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[Nov. 25th, 2009|09:27 pm] |
- after some good news this week, I'm celebrating with precious, precious ice cream.
- have you ever had a "Tom and Jerry"? It's a drink with hot rum/brandy and egg froth. I'll report when I make a bunch tomorrow!
- read an Agatha Christie yesterday, "The Mystery of the Blue Train." Awful, but fun. It seemed like a cariature, with the Posta populous mysterious gems dealer, the Major Bentwhistle, the kindly young woman suddenly filthy rich, the grandiose actress/dancer. heh.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. All holidays are about food, but this one is like that for other people too. YES!
seeya! |
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| Livejournal foreseen in 1896 |
[Nov. 23rd, 2009|07:59 am] |
The old fashioned novel is really dead, and nothing can revive it nor make anybody care for it again. What is to follow it?...A clever German who is here suggested to me last night that the literature of the future might turn out to be the daily exchange of ideas of men of genius -- over the everlasting telephone of course -- published every morning for the whole world....
Bell's telegraph killer |
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| Alejandro Jodorowsky - Unseen Dune |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|10:29 am] |
Imagine Herbert's "Dune" as a film: 1) reimagined by surrealist master Jodorowsky, 2) storyboard by Moebius, 3) planet design by Giger, 4) Baron Harkonnen played by Salvador Dali, 5) special effects by Dan O'Bannon, 6) music by Pink Floyd!! O'Bannon did the fx for John Carpenter's "Dark Star" (bizarre SF movie). After the project died "O'Bannon entered a psychiatric hospital. Afterwards, he returned to the fight with rage and wrote twelve scripts which were refused. The thirteenth one was /Alien/."
I have a huge love of surrealism and insanity. The other day I had a party, for which I collected random weird images from the internet, to show on my big TV as background. The first image someone asked what it was, I said I had no idea. It was of a very large area, tiled like a bathroom. In the center is a tall black witch looking figure with a huge hat. Next to him are two identical women in white robes. I just thought it was a cool image. It turns out my buddy Francis knows what it is. "It's a frame, the opening scene, from Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist masterpiece 'The Holy Mountain'. The next scene has the wizard, in a ritualized fashion, performing a tea ceremony while the women look like mannequins. The, he ritually shaves them." I have to say I *love* Holy Mountain, but have never seen the whole thing, it's too brain-exploding. Stunningly beautiful colors, extremely powerful and strange imagery, it's too much after 10-20 minutes. It has more symbolism and bizarreness in ten minutes than does of all Pink Floyd's "The Wall", it makes the latter look as sophisticated as a TV person doing a weather report.
I'd love to see O'Bannon's other twelve scripts.
Alejandro Jodorowsky - Unseen Dune
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| LJ vs FB, round 1 |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|10:42 pm] |
I've been trying to articulate Facebook vs Livejournal. Here's my current shot:
Livejournal has such a completely different vibe than FB. FB is like a torrent of mice squeaking. If you miss a bit, it doesn't matter bc there'll be tons more squeaks. Livejournal is calm and fuddy-duddy, like Mr Rogers cardigans. LJ has immense quantities of wonderful photography and drawings and artwork and personal, deeply personal, writings and collections of friends who chat together. Facebook, not so much.
I love words. The Facebook "two sentences that'll last for a few hours" thing is quite batty. I can, and often do, find an LJ person and go through multiple years of their lives via their posts. I even go through my own work, each little bit reminding me of parts of my life. Often I find great, funny stuff, which reminds me very concretely how much I rule. ;)
what do y'all think? |
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| art |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|09:36 pm] |
I drew without a model for nearly the first time the other day and had a BLAST, almist immediately went into "right brain mode". That is, I see=feel everything at once, no memory or sense of time, more sluggish to understand what's going one, but don't care.
Right now drawing from noodly doodles and also plant and mannequin and listening/watching Baraka (WOW WOW). Fun! |
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| movies |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|09:48 pm] |
"2012" disaster porn, with Fellini's Satyricon and the silent Munrau film "The Last Laugh" on DVD. Moviewise, I get around :)
I didn't come out as a movie geek until about a year ago. I realized at a party we'd talk about Film and I'd talk faster and faster... I watch a movie, then research it and get another by the director or in a similar style, or break and go back to one I'd heard about. My overlap of movies watched with my friends is only modest.
Recently I watched "8 1/2" and "Juliet of the Spirits": WOW! The more you read about the director and his life and Mastriani's life, it gets very complex. Err, another post on this later. Anyway both movies are stunningly beautiful, each frame like a Life magazine photograph or an expressionist woodcut.
If you're a Film person, or an artist, you MUST see "The Passion of Joan of Arc", a 1928 film. The sets and camera moves and lack of makeup very specifically give a certain mood and confusion. The lead actress communicates an absolutely overwhelming amount of emotion through her face and posture. Alas it was her only film. I sometimes pop this in the player and sketch from the different characters because they overflow with emotion. |
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| life is good |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|09:33 pm] |
"2012", then nap, then food, then party. Today has been good. I'm recovering from all the driving and interviewing on Friday. This morning I woke up *very* confused, like being stoned but not in a good way. Fortunately it didn't matter and I could leisurely go about my day :)
Writing makes me feel good, I can put nebulous scary things in a box. They're still there, but now they're in a box and are more tractable.
Also, I've discovered loose leaf green tea from the local Mitsuwa (Japanese market). It looks like finely clipped grass but makes VERY wonderful light flavored tea. I think I'll sip that and draw a bit and wash away the day. |
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| saw "2012", the disaster porn movie... |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|03:31 pm] |
saw 2012 and.... it was awesome! It promised lots of explosions and LA being ripped by massive fissures, and delivered. The plot intelligence never rose above "errr..." but it didn't belabor itself. Woody Harrelson gave an exciting, fun performance as a froth-mouthed wise crazy. The FX on the big screen were totally worth it. Enjoy!
I used to work for a special effects company. I remember people telling stories about the crazy shit in this movie, like a an airplane trying to take off while a huge fissure is literally chasing it down the runway. I was curious to see it because some friends worked on it, and it destroys LA, which is always a plus.
I feel sorry for the actors reciting these stiff lines, and generally looking sheepish. But what the hell, a movie is entertainment, and I was well entertained. The audience (3rd street promenade, Santa Monica) was into it and laughed at the ridiculous bits and had a great time also. |
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| very busy day, |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|08:55 pm] |
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I wore pants and had two interviews, and drove on the 405. Now my poor Roomba is scurrying around trying to hump my foot while I'm making an extremely late lunch. |
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| life |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|09:43 am] |
once I was on a early-ish date, the couple next to us was breaking up. No yelling, but the calm bitter chill of "well so this is it?" kind of thing. Not romantic!
I'm looking forward to going on dates again. I'm convinced the only memorable bits are the surprises. Once we were at the zoo and I fell in love when my date started doing an impression of Olive Oyl in my arms. Life is not the slightest bit like I'd expected. |
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| I'm back |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|09:39 am] |
I've decided to start a new blog. This one.
Previously I was loathe to mention my name, or my Real Life. The blog was only to post random bits and artwork. The past year or three have made me realize I like writing and sharing my life, and this is the perfect venue.
My name is John Mitchell, I live in Venice California, and I'm a programmer by trade.
Howdy! |
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| meme: Myers-Briggs |
[Jan. 31st, 2008|09:19 pm] |
| You Are An INFJ | 
The Protector
You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.
Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.
You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.
You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them.
In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow.
You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation.
At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support.
You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.
How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful
When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable |
Hey, that's not a bad summary. but "alternative medicine guru"? Errrr, nope.
(via </strong></a>![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) merchimerch < sasha_khan ) |
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