Link-O-Rama: 1/22/10

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

This pretty much blows my mind into little tiny pieces. I enjoy CGI work, when its done well. But, usually, I think it tends to lack the... er... poetry of actual good cinematography. Not the case here. This piece is pretty much just atmospheric locations, but the subtle focus details and the richness of detail is incredible. All-CGI, and created by just one person...

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

The 5 year old in me really wishes I had $28.8 million. That way, I could buy my own space shuttle. These are apparently bargin basement prices, since NASA just lowered them from the original $42 million they were asking.

I'm really loving this map of Seattle with all the neighborhoods broken out into seperate typocgraphical treatments. Where do I live? Pretty much at the "H" on Beacon Hill.

From Orkposters.com.

The Road Less Taken

The other day, while visiting a friend, he loaned me a DVD called Monster Road and suggested I watch it. It's a documentary about local artist, Bruce Bickford, who was famous in the 60's for his claymation work he did with Frank Zappa. To be honest, I took it from him and promised to watch it, but wasn't particularly interested. But, last night, with nothing else to watch, my wife and I decided to throw it on.

It turns out that it's actually quite good. In fact, its one of those films that sticks in your head long after the film is over.


Wisely, the filmmakers gloss over the Zappa connection and instead focuses more on Bickford as an artist, his childhood and (most importantly) his relationship with his aging father who is suffering from alzheimers. This interaction with his father -who is an interesting and tragic character himself- ended up being the emotional core of the film and makes it resonate in a way that most documentaries about artists fail to. It certainly impressed me more than its closest cinematic relation: Crumb.

Both men come off as these fragile creatures with almost otherworldly views of life, and who both in very key ways fail to connect with those around them. This disconnect, reflected against the amazing and obsessively created art work of the younger Bickford helps give a peek at a family that ultimately has spun off the rails and really has no way of reassembling itself.

But, that's not to say that the film is bleak. In fact, its far from it. More wonderous and bitter-sweet than depressing and defeatist, the art and the two individuals musings keep things unique and watchable. Bruce maintains that Bill Gates should use his money to create 50 claymation studios, while his father calls Elvis a thug while trying to remember if they ever shook hands. In addition, it becomes a bit of a portrait of Seattle, and the unique mildewed personalities that the area produces.

Where's the General?

Apparently, he's at the McLeod Residence.

(Along with his beautiful wife, of course!)

The McLeod Residence is a new gallery/art space/soon-to-be lounge in Belltown. And my wife and I went to check it out during the miserable 32-degree rainstorm that hit Seattle last Friday evening.



The idea behind the McLeod Residence is to make a gallery space that is more than a gallery space; sort of "club house" (or maybe "social club") for artists and artistic thinkers. It's the sort of idea that the optimist in me loves, and the pessimist in my thinks is doomed for fail. But, regardless of how it eventually turns out, it was a neat space, and I enjoyed both it and the art in it. Especially noteworthy was an interactive piece, involving a looped video of a cello player and a device that allows you to interact with it. ...and, yes, I understand that last sentence sounded like gibberish, but just trust me on this one.

Regardless, while I probably would have enjoyed the space for no other reason than to get out of the rain, I have to say that the entrance was entrancing. You enter through some unassuming doors and make your way up a narrow, dark wood staircase, until it opens up into a large room with ornately framed, old paintings and elaborate white and brown wallpaper that gives the entire thing a sort of wonderful Edwardian flare. And, you probably all know how I love all things Edwardian.

Speaking of which, I stumbled across this site recently: Steam Wars. Steam Wars is the brain child of Larry Blamire, who is notable mainly for directing the faux-B-movie, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (which, actually, I still need to check out). But, while the idea of paying homage to B-movies always works, I'm much more interested in the concept behind Steam Wars; which involves an alternate history in which soldiers in Victorian Era Europe engage in ongoing battle atop giant steam powered robots. Sort of a Steampunk version of Robotech.

What's not to love!



Anyhow, the website itself contains a variety of paintings, sketches and notes about the world of Steam Wars. But the whole thing is decidedly rough around the edges. Still, it’s just enough to get my gears turning.

Let the Kid Have a Beer.

Many moons ago, in this blog, I raved about a new album I had discovered by a band named Beirut. Well, last night, Beirut played a show at the Crocodile in Seattle, so my wife and some friends and I went and saw them play.


Beirut... but not the show we saw.

...and I thought they were excellent! Not only did they play their songs off their album well, but they also seemed to have quite a few songs that I had never heard, but which were just as good as what I was familiar with. In addition, I was personally glad that they just came out dressed in standard clothes and didn't feel obligated to dress up in period clothing, or something, to match their sound.

Their youthful age was also impressive, and was repeatedly driven home by the fact that the lead singer desperately wanted to have a beer, but wasn't allowed to because he was underage. But heck, since the kid had more talent than pretty much everyone else in the room... I thought he deserved one.

Stuff like this reminds me that not everyone younger than me is more inane than me. And I say that fully realizing how inane I can be.

This has actually been a good week for me and music, since I also got to see Mew play in the basement of my work. There’s nothing like skipping out of work for 30 minutes to go watch a band play to an audience of, like, five people.

Also, I just got done watching comic book writer, Grant Morrison, give a 45 minute talk on YouTube. Grant's one of those writers whos work is a bit hit or miss with me. A few of his comics, like the Filth, left me cold. But other titles, like We3, rank in my all time favorites. Anyhow, the speech he was giving in this clip was for some Disinformation Convention, and is basically outlining some of his thoughts on his personal philosophy. If you can get through his ramblings about aliens and magic, there is actually some interesting concepts scattered through his speech (if only for inspirations for Sci-Fi stories, or something).

One little bit, toward the end, that I found interesting involved him talking about security cameras. And how, effectively, having cameras on every corner causes more people to act like movie stars (read: crazy); and how, in turn, having more people act crazy makes people set up more cameras. It's a self perpetuating cycle.

Anyhow, it’s an equal mixture of interesting ideas and eye-rolling mystical rambling. But, if you have 45 free minutes and need something to listen to, it might be worth checking out.

Finally, a coworker sent me me this link, which points out that Fantagraphics comics is opening a "super-store" in Seattle. Especially since Confounded Books closed its doors earlier this year, a Fantagraphics story will be a much needed addition to the Seattle comic retail scene.

Good news, indeed!

Yelp! Yelp! Yelp!

I'm obsessed with Yelp.com. I can't help (yelp?) myself.

Yelp is basically the bastard child of Friendster and Citysearch. A combination of social networking and restaurant/bar/store reviews. Upon hearing about it, one of my friends proclaimed "how many different online profiles are we supposed to have?" To which I guess my anwser is that I need at least one more.

I've basically wasted the last two day writing rambling, semi-fictious monologues on everything ranging from de-beaking squids at Uwajimayas, to shooting deer at Shorty's, to nearly loosing all self-control at the Emerald City Comicon.

I've even gone so far as to add a little Yelp link on the lower part of this pages right-hand Nav. Scroll down and check it out now. So, next time you wonder why I haven't posted anything new here in the last couple weeks... its probably because I'm feeling obsessively compelled to comment on every business within a 40 mile radius of my apartment.

See you there!

But, who pays the other half?

My brother gave me the heads up on this movie, which is a new classic of Ninja Cinema: A Ninja Pays Half My Rent. Definitely worth watching.

Actually my brother (aka Gypsy Rockstar) has been pointing out a lot of cool stuff to me recently, including this artist: Wesley Burt. Very cool stuff.

In addition, just a quick reminder that this weekend is the Emerald City Comic Con... so be there, or be square. Unless, of course, you're these guys...

...then you're just screwed regardless.

EDIT: While backtracking to find the picture of the Comic Con people, I noticed the responses on this old entry... six responses from "Rod" and one from "Rachel" all telling me that they "stumbled across my blog and really liked it" and suggesting that I check out their blog about hunting supplies. Now, I know those posts are all automated spam, but part of me likes to pretend that posting a picture of fans dressed as superheroes would provoke a veritable army of Rod's to step forward and suggest I buy a rifle.

Seattle Represent!

So, Seattle was voted the Most Overpriced City again, by Forbes.com. Here's the full list:

1) Seattle
2) New York City
3) Portland, Ore.
4) Chicago
5) San Jose, Calif.
6) Bergen-Passaic, N.J.
7) San Francisco
8) Middlesex, N.J.
9) Denver
10) Los Angeles

Yup. Way to go Seattle! Story.