Friday, May 22, 2009

The Media is the Message

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John Wood Loon Drawer and Bomb, 1987

Images from two current shows exhibiting the work of photographic manipulator John Wood (1922–).

John Wood My Lai Massacre, 1969

John Wood: Quiet Protest is up at ICP through September 6th, and On the Edge of Meaning at NYU's Grey Art Gallery through July 18th.

John Wood Cooling Tower and Cactus, 1989-90. Karen Rosenberg in today's New York Times: "These works mimic the typological approach of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s studies of water towers, but with a conscience."

Many more images here.
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Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

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meh

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Pray for Pills

I don't really give dictation or whatever but if I had this little Chill Pill iPod microphone maybe I would start. There are honestly not that many gadgets I want right now but I might have to lay down $15 for this. More info at Turntable Lab.
They also have these Chill Pill portable speakers which believe it or not are supposed to be pretty loud.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Modeselector : Review


Berliner techno monster Modeselektor was in Seattle to play a show last night (exclaiming via twitter "everything in Seattle is Organic!"). We showed up way early, way tipsy and got ready to rave. Just a few thoughts before I segway into the pictures (which are more fun anyway):
Modeselektor can be hit or miss. When his beats are ON you want to go crazy and jump around, adrenaline-gone-wild kind of thing, especially with the sound system on crank. (See: Weed Wit The Macka, the Happy Birthday Remix EP, etc.) But when he's off, like last night, (See: Moderat- his collaboration effort with frenemy Apparat) things can get a bit fuzzy and lose their grip. I'm not writing him off though, I'd see him again...


On a side note, he does have a talent, albeit somewhat bizarre, for good album cover art. Get on itunes and look at not only his latest cover art but the cover for the Moderat album. Good stuff.

myspace links:

http://www.myspace.com/mdslktr
http://www.myspace.com/teapartiesgunsnvalor
http://www.myspace.com/nordicsoul

Man on the Edge

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Yesterday's Loner, the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 12-film Steve McQueen festival, opens today at the Walter Reade Theater. Even when we lived in New York, Lincoln Center seemed as far away from Brooklyn as it does now from Seattle, but many of the films in the festival are on DVD, and the list provides a good study guide for packing the queue with McQueen classics:
-Bullitt
-The Cincinnati Kid

-An Enemy of the People

-The Getaway

-The Great Escape

-Love with the Proper Stranger

-The Magnificent Seven

-Nevada Smith
-Papillon
-The Sand Pebbles

-The Thomas Crown Affair

-The Towering Inferno
Of course the big screen is always better though, and if you're at the actual festival (as opposed to the homemade one in your living room), an added bonus is that a number of guests will be on hand to introduce the films: Candice Bergen for The Sand Pebbles, David Forster for The Getaway, Norman Jewison for both The Cincinnati Kid and The Thomas Crown Affair, Robert Vaughn for The Magnificent Seven, and more. Click here for more info.

While we're at it, some stills and other photos to round it out:

McQueen at the California Junior Boys Republic reformatory in Chino Hills, 1963. He credited the school with turning his life around when he was a juvenile petty thief, and would often return to visit and hang out with the kids.
McQueen's first wife, Neile Adams, was born in Manila and spent 18 months during the war imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines.
McQueen with his cat, "Kitty Kat"
McQueen with Natalie Wood
With Peggy Moffatt in front of McQueen's 1963 Ferrari GT Berlinetta Lusso. Photo by William Claxton
Steve McQueen and Tuesday Weld
McQueen with Ann Margret and Tuesday Weld
McQueen with Faye Dunaway and Norman Jewison on the set of The Thomas Crown Affair
Steve McQueen and Jacqueline Bisset in Bullitt
McQueen on set with Ali McGraw (who would become his second wife) and Sam Peckinpah

McQueen on the covers of Harper's Bazaar (photo by Richard Avedon) and Sports Illustrated



Click here for more info on the festival .
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Good Guy

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A few images from Unseen Guy Bourdin, an exhibition of 32 previously unseen Bourdin photographs currently on at The Wapping Project in London.



More images and info here.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Legal Downloads of the Mind

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The Kills' Allison Mosshart and Jamie Hince stopped by TBTL to chat with Luke Burbank before their show here on Friday, and they played a few songs to boot. Interesting, funny, and worth a listen.

Also worth checking out: The Kills have a bunch of cool photos (and other info) on their website.