting though is not necessarily the video itself, but the whole discussion that followed.
People interested in art and photography, or those who are just very active on the internet, might have noticed a lot of ‘references’ to artwork (Rene Magritte, William Hundley), and random photographs circling around on the internet (fat kid with guitar, man with half-beard, spongebob being arrested, pancake astronaut). The references however, are not extremely obvious or that well-known, so people who are not familiar with the images, won’t see that most of the video is a re-enactment of already existing images.
In the controversy that followed after the release of this video, a lot of people questioned whether this video was based on stealing, or an attempted tribute to either obscure images in general, or to several artists. Keith Schofield himself however said he was inspired by the website ffffound.com (one of my favorite websites ever by the way), and the images he had seen there.
So what is this video exactly, regardless of what Schofield himself says; using already existing obscure images in a not necessarily obvious way (aka stealing)?, re-enacting images as a tribute/reference, either positive or negative, to the concept of websites such as ffffound? or a tribute to the artists themselves, as a way of showing interest in obscure images? Answer: I don’t know really. It could be all, could be none.
What I find interesting about the whole video and discussion is that it, probably subconsciously, shows what happens to art in this day and age when it comes to the internet: pictures get linked and linked everywhere, due to websites like ffffound and blogs (yeah including mine, I know).
This raises a few questions: ‘Is this a bad thing? Do artists and their work lose their authenticity?’, or ‘Is it a good thing; because people can easily access art and an artist’s name can grow more easily (depending on whether people mention names on their blogs etc)’, another one being: ‘Is anything (read: images) really owned or copyrighted when on the internet?’ It’s quite hard to answer these questions, as there are both pros and cons, so multiple answers to each question. And I think there isn’t any right or wrong answer, it’s just a matter of opinion. And it shows us one of the many forces that ‘art’ has one us: it can be controversy and it makes people discuss. And I like that.
Nonetheless; the song is awesome, Beck and Gainsbourg form an interesting music duo, and the video remains an interesting piece of surrealism and a good topic for discussion. And if Jim Jarmusch is right or not, or if Keith Schofield is an thief or a great artist, well that depends on one's own opinion.
23 November 2009
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