M e r e I m a g e

U2 News

2009-01-03T15:21:00.002-07:00

Seeing as Bono is the co-patron saint of this blog, sharing his title with Charles Schulz, it is only fitting to alert all of you who check this blog (being about nobody) that a new U2 album is on its way. See here for more details.

2008-10-31T20:04:00.000-06:00

Trick or Treat!

And Happy Halloween from Mere Image.

More death and destruction

2008-02-23T23:53:00.002-07:00

I think it's time to bit a nail into the MI coffin. It's been a great ride, if others want to pick it up, please do so.

Meanwhile I would like to create a similar blog with a similar emphasis on community driven arts at Cannibals and Thieves. See you there!

Take another look

2007-04-07T19:37:00.000-06:00

As usual, the original American Pixar trailer for Ratatouille wasn't an actual trailer, but an original video designed to acquaint the viewer with the central character, in this case it is a food loving rat. The Japanese trailer (via Opus) introduces an entirely different character as well, and well, it looks interesting.

Good thing this day is gone

2007-02-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a good day today and that you were kissed by dog.

2007-02-03T00:38:00.000-07:00

I think mere image should stay out of Beta. Beta isn't that exciting, cause it's mostly for people like me who don't know any HTML.

Movie Madness and I Feel Sane

2006-12-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Last year was a really interesting movies. Films that became widely known without hype, despite the surrounding them. So one could survey the play times in a paper and make hard choices about which film would be the film most worth watching. But this year...

The only films I would really like to see is The Queen and Letters from Iwo Jima. A few other movies look interesting, but they mostly seem to high quality popcorn, not serious films that could challenge me at the end of the year. What about indie films, Hollywood makes popcorn films without a second thought, but there is always something interesting in the indie world that makes movies look serious again. However, this season there doesn't seem to be anything.

If you've seen anything good let me know, and tell us what you're looking forward to, later this year (not much of that) and next year.

What's going on?!

2006-11-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Perhaps my comrade bloggers (BLOGGERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!) don't have time to come to our humble blog and tell us how they are faring. After all we are ruled mercilessly by various tyrants, chiefly university professors. But of course we all want to be university professors too. And our students shall hate us.
Now onto the subject at, what's going on? So citizen-readers, I shall tell you.

Midsy is making postcards at My Old Sketchbook,

Foolish Knight is grateful on Tuesdays (only Tuesdays mind you. Come on Thursday, Oi!)

Euchatisto is adjusting to the foreign thing known as rain.

Why, almost wrecked the car, while watching Star War's videos,

and your humble dictator-for-life has posted more sentimental claptrap on his morbid blog.

So tell us, what have you been doing with life? (Myspace doesn't count.)

Listen to The Avalanche online! Legally!

2006-11-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

How fun! Click here!

John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell - Yer Blues

2006-11-05T00:53:00.000-07:00


The meeting of 4 of the biggest music stars in the 60's on the Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween again that time of the year you dupe innocent girls to go with you to wait for the Great Pumpkin to rise out of the pumpking patch. The only thing is you didn't know you were duping anyone.

If you're looking for costumes, Clinton Portis has some you could borrow.

And Macphisto says "hi!" (Thus fulfilling our U2 obligation.)

Kingdom of Heaven

2006-10-27T00:20:00.000-06:00

Eucahristo and I don't always get along, especially when it comes to politics and politics of religion, but LUCKY!

The one and only Sufjan Stevens. Now, I'll start another arguement and say that Michigan is a billion times better than Illinoise! Seriously, Stevens puts aside politics and church politics and concentrates on few things: life, music, and worship. He tears down right and left, and leaves only the Kingdom of Heaven. Sigur Ros, though I don't know their beliefs, does a very similar thing. I wish I could do that.

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

2006-10-19T01:56:00.000-06:00

We Americans are asleep. The monsters are our own. Good Night.

U2 - One (2006 FIFA World Cup)

2006-10-17T23:05:00.000-06:00


Since all must posts pertain to U2 (see some random subsection in the MI bylaws), here’s U2 “One” paired with highlights from the 2006 WC. You might notice some major differences between this video and the others. Is the song appropriate to the clip? If these videos are screwing up your computer, let me know.

Sports and Art: Video no. 2 Zizou

2006-10-16T19:36:00.000-06:00

Here’s a film a google video showing why Zinedine Zindane has been called the “Dancing Master.” His feet are fleet and snake about the ball. The best moments are when he pirouettes with the ball at his feet.

Once again, pay attention to how this film was made. Does this filmmaker focus on different things from the Cruijff film? If these players were characters in a film, what would you know about them? Why do you think that? Also pay attention to how the music may affect your perception.

Any questions or comments? Stick’em in the comments box.

Sports and Art: Video no. 1 Johan Cruijff

2006-10-15T21:58:00.000-06:00


This is a video tribute to Johan Cruijff that I found on Google video. Cruijff, a Dutch legend and probably the greatest player to have never won a World Cup. In this video you'll get to see the famous "Cruyff turn." Watch the video, both the player's skill and the editing tricks that were involved in its making, and pay attention to the music: what does it suggest?

Sports and Art

2006-09-21T21:41:00.000-06:00

Over this last summer I've read three very enjoyable books about soccer, or rather, football. The first was White Angels: Beckham, Real Madrid and the New Football, by British journalist, John Carlin. Second was Brilliant Orange: the Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, and finally Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. All three books are non-fiction; White Angels does not try to call football an art, but occaisionally examines the artistry of its particpants. Brilliant Orange looks at Dutch football in conjungtion with the wider world of Dutch culture, and while Fever Pitch doesn't concern itself with art, but it was written by a novelist detailing his obbsession with Arsenal Football Club.

In connection to all of this there was the World Cup this summer with the expected hype of soccer being "The Beautiful Game." Indeed, football is a beautiful sport, far more pleasing to watch than American football and baseball (both of which are games that I love), and I think in terms of stlye and skill required to be the best can only be compared (in the US) with boxing and basketball. Boxing has rather quickly become an ugly competition thanks to the likes Mike Tyson and Rocky, which has placed the violence of the sport above higher qualities. Basketball has faltered by the best players who put outrageousness of style in the place of subtleties.

So two of the aforementioned books, White Angels and Brilliant Orange were quite successful in introducing to me to some of stylistic nuances of football. Brilliant Orange expanded my knowledge of "Total Football" (where the players are expected to play within every aspect of the game, and not just defense or offense) and how it is a very Dutch concept that every part of society cooperating to achieve a desired goal (score!). How this idea has roots in their geography (being below sea-level) and history (their use of dikes and protecting them, and being a small nation in a touchy part of Europe). How their political process, endless discussion to bring about consensus and rigorous city planning to prevent urban sprawl, leads to players endlessly passing the ball around the pitch and waiting for a golden chance. To me the most exciting part is when he linked the emergence of Johan Cruijff and Total Football with cultural revitalization of Amsterdam.

White Angels, thankfully had very little to do with Beckham, and the writer's passion for Real Madrid is not evangelistic, really leaving the reader a gallery of footballers that showcase how beautifully they play. Roberto Carlos, Raul, Beckham and Ronaldo are all featured in this book, but the wonderful of them all is Zinedine Zidane. Zidane of the infamous World Cup headbutt, but really his as described here in the book and as I saw on TV was immaculate. Inventive, precise, bold are bland adjectives for such a legend. Yes, he could be violent (object de'headbutt), but so could Michangelo. Such a furious temperment could bring about violence, but when coupled with a passion for excellence brings about mastery with the ball or with the chisel.

Watching the French team during the World Cup, was a great joy. As demonstrated both their capacity for individual glory (like Real Madrid) and pure team play (like Dutch soccer). Thierry Henry and Frank Ribery pressed defenses, Makalele, Gallas, Sagnol, Thuram and Vieira all started the games playing defense or defensive midfield, but kept the ball within bounds without mindless clearings, and carefully moving the ball upfield. And the players all bent and straightened to properly play the ball, while controlling the midfield to disallow the other team any lengthy possessions.

Yes, they lost to Italy in the final, but nobody, Italians even, are going to remember that team. The splendo of this year's French team should live on, as shall the teams representing Ghana, Argentina and (gasp!) Germany.

In addition to the regular links I'll try to post some video that'll show what I've been raving about in a much clearer way.
Is soccer art? Maybe. Maybe we can fight over it after watching it and pursuing ideas of truth and beauty and art.

WhoeverBonois

2006-09-12T00:39:00.000-06:00

If you think that you are obsessive about U2, then check out the @U2 podcast page. Yikes!
Meanwhile Bob Dylan is still a genius. Here's his video "When the Deal Goes Down," directed by Oscar nom Bennet Miller
Goodnight,
Eriol

Beauty comes from Night

2006-08-29T17:56:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm finally back to post a bit here. I know it's been ages, and Eriol has been both astute and steadfast in posting in the stead of those of us who are chronic procrastinators.
So my subject today is a director who is to me what Joss Whedon is to Eriol. A hero of sorts, M. Night Shyamalan has, in the matter of a few short weeks, won me over to a whole new world of filmmaking.
I recently took time off to go and watch the film, Lady In The Water, the aforementioned director's most recent work. Not having been introduced to him and his body of art before, I was very pleased and inspired. So inspired, in fact, that I immediately went and rented Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and The Sixth Sense, in that order. I did that in two weeks time. I capped it all off by going again and watching LITW for a second time. I was bewildered, inspired, angered, and saddened, encouraged, provoked, and heartened by Shyamalan's brainchildren. He takes a route not often known in Hollywood; that of the thoughtful, while possibly not blockbuster, road, which winds far more deeply into the human condition and the intellect than most of hollywood fare could dream of.
From his first movie to his most recent, questions are asked that demand answers. And people in the stories are presumed upon to answer them. But even as we watch the plot twist, we can feel our minds twisting, trying to grasp the ideas that Shyamalan is pushing upon us. Questions about fear and courage, the cost of innocence, coming to terms with sorrow, understanding reality, seeing faith as more than a fluke. Even while we are entertained, we are stimlutated to start thinking.
I think that is why I was so drawn to him. Because he made me uncomfortable with questions he was asking in his films, questions that can't be answered on the first pass. Images and dialogue between characters still haunt me, as I try to comprehend them. I can't stop thinking abou them until I have arrived at a conclusion as to the answer. And if a director can inspire such deep postulation, then he has my respect and following.
Beyond that, I simply am thoroughly entertained by his movies. They have great plot twists, shocking, and I mean shocking, endings, and thoughtful characters. The cinematography is excellent, perhaps even breathtaking, throughout the majority of every film, and the writing (sans one film, I'm not telling) is some of the best I've come across in a while. If you have commited the crime of missing or avoiding this art, please, repent and make amends. It will be worth every minute.
So yes, he is presuming to be my favorite director, even at this early stage. But I don't mind. I welcome it. You can keep your Spielbergs, Lucases, and Hitchcocks. I follow the Night.

Loose Change Running Wild

2006-08-29T15:04:00.000-06:00

Yesteday I ordered Modern Times off of Amazon (along with some schoolbooks), while I'm waiting for it to arrive, I'll be watching this performance of "Cold Iron Bounds" which was cut from Maked and Anonymous. (Thanks to Jim Emerson!)

Opus has four mp3s from the elusive folk/world/gospel/electronic band Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus. Really fascinating stuff, especially (for me) the song "Nostalgia" with samples of poetry and speeches in Russian.

A page for mp3 is Salon.com's Audiofile page. A new mp3 for every weekday while featuring range of songs from indie rock, folk, world and electronica.

The late George Plimpton, a masterful journalist (sports especially) and the founding editor of the Paris Review was wiser than the fogeys at The New York Times (among others), by not insisting the rather historic interviews of the Paris Review to be hidden behind a moneywall. So check out their pages and read interviews with the likes of T.S. Eliot and Boris Pasternak.

Our movie controversy of the year The Second Chance has been out on DVD for about a month now and here is Peter T. Chattaway's interview with director and musician Steve Taylor. I don't know if the interview will change anyone's mind about the film, but it is a good conversation and Taylor talks about what he's planning next.

Update: Opus several months ago linked to two sets of songs from the late band Havalina. One set is their Russian Lullabies, and the other are their "greatest hits" collection We Remember Anarchy. Sorry, I'm late to this, especially somebody might enjoy these lovely, folky, jazzy, and occaisionally freaky tunes.

I Can't Sing, But I Got Soul

2006-08-25T16:28:00.000-06:00

Bob Dylan, King of Songwriters, and aging better than the Mick Jagger's children is set to loose the little cd-thingy Modern Times next Tuesday is interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, and I can't wait for his album to come out. On Love and Theft his voice was smoky with blackness of the world, darkness of the soul coming through his blackened lungs. So he didn't even try to sing, he crooned and drawled with a near grandfatherly sweetness or regret on the slower songs, and for the faster songs he chanted like a medicine man on the warpath. I hope this style will continue; I hope he's been smoking the exhaust pipe of a diesel truck.

A few weeks ago I was able to listen to his Theme Time Radio Hour program that he hosts on XM radio, and I had to strain my ears to listen to what he was saying because his voice was so low and soft. Slowly, I was able to listen clearly to him, when that happened I wanted to go back and just listen to him talk and not understand, as he speaks with a voice suitable to spoken word lullibyes.

I hope to this weekend post on Soccer (and sport in general) and art.
To Mere-Imagers I would like it if we wrote a group post, a sort of discussion, on art, and on our preferences regarding art, but I think it work best if someone other than myself led off the discussion.

Joss=Now

2006-07-11T23:28:00.000-06:00

Joss (is my new master) Whedon (creator of Buffy/Angel, Firefly/Serenity, writer of X-men comic books Wonder Woman comic books, and will direct the upcoming Wonder Woman movie) was recently honored by the human rights group Equality Now. At the event he talks, riffing on the overused, misguided question, "Why do you write these strond women characters?" He takes on male pride, near-sighted, clueless of its own existence misogyny that is at the core (presupposition) of the reporters' question.

My favorite response is when he says that these strong women allow men to consider aspects of themselves they probably didn't consider. I know this is true of myself and my identification with River. The girl is tortured so she can turned into a weapon. With male characters in SF, ala Ender of Ender's Game (thanks, Swoosh!) are not allowed to break down, and allow their weaknesses to be bared, but because River is not a man, she is allowed to be weak, so others can care for her. This caretaking of the weak is something we need to realize is an universal demand, 'cause when we take care of those weaker then ourselves, than those we were once weak will be able to save us from being devoured by Reavers. So, this is totally important. (No, I'm not mocking Joss; I'm being a geek, proudly).

Watch it. If someone doesn't get it... then that's sad...but likely coming in an age where Jessica Simpson in Daisy Dukes is a movie's star attraction, but a film that features the roust characters of Innara, Kaylee, River and Zoe can't find an audience. Currently, we've got media-invented vampires (you know their names) while the purity and strength of actresses like Gloria Swanson, Katherine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrech, and Louise Brooks are exiled from public thought. (Thanks Marilyn male fantasy floosy bimbo so mindless she married Joe DiMaggio Monroe). He's introduced by Meryl Streep who is strong actress deserving to be mentioned in the same breath, in the same list of the other actresses.

By the way, he totally reminds me of Wash.

Friday/Saturday Grab Bag

2006-05-13T01:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm probably the last person to bring you all these links, but here I go.

First, there's Stephen Colbert's roast of Prez. Bush. It might offend somebody, but I think it's hilarious. And he's doing it in his Faux-News style persona. And Daily Kos has the transcript. Really, it's funny, it's funnier than the John Lennon video.

Second, there's Tilda Swinton's (White Witch) speech on the state of cinema. Her style is random, and almost absurd, but it gave me goosebumps reading it, because of her invocations of Tarkovskij and Bresson.

Third, is the trailer for Danielson: A Family Movie. It's funnier than Colbert and Lennon put together. Oh, and watch for our man Sufjan. suppossedly he has a big part in the film.

Bono Daily News

2006-05-12T13:10:00.000-06:00

Today on the Bono news wire we have two pieces of news.
First, over at the Lark a site for people suffering from B.F.

Also in the mixed up world of Dilbert we have this little piece of news.

Diversion

2006-04-18T12:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, let's try something else before Euchaisto and I clarify ourselves to death (insert smily face).

You may want to go over to Edward Copeland on Film so you can vote for your 10 favorite best picture Oscar winners.

And over at the art-blog neurastenia, there's a video excerpt from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, but mercifully this clip doesn't feature the Stones, but the Dirty Mac, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton being by John Lennon in The Beatles' "Yer Blues." Yoko Ono is also in the video; she's the one with the giant black bag over her head.

And I trust the rest of you can see all the fantastic stuff at My Old Sketchbook even though I can't.

Hotel Rwanda

2006-03-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

The True, the Good and the Beautiful are meaningless. Nihilistic fashion trends. These are the facts of our world.

If our world is meaningless.

If we our content with what our churches do.

If people like Bono are derided as egotistical, because they want us to love others.

Our art is hopeless.

My poetry is nothing but doggrel.

Our emotions are vain,

so is our beauty,

so is our charming truth,

so is our goodness.

We have the goodness of enuchs, people whose capacity for mischef has been removed

surgically, who call this our circumcision, and a sign that we are righteous.

Are our hearts circumcised?

We stretch our mouths to let the big words out, we kneel in our big churches* as we pray to the big god.

For all our little nonsense, for our baseball, and church skits.

We are americans, patent holders of the nuke, chemical death.
We have the ability to rend apart the tiniest, most indivisible thing.
And we do so.
We pull specks out of arab eyes, look them in the eye, and impale them with our honeyed words and big sticks.

If I can speak Russian like Tolstoi,
yet have not love
If I can speak with the tongues of angels
hold the hand of the devil,
yet have not love.
Then I'm chewed up recording tape,
I am the resounding gong,
all my deeds of artisticness are naught but the purples of Kinkade sunsets.

Americans with big smiles, we wanted walls torn down,
and they are down
rubble and souveniurs,
yet barriers remain,
cages,
bars,
boarded windows
and
walls, fortresses, guard towers, and barb wire.

We wrap our children in barb wire to protect them from men with dark eyes.
Wire and thorns make our skin tough, and our ears become calloused
so we cannot hear
"A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation,
weeping, and
great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
because they were no more."

"We've got information in the information age but do we know what life is like outside of our convenient Lexus cages"

"Where is the Life we have lost in living"
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"

Africa has been torn apart, we abducted Africans to bring us our sugar, and pipeweed
we dismiss it, claim we owe nobody nothing,
to the big god,
we pour libations of blood.

We stepped onto the dark continent;
we set it aflame,
to light the way.

So what happened?
ChristiankillarabkilljewkillchristiankilljewkillarabkillchristiankillABRAHAM,
ShemkillJapethkillHamkillShemkillhamkilljapethkills e v e r y b o d y

white man won, liberate the world from fascist supremcists for socialist and capitalistic supremicists
seperate the dark skins from the light skins
Evolution and
big god must have their way.

Our skins must be saved but we will say a prayer for
your soul
Martyrs will be the light of the world,
read our big book bible studies
by the pyres
and stakes
(steaks medium well)

Our pet wolves drive the shepherd from the flock,
driving the flock to
Gorazde,
to Hotel Rwanda.

They paint suffering Christs as self-protraits from blood of their wounds,
we buy them,
frame them,
the fame the fame the fame
BIG TIME!

Do we paint with our anaemic blood, to show
our son,
hung on our spires,

Died for the proletariet,
and will
rise again,

To dig up the mass graves
The Africans tossed overboard
to tunes of "Amazing Grace"
will walk ashore

Walk through our souls

Acid upon paper

etching our crimes into pages

Like Milosevic's obitury

Will we hang ourselves?

Strange fruit from our prosethtic trees.

There are only two works of art
Spiegelman.

It's Friday and I Have No New Bono News, So...

2006-03-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Django Reinhardt has been one of most revered musicians of the 20th century, watch him play here. Guitarists like eucharisto and soldout will want to watch him, and any non-guitarist will find his style to be fascinating.

Afterwards read this commentary on his guitar-playing. (Both via Opus)

Rolling Stone has some news about Leigh Nash's upcoming solo debut.

I can't think of anymore to say, except: has any one else seen The Second Chance?

First Chance

2006-02-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I saw The Second Chance with Jeremy, and Foolishknight, and was surprised by the movie's quality and zeal. Afterall it could be called a CCM movie with yin Michael W Smith acting, and yang Steve Taylor directing, with low expectations for either one. Afterall Steve Taylor had only made music videos and the Newsboys Under the Big-top, and Smitty is uh.... But Taylor is tight and W is well cast as Brentwood preacher's kid, Ethan Jenkins with the nickname of Gucci. The nickanme is courtesy of Jake Sanders (jeff obami carr, the true star), an inner-city pastor of the (fictional) Second Chance church in Nashville. The Second Chance was once the home church of Jenkins family before they retreated to Brentwood (boo!hiss!) to their Wal-Mart church called The Rock and their thrice daily Sunday services that are always televised.
Conflict comes when Ethan unexpectedly truns over a pledge card announcement over to Sanders. He goes on a rant on how churches can't think of any other way of helping others besides throwing money at the problem. He finishes by commanding them to keep their bleep money, which turns the ire of the Rock's deacon board against Sanders for not keeping silent (we put the status in quo). Then they decide to punish Ethan for his ad-libbing by sending him to the inner city with Sanders, hoping such a move would lead him to a tearful repentence, and a willingness to do whatever the board says.

This is more than I was hoping to say; afterall I'm not a film reviewer. All I really wanted to say was that this important movie for all churchgoers to see. Especially those who go to mega-churches (nothing personal Eucharisto), and those involved who are involved in minorties in the Nashville area. I would hope eyes are opened to surrounding conditions, and through Taylor's outsider's eyes they would see what religious life is like in Tennessee, attitudes of the rich in their obliviousness, the poor in trying to trade Plymouth rock for the Rock of Ages, and how churchspeak is contorted by the powerful for wickedness.

I have two reasons two be concerned about the movie's ability to influenced. One, I'm afraid that people will see the names involved and will try to turn it into an evangelizing tool. Second, they'll won't give a movie a chance because of inability to things with a perspective on class relations, instead of race relations. That is someone could see the movie as being the story of white people oppressing blacks, therefore no as meaningful as seeing it for what it is: a story of the wealthy and powerful silencing the congregations of the poor.
I titled the post "The First Chance" so people, the great masses that read this blog, will make this movie the biggest thing since sliced salami, but seriously watch the movie, blog about it, and bring further discussion here.

Two links worth reading: Peter T. Chattaway's review for Christianity Today magazine.

and a feauture piece on the film by Nashville Scene.

And that goes for U2

2006-02-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm told that today is a worldwide holiday, and is very popular. At least for some people. As for me I'll stay home, do homework (what else?) and listen to my Charlie Brown doll (a gift from Penny Lane) say really depressing things. Since I'm widely known for my affection towards Peanuts, and I think there's no better way to observe this anti-holiday than reading Peanuts, or watching the gang on TV. Also, I found out that Nov. 19th is the day that Charlie lost his heart to the little red-headed girl.
But before I click "Publish" I have to have a link, so here's an article from Popmatters on the future of Peanuts and what Peanuts mean.

I Ain't Satisfied Either

2006-02-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watched the 4th most boring Super Bowl I've ever seen, and the (Mossy) Rolling Stones did not help. Let me put it this way, they made Sir Paul look good. At least Keith Richards refused to be knighted a few years back, that way I wouldn't have to gripe about Sir Keith and Sir Mick. If mediocre Queen Bess had one millionith of her namesake's prudence, Mick Jagger's head would be with Anne Boleyn's. So if Boriana isn't going to do anything then I'll leave Mick to Bro. Bell, in hopes an imaginative punishment will be conceived. And I will not post any pictures of the Stoned, because I don't want to give Princess Sparklepuff nightmares.

I like Beth Sr., and I'll make sure to post something about the Fairie Queen sometime in my lifetime.

Silent Shroud is now a year old. There was much rejoicing in the land. yeah. whatever. Read my Pushkin piece that is mostly quotes from Pushkin. Also I will write about Tarkovskii's Mirror, and I know all of you would rent the movie, just there aren't any copies in Tennessee, except in Doug Cummings' house (whom I don't know I just like linking there, and the opening image is from Mirror.)

People Saying It Better Than Me

2006-01-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

This article from the magazine Ship of Fools is very good on why kitsch objects (in U.S. these are things like Precious Moment figurines and Kinkade paintings.) are not good religion (much less good art).

My Tastes Are Strange, I like Rock'n'Roll and Not Much Else

2005-12-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here is Rolling Stone page that will guide you to the podcast of the RS interviews with John Lennon. (Not John Beatle.)

BONO DAILY NEWS: SUNDAY EDITION

2005-12-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

BONO is Time magazine's person of the year. Actually he shares the award with a couple of Gates. Next year we'll make sure he becomes the undisputed, heavyweight champion of the world. (via LookingCloser)
Meanwhile Tom Brady is Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the year. (What a good year!)

Who's Looking Out For Number 4?

2005-12-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

All of us and our great-aunts know Bono's every thought, but who ever asked the other three what they think? Everybody knows Bono is trying to save Africa, but do the others care? Now we know, thanks to the Onion.

Narnian Music

2005-11-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

Narnia, originally uploaded by Tolkien Guy.

It is winter, but unlike the unfortunate Narnians, we do have Christmas, and I'll bet that this Soundtrack will be in quite a few stockings. Keep an eye out for it!

The Far Country

2005-11-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

The Far Country
Originally uploaded by Tolkien Guy.

"God is at home. We are in the far country."

So prefaces the new, brilliantly crafted album by Andrew Peterson. From this quote by Meister Eckhart, Peterson takes the listener down a lyrical path of wonder that cumulates in a surprising but fulfilling end. He paints a lyrical picture of a vast array of people and places, and takes the listener from Israel to Iowa and back again. His imagery displays an incredible knowledge of emotion, and his sincerity conveys his genuine life experience bleeding through to the lyrics. But there is an overlying theme in The Far Country, that the opening quote alludes to. Some might say that idea is death, for many songs on this recording are defintitely inclined towards that subject. But perhaps the more attentive listener will discover within the subtle lyrics the door that exceeds death and leads right into heart of eternity, and in so doing, finds the meaning behind the music.
Peterson bears similarities to Kevin Max in a way, that is, an artist who works in somewhat mediocre "Christian" industry, but also someone who has a bent and passion toward lyrical and musical profundity. His genius may even be better matched to that of Rich Mullins, who many consider to be Peterson's predecessor. Though he isn't far enough along in his musical carreer to truly be called the next Rich Mullins, he is certainly an incredible songwriter in his own right, and perhaps to even compare them is unfair. Perhaps it is Peterson's turn to lead his own path, and bear the torch of truth for his own audience. But regardless, I beg you to go get this album and be consumed within the inspired writing of Andrew Peterson, that may yet lead us from the far country back home.

Everything: Part II

2005-11-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

I have finished most of western Europe, now I will go on to movies from Japan, Mongolia, Poland, and Sweden.
Japan

Spirited Away is the work of Japaneses animator Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki is probably the greatest animator working today-- not anime animator, but animator period. Plus 90% of his work is hand-drawn when so much of animation is 3-D. The story of a young girl who is lost in a world of traditional gods and nature spirits after her parents are turned into pigs. Her quest is to survive in the spirit world, and to deliver her parents to the material world. Topics include hunger, and identity. But I would say the say the over-arching topic is courage. Finding courage through love, to sacrifice herself (or at least to be risk herself) so what she loves will be restored.

Foolish Knight's Totally Unauthorised and Unendorsed Bonus Guest Opinion: Hey folks! Eriol's annoying little brother here. Hey, I just stopped by to say that Spirited Away is a totally sweet movie! As far as fairy tales go, it is now one of my all time favorites. I was at the point of tears once or twice while viewing the movie (which I wasn't expecting at all). As a side note: If you're one of those people that say to yourself while reading reviews like this; "Eww! Anime! That's gross! I don't like anime! Yucky!" all I can do is call you a snob, tell you to get over you prejudice and just watch the movie! OK, that's all. I'm really hoping Eriol doesn't see this. Yikes! I could be in a lot of pain real soon! This concludes Foolish Knight's Totally Unauthorised, Unendorsed and Badly Punctuated Bonus Guest Opinion.

In 2004 I saw Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, which was the first of his movies I watched. This year I saw Throne of Blood, Rashomon, and Ikiru.
Throne of Blood, is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The plot elements of the play are kept but the dialogue is no longer Shakespeare's. I think this good for the actors did not need to try wrap their tongues about a Japanese translation of Macbeth, but to speak naturally, and leave it to the camera for the story's artistry. Plays take historical events and turn them into metaphysical dramas, but here Kurosawa turns the play back into history. There is no need to be philosophical about Macbeth's tragedy, just watch the movie and see how "he who lives by the sword also die by the sword."
Rashomon has often been considered to be Kurosawa's masterpiece, and certainly it is a great movie. A priest, a woodcutter, and a petty thief meet in an abandoned city gate to have shelter during a heavy rainfall. The thief sees the priest and the woodcutter are sorrowful. He asks for the cause of their sorrow. The woodcutter tells how he found a man's body in the woods. The man was killed. There is a trial, a bandit suspected of murder; the dead man's wife, and a medium speaking for the dead man, all testify of their innocence. But there was a second crime, the woman may've been raped. Nobody agrees if she was raped, or if her husband was murdered; the bandit says he died in a duel. After re-counting these three stories, the woodcutter confesses that he saw everything. But he may not be telling the truth either.
Each one of these stories is told in flashbacks. And all of the stories are the subjective perspectives of four people, who have their reasons to lie. So the viewer can choose between the priest's or the thief's interpretation: the thief's is that everyone is lying, and there's nothing wrong there because we need to survive. The priest's is that people cannot be so wicked, that somewhere there must be truth and goodness somewhere in one of the stories. There's much more to the movie beside my simplifications. And Rashomon is movie that dislikes (abhors) simplifications; don't read anything more, but watch the movie and see the complications unfold.
Both Rashomon and Throne of Blood feature the patnership between actor Toshiro Mifune, and Kurosawa.

Ikiru, routinely translated "to live" is about an aging bueraucrat, who is dying of stomach cancer, but never really lived. Yes, by the end he dies, but he dies after finding what to live for, a reason to live, and how to live.
One night in a saloon he softly sings to an unseen woman; telling her to live while she is young; while "your lips are red". He is in the saloon with a young writer, who is trying to teach him how to "live". But this life is exhausting him; anytime he drinks expensive saki or eat steak, the food ends up on the floor. At home in the morning he finds a young woman from his workplace seeking his permission for her to quit. She is fed up with working in such a place. He releases her and spends time with her, as he now sees her as a guide who knows the way to live. He buys her gifts, and they go to movies. For awhile he doesn't see her, but visits her for once last time. He visits her at her new job in a toy factory and they go to lunch together; he asks why she is happy. She says since working at the toy factory, she feels as if every child in Japan is her friend. He returns to his work with anonymous people sing "Happy Birthday" to someone unknown.
After this the movie flashes forward to (his) funeral. Here various former co-workers are gathered together, with his former bosses, and family. No one knew he was about to die; his family only cared for the salary he drew. The funeral is interuptted by a group of sobbing women. They came he was the only one to help them. Their neighborhood had a swamp in the center, they wanted to replace with a park. The family is insulted by the women's intursion, but are silent. The bosses try to take credit. But they are not there for long, as there so many other things to take credit for. With the women and bosses gone, his one-time co-workers reflect on the park project. They express suprise at his untimely death, they admire him for no longer trying to pass around the petition, but actively lobbying for this small park. He tirelessly follows the thread out of the labyrinth until the park sees the light of day.
The film is nearing the end with a shot him sitting peacefully in a swing snow all around. He is serene man after much toil. It was here, by the following morning he died. But the movie does not end here. It finishes in his old office, the men who admired him, are stupified with intoxicating sobriety of their office life, of competation for the next highest post. They may try to protest something but protest is quieted. Everyone has work to do.

Mongolia

Story of the Weeping Camel is simply about a multi-generational family living in Mongolia. It's a documentry actually-- but don't let your aversion to Mogolians, weeping, documentries, or bacterian camels (see the "B"; it means they have two humps. ) keep you from watching this movie. Here is the story, a mother camel gives birth but the delivery was too painful so she does not want to acknowledge her child (it's a calf, right? I'll go with calf). So the parents decide the two young boys should go fetch a fiddler at the cultural center at the nearest (distant) town, the fiddler is to play a certain tune within a certain ceremony and then cow and calf will be in harmony. Of course. I think I gave away all of the plot, but plot twists are not too special (save Ordet); after all you knew how that hated phantom movie ended, but you cried anyway. Story of the Weeping Camel works in a similar way that even if you know everything about the movie, it means nothing until you actually see how the film works. Also my mom liked it, and it wasn't even dubbed (she doesn't like dubbing anyway).

Poland
Dekalog (directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski) is nothing like any other movie you (or I) have seen. 10 55 minute films to illustrate the 10 Commandments. Not like a sermon illustration; no one to boo or hiss, and no heroes. And no one talks about any particular commandent. Sometimes Jesus or God are mentioned. Other times a Madonna (my lady who is not that Madonna) is shown, or a priest is briefly in the movie. The characters in these films are simply not religiously conscious. However they are morally conscious, actively trying to understand what they do not know. All characters in the film live in a single apartment complex which means their lives intersect. Past characters adding poignacy, and future characters have their stories begun. I won't give any summary or plot twists for the Dekalog, as any summary makes the movie appear flat, and plot twists would give away how various conflicts are resolved.
Sweden

I should now be writing about the films from Russia I've seen this year, but I'm saving that for a seperate post. So in place of Tarkovsky I'll write about Bergman's The Seventh Seal. A quote from Revelation to a knight returning to his homeland finds his country on the deathbed between the sheets of the Black Plague. Death, in the flesh, challenges him to a game of chess. What is at stake is his life and immortal soul (further proof that chess isn't just a game). Around the knight are gathered a cast of medevial characters; all playing their roles as if they're in a morality play. Two (three rather) characters, Jof and Mia, and their baby are the only ones who can transcend the bleakness of the story, where apparently the only action can be taken is to embrace the darkness.
There has been a good bit of debate on the merits of movie and the of Bergman's atheist perceptions. I am not skilled enough to debate the story's quality (hidin' behind Lady Excuses' skirts) but I think a Christian can watch and gain wisdom from this movie. In one scene the knight enters a chapel and begins to confess his doubts, but his confessor is Death. Outside are the ministers of the church, hysterical in a parade of converts. They have become sadists and masochists for God. Don't think this S&M reaction is exclusively Catholic; it happens in Baptist churches too. Someone says they have doubts in Christ's blood, so we spill our blood, and force others to bleed to wash away the pilgrim's doubts. Don't think Bergman didn't know what he was talking about; his father was a pastor. But still I think Ordet is better.

Happy Birthday!

2005-11-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Mere Image,
Happy Birthday to Mere Image,
Happy Birthday dear Mere Image,
Happy Birthday to Mere Image!

Serenity Bride

2005-11-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

I never go to the movie theater, but last weekend I went twice. Twice?!? Some years I don't even get to go twice! The two movies were Joss Whedon's Serenity and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
Back in the day Midsummer, Foolishknight, Why and myself would play with JD and Anna E.M.. We would play "space" with toy six-shooters and shotguns, Serenity takes those games and makes a movie with them. Very cool to see outlaws in space, slowly realize what is the right thing to do. It's not just a Science Fiction Western (or Space Western) but it's a Space Western meets Kung-Fu meets Zombie movie. Pulling these time specific genres together it makes a very timeless movie, inhabited by the ghosts of various movies and directors. Howard Hawks, master of a hundred genres can be seen in the synthesis-- especially his Westerns like El Dorado. Movies where fast-talking wise cracking white hats shoot down the black hats. Specically the characters Captain Malcom Reynolds and Jayne (and for the few that know Malcom could've been Dawson Jones' twin brother). In the characters of Zoe and Kaylee, I saw John Ford's heroines. Women marked by their nobility and honesty. And in the good ship Serenity is the ghost of the Millenium Falcon. But the real star is Summer Glau playing River Tam. River is part psychic and part psychotic, a spiritual visionary who occaisonally goes off into "raging fury" land. Only character I know of who is similar to her is Fiver from Richard Adams' Watership Down. Visually it may not be as exciting as Star Wars, and it may look too much like a TV show, but it also resembles the Warner Brother movies of the forties and the fifties.

Corpse Bride is also very good, but in its own way. Yes, this stop-animated movie is a bit gothic, and you want to paint your face white and dress all in black, but you'll want to dance in the light of the moon, and learn the piano. The piano plays a very important role in this film. In the beginning Victor plays a piano, Victoria his fiancee speaks to him about how her mother has forbidden her from playing because it is "too passionate." They talk a little longer about music and discover they are in love with each other despite having never met before. Later after Victor accidently marries himself to Emily, the Corpse Bride, and then betrays her, they make peace with each other by playing a duet on an old (dead) piano. The animation is a little creaky but it is part of medium. Very lovely movie and I would recommend it, but think of it as a pre-Christian story; Emily does not live in Hell or Heaven, but in Sheol.

And for those of you who are eagerly awaiting future reviews of movies I've seen this year please be patient. But I should be done by years end (maybe).

Sufjan's Next State?

2005-11-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so I haven't heard all of Michigan or Illinoise, but I like Sufjan Stevens' music. Right now he's writing 50 albums dedicated to each US state, he's already produced two albums for the project but if his next state in the project is going to be Oregon, I'm going to want to listen for every whisper from this guy.
I admire him for taking on such a project to the US and the individual states a sense of cultural history. US is quite rich in history and culture but we the people are quite ignorant of our past, and of our culture. I mean Russians are very knowledgable about their cultural and are quite proud of it. If I can I would like to do a series of posts on various American artists, e.g. Flannery O'Connor, Bob Dylan.

It's No Secret At All

2005-10-20T15:36:00.000-06:00

The pope's rosary was around Bono's neck for the "Vertigo" Apple video, now you can see the late John Paul II with Bono's fly shades

Update!
Bono's on the cover of Rolling Stone, which features an exclusive interview with Bono. (And don't you see his rosary?). Also RS has a podcast of the interview.

Video Bombs In November (Update)

2005-10-11T17:32:00.000-06:00

This DVD will be here on November 14th, so make sure to put it on your Thanksgiving list.
.tuo si dc s'syug siht oslA. Has anyone listened to it yet?
Update: (the drama queens, yeah the ones who watch that movie, can yell something like "STOP THE PRESSES") KMax'x cd won't be out for another week. And yes, you can listen to it online at Northern records. Plus Christianity Today music has heard it.

2005-10-08T14:45:00.000-06:00

The story of The Third Man is a strange one. Holly (Joseph Cotten) is unemployed American, moves to Allied occupied Austria to work with a childhood friend. Holly however can not be satisfied by the details of his friend’s (Harry played by Orson Welles) death. Every one he meets warns him to give up quest. But Holly is unswayed in his mission. As a result Holly is faced with truth in it’s ugliest form. Ultimately has to make a choice no human should have to make to choose between being a means to a friend’s death, or choosing to turn a blind eye to the cause to so much pain and suffering. An interesting angel to this story is the love angel. In Holly’s quest for answers he meets up with Harry’s old girl friend Anna (Alida Valli). She is a quiet girl who is mourning the loss of Harry. I think a reason I like her is that she is not easily won over to the love of another after Harry’s death. Another interesting thing about The Third Man is the music is done wholly done by one instrument a zither an odd sound that goes with an odd movie. But in the my mind one of the best. And I can't forget that it is a part of The Criterion Collection.

To Start Over

2005-09-28T12:39:00.000-06:00

OK, I've received a complaint or two about the rules for this booklist thing. Or rather, lack thereof.

So I'm humbly asking for your permission to start over. I have here the rules I suggest we use, though of course, we don't have to. That being said; shall we have a go?

Proposed Rule #1. The books would have to directly engage spiritual themes.

What's a spiritual theme? Frankly, I'm not 100% sure, however if you think of these books as kinds of "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" that you read, then I think you'll kind of get what I'm trying to do here.

Proposed Rule #2. No author would appear twice on the list.

This rule is for variety's sake; I'm sure we could very easily come up with ten books by C. S. Lewis that each justify a place on the list described above. But I'm trying to make room for some other people here too. So I suggest that though we could, for discussion sake, bring up many different books by Lewis, only one of his books would ultimately end up on the list.

Proposed Rule #3. Only books that are fiction or creative non-fiction will be accepted as considerations for the list.

Maybe later we can have a list for such beloved works as Blue Like Jazz, Mere Christianity and The Knowledge of the Holy, but for now I'd like to see a list devoted to celebrating the particular poetry and beauty of the more strictly creative form. So (sticking to our C. S. Lewis theme), this rule would allow anything ranging from Lewis' The Cycle Of Bondage (a book of poetry), to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (a children's story), to The Great Divorce (a kind of character driven, theological discourse), but would stop something like, say, The Four Loves (a series of essays) at the door. This sounds unfair even as I write it though I don't mean it to; as I've said, I'd love sometime to put together a little somethin' our friends who labor strictly in the field of non-fiction prose.

But maybe for now we could get started on this list?

Proposed Rule #4. Anyone that wants to contribute to this list may do so.

Not that they'll be that many who actually do want to join, but just in case...

Blue about 'Blue Like Jazz'?

2005-09-26T11:24:00.000-06:00

I've been reading this book recently, and have been transformed by many of the ideas in it. I find it to be refreshing and inviting, and have been reading it as often as possible.
Unfortunately however, many people seem to think it to liberal and to open, at least in circles I've been in, and I've had trouble separating these people's preconceptions about the book with the 'Relevant' postmodern culture. I would wonder why so many people respond in such a reactionary way, instead of reading it and finding truth through it. Thoughts anyone? Has anyone had the same experience?
(Besides all that, I just love the book so much, I wanted to open a discussion about it!)

I have joined the ranks of "Mere Image".

2005-09-22T15:40:00.000-06:00

Well I'm here at last. I don't know what I'm going to do here but I'm here. Now time for a picture.

Everything

2005-09-14T18:22:00.000-06:00

Queen of Arts (who baked some tarts, all on a summer day) once said I was crazier than her. Now I am going to prove it. I will list every movie I've seen this year, and provide a capsule review, and links to more incisive reviews. I'll order the movies by country since I don't remember the order in which I viewed the movies. To best exploit the linkage, choose to open in a new window and if you want to know the rating of a movie check IMBD.

Denmark

Ordet (1955, directed by Carl Th. Dreyer) I still don't know what to make of Ordet. And there is no way I can start a discussion about this movie unless you've seen it as well. But I'll try to do my best (or my most mediocre).
It is a movie that affirms faith, but could've been made by an agnostic. Dreyer seems to have pushed his character's faith until he can see it is faith they have, and not the petty pride of religionists or that they believe so that they would be rewarded.

I could say that Dreyer plays Satan to a cast of Jobs. I could rattle off the names of his characters, and I could provide a synopis, but you wouldn't learn a thing. I watch my friends move around each other and how they touch each other. From this I can learn about them; I learn if anyone is aloof, and I see who acts gracefully, moves around everyone, and draws everyone closer. While watching the movie I can watch Inger (a young housewife, pregnant with her third child and her first son). As she cares for her daughters, intervenes for her brothers-in-law, and persuades her father-in-law of her plans. For her husband Mikkel, she tries to gather the scraps of his scattered faith. Of the characters I identify the most with Mikkel.

England

The most fun I had watching movies this year was when I saw Monty Py thon and the Holy Grail and A Hard Day's Night.
A Hard Day's Night, well where should I begin? Well we're just friends and he's a very clean old man and she's grotty. It's a day in the life of the Beatles (just like Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich), as their fans would imagine it, and how the band wishes their life could've been. The movie is sophisticated, sublime, and transluscent bliss. What's that suppossed to mean? I don't know. I just thought it sounded distuingished-like (that's an in-joke, you know).
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, how do I talk about this movie without sounding like the total dork that I am? First Monty Python is the child of the previous film, and the Pythons filled the hole the fab four vacated in England's heart. (Though not as cute). Before watching the movie just remember Logres is a magical world where Karl Marx is God, there is a backing track for every young prince who wants to sing, witches are light as a feather, anarchist peasants who harvest mud, killer rabbits, an enchanter named Tim and we're all getting better.
You can call it crude or vulgar or British, but so was Chaucer, and just see how much better our world is because of him! Now we know we mustn't ever say "Ni" to old women, and we must all remember that once a week we must BRING OUT OUR DEAD!

The Mission, however is not a fun movie. Europe covets the tribal peoples of Brazil. But those people are protected by a mission of Jesuit priests. So the Catholic countries threaten to convert to Protestantism if the tribes' protection is not lifted. Two questions are asked in the movie, when should we comprimise? And when is violence ever just?
Another movie from England (and Canada) is the animated gem Watership Down.
A small band of rabbits, fly from the destruction of their warren and search for a perfect warren, and other rabbits like themselves. It is a movie about Utopia, and how such a world could be possible. Where individuals fulfill archtypal roles instead of remaining as their little old selves who join to gratify their own desires. The chief virtue of this Utopia is courage-- without courage none of the other virtues are possible.
Also, the movie is wonderfully animated, with realistic rabbits, watercolor scenery (the best I've seen), and the occaissional primitivtist figures.
My only disappointment is that the movie is too short so some of the events from the book are left out.
Also I saw the 1996 adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. A very good comedy involving gender confusion, but honestly how much of the dialogue could I understand?
France

I saw a trio of movies by the great director Robert Bresson, A Man Escaped, A Diary of a Country Priest, and Pickpocket. Bresson is an ascetic director, similar to Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman. Ascetic not so to be scourge himself, but to remove anything that would keep the truth from being revealed. Including his actors' performances. He did not want performances, but his actors to do what the story required of them. Sometimes he shot over fifty takes to get the right shot.
The first Bresson movie I saw was A Man Escaped. I don't have to worry about giving away the end of the movie, it's in the title. But where and what did he escape from? He was held as a resistance member and he escapes from a Nazi prison in France. Also existentially he escapes from his doubts and fears, and assisting others in this sort of escape.
Shortly afterwards I saw Diary of a Country Priest. Here a young priest, new to his first parish, tries to make a sort of order of the souls entrusted to him, while dealing with his own fleshly weaknesses. One of the most interesting pieces of the film is how the priest's daily meal becomes eucharistic.
Pickpocket is movie about a petty thief stealing from others for the thrill of it. The movie is worth watching for the all the shots of hands, as the hands are shown as reveal the soul. The film's plot owes a lot to Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, particularly the cat and mouse game being played between detective and crook.
I really wish I could see these movies again and give them the fuller treatment they deserve.

Another somber French film is Ponette. Ponette is just a little girl whose mother had recently died in a car wreck. She cannot stay with her father as his work drags around, so she carries her grief from place to place. The adults are almost complete outsiders to the world of Ponette, and her friends- and when they come, they appear like angels to comfort her. The other children are like adults, and try to comfort her with food, love, and religion. They say if she listens to them then she will overcome her grief. There is only one thing that can "defeat" grief, but I wouldn't dream of telling you what that is. (This answer is also found in Ordet.)
Grand Illusion is by director Jean Renoir, son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The film is a prison escape movie of French officers from a World War I prison. Not one of your nasty Nazi camps, nice places where the Germans treat prisoners politely but wish they could treat them well. This is not really an escape movie like The Great Escape, but a movie about the nobility, and the future when they will be obsolete.
This movie inspired scenes in The Great Escape, Casablanca, and Stalag 17.
Also the movie is not only in French, but Russian, German, and English. I think one of the Russian lines is one of the funniest in the movie.

The lightest movie in the group is The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. This is one of those movie musicals where everyone sings all the time, and no one thinks of talking. While I was watching the movie I thought it provided a terrific understated rebuke to overblown chaos like Phantom of the Opera.

Germany

Soon I'll move onto Asia with movies from Japan and Mongolia, but for now I'm still in Europe with two movies from Germany, Run Lola Run and Faust. Germany has earned a reputation for advant-garde cinema and with these two movies from different eras show why.
The cheapest way to insult Run Lola Run is to say it's a meaningless video game movie.
It's not based on a video game (though it looks and acts like a video game), but it is a game; an intellectual puzzle on time and chance. Three times Lola must come up with 100,000 marks in 20 minutes for her boyfriend. He misplaced the Mob's drug money and they'll probably kill him if he doesn't get the money first. Each time she runs to get the money, different things happen, and people she runs into (forgive the pun), their lives are changed in different ways for each episode. What is chance? What is fate? And what is freewill?
Faust directed by F.W. Murnau, a master of the silent film. From what I've read Faust is not one his better films (those would be Nosferatru, and Sunrise). But it's good example of what is known as German Expressionism. Misshapen buildings, gothic interiors, dramatic lighting emphazaizing exaggerated shadows and suggestive lighting.

Take Note, Visionary Artists

2005-09-10T10:50:00.000-06:00

Phil Vischer talks with SPU students about dreams, something called "jellyfish" and the lessons he learned the hard way.

Return of the Singer

2005-08-30T21:31:00.000-06:00

Leigh Nash is singing again (what more do you need to know?) [via lookingcloser .]

Burberry Plaid Is Camouflage For Invading Aesthete Armies

2005-08-27T14:11:00.000-06:00

Speaking of art...
Kevin Max will release his second solo LP on October 11th, 2oo5. The current title is The Imposter. More information at the Northern Records website.

Art #1

2005-08-24T02:04:00.000-06:00

This painting is used as a centerpiece in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. Which is right now in the running with Kurosawa's Ikiru as the best pre-2005 movie that I have seen so far in this year. There were moments in Solaris that were heavenly (how else can I describe some of the scenes?).

Also the movie's conclusion quotes Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Though the painting was the creation of a Dutch artist it seems to have become part of Russia's cultural heritage, probably because it is on display in St. Petersburg's Hermitage Musuem.

Penguins Like Bays

2005-08-21T20:55:00.000-06:00

OK, in the Blogwatch post the name of any blogger spammer, and then we'll take this shopping list to Blogger and ask for takeout.

OK, enough grade school style mob threats... (breathe deep, sneeze, take my meds, now breathe deep, okay I'm peaceful now.)

This blog is suppossed to be about art so I'll start rolling out some art stuff from around the web, so make sure you comment about the stuff.

So to start everything here's an article written by Michael Bay for the Onion (if you believe it really is Bay then Superman is going to get a drum set, live drums.)

Though watch out, the langauge is quite a bit blue.

Blog Watch

2005-08-14T18:18:00.000-06:00

Just recently some comapany made a commercial comment on the Black Balloons post. The same sort of people who ship spam into my inbox. This is a warning that it might happen on your blogs as well, also I'm asking the members of MI and their friends to be on the lookout for this kind of crap.

I've deleted the offender's comment forever (which is a good thing). But I caught the perp's liscence number before he got away, frangy93tslando.

The name seems to be nothing more than computer generated gibberish, and if anybody can find a way to counterspam the pervert than be my guest.

Black Balloons

2005-05-24T13:02:00.000-06:00

My sister just got Phantom of the Opera for her birthday. Grieve for me, weep for me, O daughters of Jerusalem for my doom is at hand.

If it's a phantom why can't it simply disappear?

Episode III: Revenge of the Myth

2005-05-20T15:43:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, the last ever opening day for a Star Wars movie I got to see a wonderful final movie with a room full of lazy, ungrateful bums. This is the last of these movies in which returned the Myth back to the Story and everyone there (not my family) acted as if they were factory workers-- they punched in their time card at the beginning of the film and walked out before the credits had begun. Maybe they weren't really lazy, perhaps they had to return to their lives; cooking dinner, doing homework, etc... But if you're going to pay $8.50 to watch a piece of epic fantasy where a little green alien wields a green flashlight while fighting an old man who is Emperor of the known universe and shoot energy from his fingertips-- the least you can do is enjoy yourself and let the so-called real world impale itself on its pretensions.

Also this movie is so much better because it is so much more mythical and (holy golden bovine!) bibical. There is a genuine Devil, an Eve who is also Achilles (that acts like Herod and walks like Frankenstein, and a race of Arthurian Samurai knights falling from grace for their phallic (can I really use that word?) arrogance. All of this filmed in a Romantic/Pre-Raphealite world.

There are silly if not stupid inconsistencies but these are irrelevant to re-entering a wonderful, mythic world.

I Guess It's Up To Me To Kick Things Off Here...

2005-03-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

So... Here are twenty books for ya'll to consider (I intentionally chose too many and repeated some authors hoping something here would provoke conversation),

Till We Have Faces

Lewis' exploration of love, holiness and longing was though by him to be the best of his stories and it's easy to see why - it's richer and more complex than almost any novel I've ever read.

The Lord of the Rings

Now we come to the only book I know of that's competes in the "rich and complex" category. We all know it's a good story but have you taken the time to explore the themes of Mercy vs. Justice, Evil's Effect on the World and the Role of Providence?

Watership Down

The best adventure/dystopian/pilgrim's-progress/folk-story/parable starring rabbits ever written!

The Man Who Was Thursday

Plato's concept of philosopher kings was interesting, G. K. Chesterton's philosopher policeman are just plain cool.

Brendan

Buechner's bawdy romp through the life of St. Brendan the Navigator leaves us scratching our heads at why the roman catholic church doesn't call us saints and, more importantly, why God does.

The Storm

The most moving story of forgiveness I've come across in a long, long time.

Fahrenheit 451

What would the future be like without books? Bradbury offers gives one possible answer in this startling dystopian masterpiece.

On the Road with the Archangel

In the tradition of the brothers Grimm and other weavers of fairy tales Buechner offers reflections on things like love, prayer and relationships in a tale that is pure joy, from start to finish.

Some Others To Consider (Without Capsal Reveiws):

Cry, the Beloved Country

Godric

The Last Battle

The Great Divorce

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Short Stories, Flannery O'Connor

To Kill A Mocking Bird

Perelandra

A Wrinkle in Time

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Sophie's World

A Proposal

2005-03-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of Mere Image (specifically Joel and Superman),

I propose that, in the interests of sharpening of our minds and the strengthening of our hearts by healthy debate and discussion (something we could use some practice in), we use our unique understanding of life and truth to compile... A LIST! And not just any list but instead a list of

"The Ten Most Spiritually Enriching Works of Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction of the Twentieth Century" (or something like that)

Presented by Mere Image and it's readers

This would essentially be our version of Image Journal's booklist. And basically the same rules would apply; no author would appear twice on the list, the books would have to directly engage spiritual themes, the books would be either fiction and creative non-fiction etc.

I chiefly see the fruit of this list being the wonderful discussions we could have in deciding the list (if we don't kill each other first).

So, does this idea sound good to you?

Dylan Haters Rejoice!

2005-01-29T13:28:00.001-07:00

PLB and some royalty shall be glad to know that I'm now reading Bob Dylan's memoir Chronicles. The book is very interesting as he recounts the days before he recorded and when he was famous and living in Woodstock. Only problem I have had with his writing is that he uses a very random stream of conscious style (like blogging). But I should've known that his book was off to a good start when he name drops Jack Dempsey. Now can you tell me who Dempsey was?

2005-01-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Safe and sound out west, neither feeling ill nor well right now, but I would like to take this moment to announce silent shrouds, which is my new blog and focus on poetry.The name, silent shrouds only makes sense of the MarkHeard song "Strong Hand of Love". Here is the first verse,

Down peppers the rain from a clear blue sky/ Down trickles a tear on a youthful face/ Feeling in haste and wondering why/Up struggles the sun from a wounded night/ Out venture our hearts in their silent shrouds/ Trying to ignite but wondering how

It's not Donne or Blake but a sketchbook for my thoughts. Feel very free to criticize the content as I am unsure of what I am doing. I cannot simply write by myself and think "Oh, this is great stuff!" That is the sort of thinking that earns college syudents D minuses.

survey #19

2005-01-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

I'm eager to know if my kinda loyal readers would want me to start my own blog. Also this blog would not be journalistic, photographic or like any of my friends blogs. If you say yes I shall reveal it's design. Also this may be my last post till I'm in Portland.

Find "Neverland"

2005-01-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

I've just come back from seing "Finding Neverland". It is more of an emotional movie than an intellectual film but I think it was flawless, I am glad it was the movie I've seen in 2005. All the actors are good, espespecialy the boys and sets, music, lighting, script,, etc. are flawless. If you dispute this asseratation please comment. I would try to give it a proper review but I am afraid of spoiling the story until I know other bloggers here have seen the movie so we could have a discussion about the different story elements of the movie.

I do not think you would waste your money if you saw this film.

You're a guest, help clean up...

2005-01-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

When making a cross-country move, packing is like leaving a friend's house and putting away your friend's toys 'cause you have to return everything to their places as they were before they came. Bu you don't want to- you've had fun at your friend's house, missing his toys and your friend.

I'm moving within a few weeks and I am packing up right now. but I am packing only relectantly cause I don't really want to leave. I don't really like where I'm living now but I'll miss my friends.

Colorado I could have enjoyed just for the enviroment but I had many good friends I had to leave behind and there are twelve other moves I've made. This is routine, revolution as lethargy (later I'll develop this portion of the post). Throughout these movements the words I consistently think of come from songs like Jars of Clay's "Goodbye, Goodnight". Sad stuff, looking at life from a sinking ship, trying to always to get a few last words, a last dance, a last song before everthing sinks. Also the the title "Running to Stand Still" constant persistent motion to arrive at a stable conclusion. So to say it hurts trying to work through all these motions while also trying to stop. It also hurts when a friend is in a "Hello, Goodbye" situation, they're trying to say hello and I'm trying to say goodbye. I genuinely despise this sort of stuff but it's part of life. I would like to one day stand still or to make a move that is my own but but that is not happening now, oh well...

Hi, I'm Eriol and I'm a blogger...

2005-01-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

In case I scared all of you with my sudden appearence I will tell you who I am. I am invisible member of MERE IMAGE and this is a good thing since one of these days, creativity-wise I will disappear from their terrific society (if you've been waiting for me to show upin a movie you're better off waiting for John). But for now my only responsiblity with the group is to stick hypodermic needles into their hot air balloon and injecting them with sanity. Thankfully there's others who are better at being both sane and creative in this group. Pay attention to these guys and remember they're not as crazy as they might seem. Also get their Hancocks before the writing on the wall is in california concrete.

Pedo Mellon a Minno

2004-12-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

“[A]s a means of promoting friendly relations between adjoining nations, I have set up a post office in the hedge in the lower corner of the garden; a fine spacious building, . . . Letters, manuscripts, books, and bundles can be passed in there” (Little Women Alcott 117). Laurie’s gift to the girls of an old bird house is like what this Mere Image blog is like. It is a mail box for the letters written by the various mere image people to each other and be read by each other. If you are registered as a blogger on this site you can still post comments. There is not really any Mere Image organization, and it would be wrong if there was because if we made ourselves an organization then we would no longer be doing our movies and stories and stuff as friends. Friendship is the only requirement for MERE IMAGE. So pedo mellon a minno (Lord of the Rings Tolkien 298).

wings on words

2004-12-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

come to a new blog that looks into the great quotes and sayings, of history...

wingsonwords.blogspot.com

First Season

2004-12-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

AHHHH Finally the moment we have all been waiting for.
Mere Image the first season on DVD includes 3 disc

the original Black & White
special features disc
and last but not least sushi

Get the masterpiece DVD's critics
are calling "Dumb" "Boring"
and even "Pointless"
Luke Custer from ALP (Arising Light productions)
said... "Interesting"
so pick up the timeless art and and genius of Mere Image
First Season on DVD...

give thanks to the giver of all!

2004-11-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

...H a p p y T h a n k s g i v i n g...

from MereImage

"g i v e t h a n k s t o t h e g i v e r o f a l l"

What's new from Mere Image

2004-11-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer has ended, and half of Mere Image has relocated, but we're still up and running, to be sure. As we move into the journal (blog) stage of our entity, we hope to offer some interesting things through weekly, maybe every other week, updates. Needless to say, it's a whole lot easier to update a blog than it is a website, so any news will probably be made known through the blog.
But outside of the blog, we have some group and individual projects. I (Joel, eucharisto) continue to work on a music album, and will keep updating as I have information. The Colorado group continues to delve into new film projects, and we hope to have an update on some new stuff coming soon. And for the Tennessee group, hopefully we'll get an update from that side of the country, in the next week or so.
But anyway, keep your eyes out, there's new stuff on the way!

2004-11-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

places to go

2004-11-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

wingsofsuperman.blogspot.com

(finding our wings)

eucharisto.blogspot.com

(peering at the everlasting hills)

foolishknight.blogspot.com

(a haven for the thinker)

m e r e i m a g e

2004-11-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

M e r e I m a g e

...

" p l a y i n g w i t h y o u r i m a g i n a t i o n "