Friday, December 12, 2008

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

In this photo, my mom explains to young Fang that in these uncertain economic times, it is necessary for him to examine his personal financial plan very closely – to make some tough decisions before things get out of control.

"You could consider rolling over your various 401k accounts – all of which, I'm sorry to tell you, have lost a considerable amount of money. A Roth IRA might make sense for a cat your age."

[silence]

"Could I take the losses as a write-off?"

"Yes Jeans, you can take the losses as a write-off."

[purring sound]

Making Movies Out of Your Life

I enjoyed this interview with Mike Mills.



There are other good ones in the same series, have a look at your leisure:
Miranda July
Taika Waititi
Valerie Pirson
...and more. Go here

Go here for more Mike Mills stuff.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

What are you trying to do, blow my mind?

We're not really doing Christmas this year, but in the off chance that anyone decides they want to get me anything (is it sad when you tell your family what you want for Christmas via blog?) I'm going to post a couple choice items over the next several days.

First up: Two-Lane Blacktop, often called the greatest road movie ever made, on Criterion DVD (or VHS, new or used, I don't care).

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Odd Number

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Some sample spreads from another favorite children's book – this one by the playwright Eugène Ionesco, with illustrations by Etienne Delessert. The text is funny and the illustrations are outstanding (as with all of Delessert's work – in 1975 he was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in the Louvre, which went on to travel to museums around the world). Click to enlarge:







More Delessert and Ionesco in future posts. In the meantime, snap this one up at Abe Books.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Behind the Green Door

Some photos from last night's show at the Green Room:

Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death

Past Lives


Top five shows of 2008 in no particular order:

-Past Lives/Triumph of Lethargy at the Green Room
-Laura Veirs at Union Hall
-Cave Singers at Union Hall
-Fleet Foxes at Bowery Ballroom
-Hello, Blue Roses at Glasslands

Are You Swimming In Her Pools?

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While doing some research for a client I came across these stills from a 1968 French film by Jacques Deray. La Piscine (The Swimming Pool) stars Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, and Jane Birkin. Check the trailer:



Dope style, dope soundtrack... I feel an obsession coming on.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Present Life, Past Lives

Some miscellany for Monday as I'm juggling a ton of stuff this week.

The other day Emily and I took a walk through the woods in Seward Park, one of several Olmstead-designed parks on Lake Washington.

It's kind of crazy having an old-growth forest in the middle of Seattle – it feels really remote in parts. The other day I was there (just me) and this song came up on shuffle, which was weird and cool and added to the mood:

Grand Hallway Seward Park mp3 (More info at The Stranger.)

It is rare and memorable when shuffle gets something right.

Saturday we walked along the waterfront on a path that goes north out of downtown Seattle.

There's a big grain elevator there and this ship from Panama was unloading its haul, while another waited at anchor in Elliott Bay.

Sometimes even just looking at boats feels like vacation. After that we went to Lowell's in the market and had some clams and Manny's.

Later that night we went to The Anne Bonny and caught the opening of Bald Man Art, a new exhibition by Ezra Dickenson, while enjoying some refreshing beverages with gallerist and proprietor Spencer Moody. I recommend stopping by soon and often – it's a great show and the Anne B has a never-ending collection of interesting things going on.


Tonight Spencer's band Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive To Death is playing at the Showbox. Here's a video for their song "Demolition Man."


Triumph of Lethargy is playing with Past Lives. I meant to post about the record release party for the new Past Lives EP several weeks ago, and not just because it had one of the cooler flyers I've seen recently:

Past Lives is destined for greatness – check out some samples on their MySpace page, pick up the EP now at Suicide Squeeze, and head over to their website for more info.

And I think that pretty much brings us up to speed for the moment….