BOWL OF CONFUSION: that's what the world is today....

OKAY: FOR THOSE OF YOU who like to keep it clean...this link probably ain't for you....or if you are one of my parents...or the pope...or a friend of THE christian right....or a gradeschool teacher...actually...I know of few of those who could teach John Holmes a thing or two...so never mind grade school teachers...but the nice lady who lives down the street who has 20 cats and knows everyones children...watched them grow up and go off to college...maybe NOT her...

....then again...I've know some foul mouthed old ladies...thank god.....ETTA wouldn't mind this link probably....

CHECK IT OUT

P.S.: HOW ANNOYING this country is....when I went back to this link after posting this..."FUCK" got changed to "DATE" in this song....What's the point of bein an adult if you are treated like a child!?

OUT DAMN SPOT....

After sleepin in this morning...I jumped into my grubbys and strolled down to the river with my coffee to pick tomorrow's breakfast....







Last week as I was walking along I saw several people picking and eating berries from bushes that I assumed were just ornamental, since I didn't recognize them...and I wasn't gonna try 'em neither...you never know...BUT I stopped to asked both people what kinda berries they were....first gal didn't know but said she wouldn't be eating them if they weren't safe...and the father and son, who had been eating from these bushes for several years, told me they were "MULBERRIES" and "BOYSENBERRIES"...and that you can eat them if the birds are eating them....And I sure dont recall eating either...least of all FRESH....








Well so soon after reading the below mentioned book, it was exciting to be able to put some if it to practice...(being pretty broke these days, I cannot afford to buy fruit, let alone berries, at the market...and here was a bunch for free (several weeks worth..), and as far as I have seen "pesticide free"...







The mulberries are like a less complex blackberry...and the boysenberry, like a fluctuating plum/ apricot/ almond paste flavor...depending on how ripe they are...

It's pretty cool to be stepping outside the loop produce-wise even if it is for only a week or so....and learning about new things to eat right here in my hood....








In "IN DEFENSE OF FOOD" Michael Pollan talks about how thousands of years of intuitive learning, and food culture have been robbed from us and replaced with this belief that only a scientist and/ or the FDA know what's best for us to eat....HAH!! In the old days...we learned from our community and all the experimenting...trial...and error (eeek!),AND FROM OUR MOTHERS what was good to eat...trusting our instincts...(if it's sweet and smells good), it's edible....THAT IS WHAT OUR SENSES ARE THERE FOR...right?

It's nice to get back in touch with that, a little bit anyway, today....the animal side of ourselves...which still knows these things...but needs to relearn these instincts....

Standing there along the bike trail reaching out with my grubbin fingers...stained with juice...putting them one after the other into my mouth...I felt kinda like a grizzly bear...getting ready for fall...

is THIS the world PAPA?

I have been trying to figure out what I am doing with these last few months here in NYC....I love this city, BUT I am glad to be va-moosing....

My friend Ryan...I used to work with him, bartending at the Paramount Theater in Seattle....invited me to be part of a migration outta frustrating big city life...(him in LA..)...

...so I am also trying to plan for the future....

I just finished reading MICHAEL POLLAN'S: IN DEFENSE OF FOOD....
It is slated to change my way of thinking about the world around me, the same way that 50 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE EARTH did when I bought it in junior high(?)..ask my siblings....i think I drove them crazy with all the eco-friendly info I spouted at them after that read....

...this book has me planning a garden in my new town to be...visiting farmer's markets....etc etc...dinner's made from scratch for friends....

...I have been trying to envision the next evolution of THIS BLOG TOO....not sure I want it to be so...VERBOSE in future...and more of a scrapbook..snips of image...scraps of dialogue...something more free-form and mutable...and EASY TO DO ON A DAILY BASIS....

..stay tuned and see where I (we) go with this...and thanks for keeping in touch thus far....

AT THE RISK OF BEING A NEGATIVE NED....

I'm not normally one to be the critic...I prefer to TRY and be the "BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN CURSE THE DARK" kinda guy....BUT...

I just saw THE BROTHERS BLOOM and am concerned that we are facing the rise of a whole sub-genre of film here...who's ranks seem to be growing (Wes Anderson, etc.)...and disturbing me....


It kinda feels like an advertiser decided to try and SELL the "WEIRD KID" at school and make him look hip...(okay, I was sort of one of those "weird" kids....but this ain't no axe-grind...). Or better yet, THE JOCK trying to sell the WEIRD KID...and making a lil cash doing so...

THE BROTHERS BLOOM is just that: JOCK ART: let's make it really big because I don't have much to say...so we gotta magnify it so it's loud and clear. All the elements are there for a good story to be made possible: a good cast of actors....some exotic locals....quirky visual chapter headings (like we're trying for cool grown-up kids book look...), and OF COURSE lots of eccentric characters with all sorts of weird goodies, masquerading as hobbies. Granted, I love all that stuff....great...BUT I am feeling the way I felt after the last few M. Night Shyamalan movies: This guy needs to get himself some REAL friends who know how to say "NO!" to their friend Mr. Night....who seems to have surrounded himself with a bunch of YES MEN instead: "...yah, and that part where the monster/animal thing chases the LADY in the water? The thing with the REALLY DUMB name..? That's SO COOL!!!..."....etc....

It's worse with the Wes Anderson effect, because, like the BROTHERS, there are all sorts of indications of the possibilities of a good, entertaining film in the works. Lots of beauty beauty beauty- and NOT the WB kind of beauty...it's the ugly duckling beauty, prettied up so brain-washed people can SEE it....The sensitive character with the puppy-dog eyes, the broken (sexy) nose, and the palpably yearning heart...the crazy around-the-world trek on some folly or other...and then the carpet getting yanked out from under you at the end when you realize there's nothing behind it. Though, actually, you have this growing feeling of unease that there isn't going to be a pay-off...and you are left feeling disappointed. The only thing that would make it a little better is if PEGGY LEE singing "IS THAT ALL THERE IS?" started playing as the wacky credits rolled....THEN you would get to let out a bitter snort at least...

It's hard to know for me just WHERE these films go wrong, but I suspect it's in the fact that the director is also the writer...Even actors-turned-director (and after a lengthy time spent acting in other peoples films at that...) don't make this mistake too often. I read some comments by Mr. Johnson regarding falling into directing which seem to express a disregard for all the talent that goes into it...using the obvious metaphore of THE CON in his winging it and just "pretending" to be a director in order to become one...How can you expect to put out anything worthy, if you think you can just bluff your way through it...? (And this guy went to film school...). It's almost like responding to a painting by saying "I could do that...", though no, not everyone CAN.
Perhaps if this strain of directors were to put their visual packaging skills to better use tackling other people's stories they might be more successful?

But this brings me to ANOTHER point: All these movies seem to have another trait in common: Someone REALLY likes J. D. Salinger. Those quirky siblings who are super smart without really knowing just how smart they are...or how cool....
Salinger is really good at sucking you into these stories and making you relate to these characters...so much so that you start to suspect that you might be really smart and really cool too- because you GET IT.
Salinger is good at selling the story to you: whenever someone reads Catcher in the Rye- don't they always say how they "totally relate to the Holden character.."?

And while we're on it: all those references hinting to how well read the writer is....feel like nothing more than an attempt to "lend credibility" to his own work by inviting older and wiser folks to the party...

This is not all to say how we all ARE NOT UNIQUE..(come on, hands across the world everyone...), but it doesn't mean it would be something you should invest millions in turning into a film...

The BROTHERS BLOOM reminds me of The Emperors New Clothes story: everyone standing around, saying how beautiful the clothes are because they are afraid to say: "huh?".

Rachel Weisz's character SHOULD fall for Adrian Brody's- he's interesting, and he's vulnerable, and he doesn't spend all his time talking about himself...(and he's got those puppy-dog eyes that are ready to tear up, and the schnozz...), so why does he have to take her on this chase around the globe to do so...I am a romantic like anyone, but I do not see it.
Or "THE CURATOR" (Robbie Coltrane-whom I love..)...who just shows up and turns out to be "in on it"...Let's just leave it all vague so that we don't have to tell a story.... NOTE: If you are making a movie: CON MEN as a theme is a really great way to go if you have lots of gaps in a story or unresolved issues...because you can just fall back on "Oh, they were in on it too...it was part of the scam".

So back we go to the problem: lots of great visuals, not enough heart or soul...This movie really feels like it was made by a rich kid who never has gotten his hands dirty, never struggled...everthing seems effortless and elegant...nothing FEELS important because nothing worth having is gained easily. I kept WANTING to care about these characters, but I never did.
Also, usually in a truly good performance, you forget an actor is who they are. And while the acting was completely competent (it's a character actor movie let's not forget...), I didn't stop thinking "That's my man Adrian..." or "Go Mark!!!"....not a good sign.

A budget is nice for a film, but The Lord of the Rings this is NOT. So, ask yourself this: Do you think Mr. Johnson could have made this an absorbing film if he didn't have the budget or the big names? Maybe... alot of times it is the Lack of resources that make you work harder...pushes you to make things happen like they wouldn't have otherwise. The lack of a cushion beneath you forces you to really THINK about what you're saying....

As a fellow artist, I feel for Mr. Johnson...it takes alot of courage to set out on the journey of honing your craft, and making your art....of putting yourself on the chopping block for all to scrutinize....But this film indicates to me that he has a long way to go. And that's okay....as long as he can accept that.

THE PERFECT STICK!!!

NO, SERIOUSLY....I was walking along the HUDSON last week, and just happened to look down...and their she was....something about the form I guess...and it is as light as a feather like a bird's bone.....You just have to come over and check for yo'self....









I walked home with it...and was talking to my brother on my cell and accidentally snapped it in two as I was putting the key in my front door!!! So I painstakingly glued it together....like triage...I noticed that the tinniest bit of bark was missing so I went out into the hallway and found it!!!









I guess sculpture, or 3-d art has been in my bones since I was a kid....I used to take shoelaces and start tying knots in them over and over until it was one big knot-ball, just to see if I could get a cool shape outta it...see?








So, I have a cool idea for this stick, but I am unsure if I want to do anything to it.....It's so beautiful just the way it is.....(?)......

WHY... I can sell you that FONT for only $19.95!!

For me: ANYTHING is likely to trigger a set of dominoes, sending me off on a tangent....

I was playin around one day....experimenting with ways to achieve effects with some cardboard I'd found at one of those big ol' stationary stores (run by old cranky men...) that just send my salivary glands into overdrive (the stores...the stores!!)...and YOU KNOWS just how much I DIG CARDBOARD....

Here's what I came up with...








...at first I thought that it was a bit too cute...until I found my bearings and figured out how to tweek it...
...which led me to climb into the old internet saddle and looking up some fonts...









I AM A BIG FONT WHORE...Fonts are to the printed word what SOUND is to a film...(unless you are a big design dork/ film geek...(raise yer hands...)..)...
Often it goes undetected...content to float along...bumping against the pilings under the pier of our subliminal consciousness....









I am very fond of certain fonts...though I'd be clueless as to their names...they're almost bookmarkers to certain nostalgic memories for me...the casual scrawl with childrens tempura paints in orange and blue or red and black...on butcher paper, for the signs in the pungent little Italian deli my mom would take me into when doing the shopping, for example....








Well, after a few false starts, I was rewarded with the discovery of MYFONTS.com- a new favorite site...

THERE IS A FONT FOR EVERY OCCASION.

And most of them evoke feelings or moods that have some basis in our experiences...whether we like it our not...like a song we're humming...because we picked it up at TACO BELL ten minutes ago...on a late night, post booze pick-me-up...(put-me-down-again...) excursion....

So I started browsing....




(font: BLUEBEARD)



And you are forced, if you are really in search of something in particular- in my case: something FAIRYTALE-ESQUE...BROTHER'S GRIMM-ISH- into thinking about what it is you are trying to convey...And while I really find only a handful that I would say I "dislike"....One was too "sch-prockets"...another...too perky...tooo hard...too thin...too "HITLER"...too "It's all good"...too ...puppy dog...etc....etc....etc....





(fonts: LUMINARI, and CASTLE)



Over an hour later, I crawled away from the screen...eyes BLEEDING...stomach gurgling...completely hooked...




(font: ATTIC ANTIQUE)



And it get even more surreal...Thinking about people developing these fonts....(going to school so as to develope these fonts...)...Alot are based on great classics...some on an obscure script, for only the most esoteric purposes...some are downright LOVECRAFTIAN...And most are for sale...?!



What a strange concept: The sale of letters...Then again, there was a time: the equivalent of the other end of the pendulum's swing: When there were those who printed out and illuminated manuscripts because they were one of the gifted few who could write at all...(let alone read...).

Needless to say I will have to schedule time before I revisit said site....

THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

I just got this email from a sibling this morning....of a book telling kids (presumably...) ....about how baby's are made...it is very straight forward (and German), and shows everything, but as a cool well done kids book (in a language of pictures they can understand...)...HOW GREAT it would have been to have had sex revealed in this matter of fact way...so you could enter your teenage years with at least something less to freak out about....(I am speaking from my own experience, or lack thereof...).

I have thought on it recently: about the nature of knowledge...and the fact that WHEN a child comes to an adult and asks about, say, SEX, that they are ready to know...JUST BY THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE ASKED.
When an adult denies them that knowledge, you are putting a barricade across their progress forward. And I wonder at the motives for this: ONE, that parent/ adult is not ready to let go, or see their child as becoming something else...OR TWO: POWER, and this is scary, because then you have to wonder at what sort of power...

When my cousin was on the cusp of becoming a teenager, he came to me and my sister and asked us about sex-thangs (and it was while walking outdoors..what is it about THE SEX TALK and the OUTDOORS..??)...(inside I thought OH MY GOD!! I get to give him the talk!!). It was cool because we both made sure to be very matter of fact about it..."It's no big deal...", "You will understand..", "It's nothing to freak out about..." etc. etc. etc....(How ironic that then I was still in THE CLOSET!!!).
Funny, I haven't asked him about that, if our providing him with knowledge he was seeking help in any way....

I hope is did....