12.14.2008
death in midsummer
sounds like: alfred hitchcock presents: triggers in leash.
"The world around him was quite as it had always been. Nothing had happened, and if he tried he could believe that nothing had happened even to him. A childish annoyance came over him. In an unknown place, an incident with which he had had nothing to had cut him off from the world.
Among all these passengers none was so unfortunate as he. The though seemed to put him on a level above or a level below the ordinary Masaru, he did not know which. He was someone special. Someone apart.
No doubt a man with a large birthmark on his back sometimes feels the urge to call out: 'Listen, everyone. You don't know it, but I have a big, purple birthmark on my back.'
And Masaru wanted to shout at the other passengers: 'Listen, everybody. You don't know it, but I have just lost my sister and two of my three children.'" - Death in Midsummer
"Fortunately, he was in love with Kiyoko. To face the future hopefully, therefore, he had only to follow the conditions laid down by nature. Now and then some other woman made a motion in his direction, but he sensed something unnatural in pleasure for the sake of pleasure. It was better to listen to Kiyoko complaining about the dreadful price these days of vegetables and fish." - Three Million Yen
"In his dreams he lived nightly in the Pure Land, and when he awoke he knew that to subsist in the present world was to be tied to a sad and evanescent dream."
"The physical attributes of men no longer meant anything to her. Her only concern was to find a man who could give her the strongest and deepest possible love. A woman with such aspirations is a truly terrifying creature."
"That old priest by the lake had at a certain stage in his life given up the Floating World and all its pleasures. In the eyes of the Imperial Concubine he was far more of a man than all the nobles whom she knew at Court. And, just as he had once abandoned this present Floating World, so now on her behalf he was about to give up the future world as well." - The Priest and His Love
"After the suicide, people would take out this photograph and examine it, and sadly reflect that too often there was a curse on these seemingly flawless unions. Perhaps it was no more than imagination, but looking at the picture after the tragedy it almost seemed as if the two young people before the gold-lacquered screen were gazing, each with equal clarity, at the deaths which lay before them."
"Reiko took the squirrel [figurine] in her hand and looked at it. An then, her thoughts turning to a relm far beyond these child-like affections, she gazed up into the distance at the great sun-like principle which her husband embodied. She was ready and happy to be hurtled along to her destruction in that gleaming sun chariot- but now, for these few moments of solitude, she allowed herself to luxuriate in this innocent attachment to trifles. The time when she had genuinely loved these things, however, was long past. Now she merely loved the memory of having once loved them, and their place in her heart had been filled by more intense passions, by a more frenzied happiness."
"Reiko felt the roughness of the lieutenant's unshaven skin against her neck. This sensation, more than being just a thing of this world, was for Reiko almost lost the world itself, but now- with the feeling that it was soon to be lost forever- it had a freshness beyond all her experience. Each moment had its own vital strength, and the senses in every corner of her body were reawakened."
"On looking into each other's eyes and discovering there an honorable death, they had felt themselves safe once more behind steel walls which none could destroy, encased in an impenetrable armor of Beauty and Truth."
"Listening to these noises he had the feeling that this house rose like a solitary island in then ocean of a society going as restlessly about its business as ever. All around, vastly and untidily, stretched the country for which he grieved. He was to give his life for it. But would that great country, with which he was prepared to remonstrate to the extent of destroying himself, take the slightest heed of his death? He did not know; and it did not matter. His was a battlefield with out glory, a battlefield where none could display deeds of valor: it was the front line of the spirit." - Patriotism
"Newspapers, thought Toshiko, her mind going back once again to those happenings. Bloodstained newspapers. If a man were ever to hear of that piteous birth and know that it was he who had lain there, it would ruin his entire life. To think that I, a perfect stranger, should from now on have to keep such a secret- the secret of a man's whole existence..." - Swaddling Clothes
"The world around him was quite as it had always been. Nothing had happened, and if he tried he could believe that nothing had happened even to him. A childish annoyance came over him. In an unknown place, an incident with which he had had nothing to had cut him off from the world.
Among all these passengers none was so unfortunate as he. The though seemed to put him on a level above or a level below the ordinary Masaru, he did not know which. He was someone special. Someone apart.
No doubt a man with a large birthmark on his back sometimes feels the urge to call out: 'Listen, everyone. You don't know it, but I have a big, purple birthmark on my back.'
And Masaru wanted to shout at the other passengers: 'Listen, everybody. You don't know it, but I have just lost my sister and two of my three children.'" - Death in Midsummer
"Fortunately, he was in love with Kiyoko. To face the future hopefully, therefore, he had only to follow the conditions laid down by nature. Now and then some other woman made a motion in his direction, but he sensed something unnatural in pleasure for the sake of pleasure. It was better to listen to Kiyoko complaining about the dreadful price these days of vegetables and fish." - Three Million Yen
"In his dreams he lived nightly in the Pure Land, and when he awoke he knew that to subsist in the present world was to be tied to a sad and evanescent dream."
"The physical attributes of men no longer meant anything to her. Her only concern was to find a man who could give her the strongest and deepest possible love. A woman with such aspirations is a truly terrifying creature."
"That old priest by the lake had at a certain stage in his life given up the Floating World and all its pleasures. In the eyes of the Imperial Concubine he was far more of a man than all the nobles whom she knew at Court. And, just as he had once abandoned this present Floating World, so now on her behalf he was about to give up the future world as well." - The Priest and His Love
"After the suicide, people would take out this photograph and examine it, and sadly reflect that too often there was a curse on these seemingly flawless unions. Perhaps it was no more than imagination, but looking at the picture after the tragedy it almost seemed as if the two young people before the gold-lacquered screen were gazing, each with equal clarity, at the deaths which lay before them."
"Reiko took the squirrel [figurine] in her hand and looked at it. An then, her thoughts turning to a relm far beyond these child-like affections, she gazed up into the distance at the great sun-like principle which her husband embodied. She was ready and happy to be hurtled along to her destruction in that gleaming sun chariot- but now, for these few moments of solitude, she allowed herself to luxuriate in this innocent attachment to trifles. The time when she had genuinely loved these things, however, was long past. Now she merely loved the memory of having once loved them, and their place in her heart had been filled by more intense passions, by a more frenzied happiness."
"Reiko felt the roughness of the lieutenant's unshaven skin against her neck. This sensation, more than being just a thing of this world, was for Reiko almost lost the world itself, but now- with the feeling that it was soon to be lost forever- it had a freshness beyond all her experience. Each moment had its own vital strength, and the senses in every corner of her body were reawakened."
"On looking into each other's eyes and discovering there an honorable death, they had felt themselves safe once more behind steel walls which none could destroy, encased in an impenetrable armor of Beauty and Truth."
"Listening to these noises he had the feeling that this house rose like a solitary island in then ocean of a society going as restlessly about its business as ever. All around, vastly and untidily, stretched the country for which he grieved. He was to give his life for it. But would that great country, with which he was prepared to remonstrate to the extent of destroying himself, take the slightest heed of his death? He did not know; and it did not matter. His was a battlefield with out glory, a battlefield where none could display deeds of valor: it was the front line of the spirit." - Patriotism
"Newspapers, thought Toshiko, her mind going back once again to those happenings. Bloodstained newspapers. If a man were ever to hear of that piteous birth and know that it was he who had lain there, it would ruin his entire life. To think that I, a perfect stranger, should from now on have to keep such a secret- the secret of a man's whole existence..." - Swaddling Clothes
12.09.2008
heroes
sounds like: "do you know the way to san jose" burt bacharach
Here is Blake reading comics while keeping me company at the Pushkin Craft fair. Thanks to all who came out! Thanks to all that put it on! :)
The new inventory I made for it will be up on etsy sometime this week.
Blake and I have been all about Heroes actually factually. Just finished season one (thanks Pookie). It rules.
Here is Blake reading comics while keeping me company at the Pushkin Craft fair. Thanks to all who came out! Thanks to all that put it on! :)
The new inventory I made for it will be up on etsy sometime this week.
Blake and I have been all about Heroes actually factually. Just finished season one (thanks Pookie). It rules.
12.05.2008
ZR @ PUSHKIN!
I'll be at the Pushkin in Greenfield this Saturday from 2pm to 6pm for their craft fair! Come check out my goodies: I have some new earrings, charms, cat toys and mix cd sleeves. I will also be selling random pieces of my art and doing character portraits for cheap!
12.01.2008
sunshine
sounds like: "an airbag saved my life (live)" radiohead
BenSem - Sunshine
A few months ago I was contacted by Sem of the indie rock band, BenSem, to make an alternate video for their new single, "Sunshine". It's an alternate because there already is a video made of personal footage and tour clips. However, the band thought my work was neat and that an alternative animated video would be cool.
I asked Sem to shoot footage of himself and e-mail me a copy of the video. The band is based in Pontypridd, South Wales and naturally couldn't make it to my little Western Massachusetts farm house. Then I shot footage from the window of my car with my crusty old Nikon Coolpix L3. I took pictures exiting Boston on 93 North all the way up until entering Concord, New Hampshire. I shot the wobbly hills of Oak Hill Road a few days later after a hike up to the fire tower with my sister and blake (I took more footage there too). I also shot a week later around Holyoke, Easthampton and Northampton-- a lot of footage is on Mt. Tom!
BenSem's album, Western Lights, comes out in February.
BenSem - Sunshine
A few months ago I was contacted by Sem of the indie rock band, BenSem, to make an alternate video for their new single, "Sunshine". It's an alternate because there already is a video made of personal footage and tour clips. However, the band thought my work was neat and that an alternative animated video would be cool.
I asked Sem to shoot footage of himself and e-mail me a copy of the video. The band is based in Pontypridd, South Wales and naturally couldn't make it to my little Western Massachusetts farm house. Then I shot footage from the window of my car with my crusty old Nikon Coolpix L3. I took pictures exiting Boston on 93 North all the way up until entering Concord, New Hampshire. I shot the wobbly hills of Oak Hill Road a few days later after a hike up to the fire tower with my sister and blake (I took more footage there too). I also shot a week later around Holyoke, Easthampton and Northampton-- a lot of footage is on Mt. Tom!
BenSem's album, Western Lights, comes out in February.
11.24.2008
Barry Manilow
sounds like: "crushed bugs" curious buddies
Noise Violators in Fort Lupton Sentence to Listen to Barry Mannilow
FORT LUPTON — Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" may begin with the line, "I've been alive forever,'" but for noise ordinance violators, listening to Manilow may feel like forever.
Fort Lupton Municipal Judge Paul Sacco says his novel punishment of forcing noise violators to listen to music they don't like for one hour has cut down on the number of repeat offenders in this northwestern Colorado prairie town. About four times a year, those guilty of noise ordinance violations are required to sit in a room and listen to music from the likes of Manilow, Barney the Dinosaur, and The Platters' crooning "Only You"
"These people should have to listen to music they don't like," said Judge Paul Sacco for a segment about the program that aired Friday on Denver's KUSA-TV. Sacco began the program years ago when he noticed that many of the repeat offenders simply showed up at his courtroom to pay their fine with cash.
"Most kids don't want to hear somebody like Glenn Close trying to sing opera," he said. Video of a recent class showed teenagers with long faces shifting in their seats or looking up at the ceiling. "You can't fall asleep," said teenager Rueben Fuentes right before letting out a bit of a sigh. Members of a garage band were at the class after playing music late at night in their backyard. "The cop station was two blocks away," said band member Robert Mort. "People who were at the party loved it. I'm not sure the cops did." "Too much music, too loud, too late," added band member Harrison DeRuiter.
So what does Sacco think of Barry Manilow? "I actually don't think Manilow's too bad," he said.
Noise Violators in Fort Lupton Sentence to Listen to Barry Mannilow
FORT LUPTON — Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" may begin with the line, "I've been alive forever,'" but for noise ordinance violators, listening to Manilow may feel like forever.
Fort Lupton Municipal Judge Paul Sacco says his novel punishment of forcing noise violators to listen to music they don't like for one hour has cut down on the number of repeat offenders in this northwestern Colorado prairie town. About four times a year, those guilty of noise ordinance violations are required to sit in a room and listen to music from the likes of Manilow, Barney the Dinosaur, and The Platters' crooning "Only You"
"These people should have to listen to music they don't like," said Judge Paul Sacco for a segment about the program that aired Friday on Denver's KUSA-TV. Sacco began the program years ago when he noticed that many of the repeat offenders simply showed up at his courtroom to pay their fine with cash.
"Most kids don't want to hear somebody like Glenn Close trying to sing opera," he said. Video of a recent class showed teenagers with long faces shifting in their seats or looking up at the ceiling. "You can't fall asleep," said teenager Rueben Fuentes right before letting out a bit of a sigh. Members of a garage band were at the class after playing music late at night in their backyard. "The cop station was two blocks away," said band member Robert Mort. "People who were at the party loved it. I'm not sure the cops did." "Too much music, too loud, too late," added band member Harrison DeRuiter.
So what does Sacco think of Barry Manilow? "I actually don't think Manilow's too bad," he said.
11.20.2008
11.17.2008
buried underground
sounds like: "going mobile" the who
The first of my new Afflicted series: Carrie ~ Sweet,Sweet
Pending designs for Zombie-Romance.com:
The first of my new Afflicted series: Carrie ~ Sweet,Sweet
Pending designs for Zombie-Romance.com:
11.14.2008
11.13.2008
dragons of eden
sounds like: "four women (live in montreaux)" nina simone
I just finished Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden. I don't think I've ever had so many epiphanies while reading a text as I did while reading this! It is magical, truly scientific. Here are my favorite bits:
The Cosmic Calendar
This is Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar. Sagan wanted to present the life of the universe in a format that would really represent how old it really is. Most people know it's billions of years old (cough*palin*cough), but still don't really grasp the enormity of it's existance. I know I didn't! So Sagan scaled down the time line to one Earth calendar year. So, 12:00am on January 1st would be the Big Bang and 11:59pm December 31st would be right now. All of human history takes place solely on December 31st! Holy Shit!
"Man is probably the only organism on Earth with a relatively clear view of the inevitability of his own end."
"Patients who have had prefrontal lobotomies have been described as losing a "continuing sense of self"- the feeling that I am a particular individual with some control over my life and circumstances, the "me-ness" of me, the uniqueness of the individual. It is possible that lower mammals and reptiles, lacking extensive frontal lobes, also lack this sense, real or illusory, of individuality and free will, which is so characteristically human and which may first have been experienced dimly by Proconsul."
"In other words, genital display is a ritual derived from sexual behavior, but serving social and not reproductive purposes."
"It is precisely our plasticity, our long childhood, that prevents a slavish adherence to genetically preprogrammed behavior in human beings more than any other species."
"The price we pay for anticipation of the future is anxiety about it."
"[Robert] Ornstein offers an interesting analogy to explain why, in the West at least, we have made some much contact with left-hemisphere functions and so little with right. He suggests that our awareness to right hemisphere function is like our ability to see stars in the daytime. The sun is so bright that the stars are invisible, despite the fact that they are just as present in our sky in the daytime as at night. When the sun sets, we are able to perceive the stars. In the same way, the brilliance of our most recent evolutionary accretion, the verbal abilities of the left hemisphere, obscures our awareness of the functions of the intuitive right hemisphere, which in our ancestors must have been the principal means of perceiving the world.*"
Sagan litters the bottom of his pages with personal footnote theories on whatever the current topic of the book happens to be on...
"* Marijuana is often described as improving our appreciation of and abilities in music, dance, art, pattern and sign recognition and our sensitivity to nonverbal communication. To the best of my knowledge, it is never reported as improving our ability to read and comprehend Ludwig Wittgenstein or Immanuel Kant; to calculate the stresses on bridges: or to compute Laplace transformations. Often the subject has difficulty even writing down his thoughts coherently. I wonder if, rather than enhancing anything, the cannabinols (the active ingredients in marijuana) simply supress the left hemisphere and permit the stars to come out. This may also be the objective of the meditative states of many [Asian] religions."
"Some evidence suggests the left-handers are more likely to have problems with such left-hemisphere functions as reading, writing, speaking and arithmetic; and to be more adept at such right-hemisphere functions as imagination, pattern recognition and general creativity."
"As a consequence of the enormous social and technological changes of the last few centuries, the world is not working well. We do not live in traditional and static societies. But our governments, in resisting change, act as if we did. Unless we destroy ourselves utterly, the future belongs to those societies that, while not ignoring the reptilian and mammalian parts of our being, enable the characteristically human components of our nature to flourish; to those societies that encourage diversity rather than conformity; to those societies willing to invest resources in a variety of social, political, economic and cultural experiments, and prepared to sacrifice short-term advantage for long-term benefit; to thoe societies that treat new ideas as delicate, fragile and immensely valuable pathways to the future."
I just finished Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden. I don't think I've ever had so many epiphanies while reading a text as I did while reading this! It is magical, truly scientific. Here are my favorite bits:
The Cosmic Calendar
This is Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar. Sagan wanted to present the life of the universe in a format that would really represent how old it really is. Most people know it's billions of years old (cough*palin*cough), but still don't really grasp the enormity of it's existance. I know I didn't! So Sagan scaled down the time line to one Earth calendar year. So, 12:00am on January 1st would be the Big Bang and 11:59pm December 31st would be right now. All of human history takes place solely on December 31st! Holy Shit!
"Man is probably the only organism on Earth with a relatively clear view of the inevitability of his own end."
"Patients who have had prefrontal lobotomies have been described as losing a "continuing sense of self"- the feeling that I am a particular individual with some control over my life and circumstances, the "me-ness" of me, the uniqueness of the individual. It is possible that lower mammals and reptiles, lacking extensive frontal lobes, also lack this sense, real or illusory, of individuality and free will, which is so characteristically human and which may first have been experienced dimly by Proconsul."
"In other words, genital display is a ritual derived from sexual behavior, but serving social and not reproductive purposes."
"It is precisely our plasticity, our long childhood, that prevents a slavish adherence to genetically preprogrammed behavior in human beings more than any other species."
"The price we pay for anticipation of the future is anxiety about it."
"[Robert] Ornstein offers an interesting analogy to explain why, in the West at least, we have made some much contact with left-hemisphere functions and so little with right. He suggests that our awareness to right hemisphere function is like our ability to see stars in the daytime. The sun is so bright that the stars are invisible, despite the fact that they are just as present in our sky in the daytime as at night. When the sun sets, we are able to perceive the stars. In the same way, the brilliance of our most recent evolutionary accretion, the verbal abilities of the left hemisphere, obscures our awareness of the functions of the intuitive right hemisphere, which in our ancestors must have been the principal means of perceiving the world.*"
Sagan litters the bottom of his pages with personal footnote theories on whatever the current topic of the book happens to be on...
"* Marijuana is often described as improving our appreciation of and abilities in music, dance, art, pattern and sign recognition and our sensitivity to nonverbal communication. To the best of my knowledge, it is never reported as improving our ability to read and comprehend Ludwig Wittgenstein or Immanuel Kant; to calculate the stresses on bridges: or to compute Laplace transformations. Often the subject has difficulty even writing down his thoughts coherently. I wonder if, rather than enhancing anything, the cannabinols (the active ingredients in marijuana) simply supress the left hemisphere and permit the stars to come out. This may also be the objective of the meditative states of many [Asian] religions."
"Some evidence suggests the left-handers are more likely to have problems with such left-hemisphere functions as reading, writing, speaking and arithmetic; and to be more adept at such right-hemisphere functions as imagination, pattern recognition and general creativity."
"As a consequence of the enormous social and technological changes of the last few centuries, the world is not working well. We do not live in traditional and static societies. But our governments, in resisting change, act as if we did. Unless we destroy ourselves utterly, the future belongs to those societies that, while not ignoring the reptilian and mammalian parts of our being, enable the characteristically human components of our nature to flourish; to those societies that encourage diversity rather than conformity; to those societies willing to invest resources in a variety of social, political, economic and cultural experiments, and prepared to sacrifice short-term advantage for long-term benefit; to thoe societies that treat new ideas as delicate, fragile and immensely valuable pathways to the future."
livin' like a bug ain't easy
My most sweet and darling co-worker Maia made me the best mix cd I've gotten in a while. She put the home movie's Franz Kafka Rock Opera in with the mix. It's hysterical! Don't want no one steppin' on me, now I'm sympathizing with fleas! Livin' like a bug ain't easy!
11.12.2008
singapore
Gong Li, branded 'traitor' by Chinese
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
By Jane Macartney, Beijing
Beijing does not allow its people to hold double nationality and the star will be obliged to give up her Chinese citizenship. This means she will no longer be eligible for membership of an advisory body to the Chinese parliament – a largely honorary position that the government confers on many celebrities, successful businessmen and famed academics and scientists.
more...
(On a lighter not, I'm relieved to confirm that Singapore is a country. I was ridiculed in a game of Scattergories last summer for listing it as a country, but it seems the joke is on them.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
By Jane Macartney, Beijing
Beijing does not allow its people to hold double nationality and the star will be obliged to give up her Chinese citizenship. This means she will no longer be eligible for membership of an advisory body to the Chinese parliament – a largely honorary position that the government confers on many celebrities, successful businessmen and famed academics and scientists.
more...
(On a lighter not, I'm relieved to confirm that Singapore is a country. I was ridiculed in a game of Scattergories last summer for listing it as a country, but it seems the joke is on them.)
nina simone
sounds like: "mississippi goddam to moon over alabama (live)" nina simone
I love Nina Simone. I have since I was fourteen years old. :)
Ain't Got No (I Got Life)
Four Women
I love Nina Simone. I have since I was fourteen years old. :)
Ain't Got No (I Got Life)
Four Women
11.11.2008
11.05.2008
thank you, mr. president
sounds like: Rachel Maddow Show
From President Obama last night, a mass mailing to supporters of the Obama campaign:
kristilyn --
I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history.
And I don't want you to forget how we did it.
You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing...
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack
From President Obama last night, a mass mailing to supporters of the Obama campaign:
kristilyn --
I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history.
And I don't want you to forget how we did it.
You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing...
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack
11.04.2008
BARACK THE VOTE
sounds like: MSNBC election coverage
TODAY I VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA.
This was my very first time voting in a presidential election. In 2000, I thought Al Gore would win automatically so I didn't bother to register. In 2004, my registration was fucked up and I was denied entry to the polls. I voted in the primary in January.
I am very proud and excited to have been able to be apart of this election!
[EDIT] 9:13pm: Massachusetts is heard... No on 1, Yes on 2, Yes on 3!
TODAY I VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA.
This was my very first time voting in a presidential election. In 2000, I thought Al Gore would win automatically so I didn't bother to register. In 2004, my registration was fucked up and I was denied entry to the polls. I voted in the primary in January.
I am very proud and excited to have been able to be apart of this election!
[EDIT] 9:13pm: Massachusetts is heard... No on 1, Yes on 2, Yes on 3!
10.29.2008
10.14.2008
10.10.2008
10.06.2008
10.03.2008
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