The Luck O' the Irish!!

After viewing In Bruges last night, and having just celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I got to thinking about all things Irish. Ireland is arguably most famous for birthing the famous writers Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. But namely I began thinking about my favorite Irish thespians! Therefore this is a post in the fashion of "The Scottish Vacuum of Charm", with half the number of Irish actors that pack the same amount of punch! Ah, I do love Celtic culture.

Cillian Murphy hails from Cork, Ireland and first made a splash as bike courier Jim who awakes from a coma in London to find the city in a complete shambles in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (which also features Brendan Gleeson! see next). What's not to love about him. Gorgeous, intense blue eyes and...that face! Beautiful as a man OR a woman. Other notable roles include Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in Batman Begins, Jackson Rippner in Red Eye, Damien in The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Robert Capa in Sunshine (my favorite role of his thus far). Lots of films of his that I still need to see!

Of late Brendan Gleeson (Dublin, Ireland) is best known for his portrayal of Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody in the Harry Potter films and Wiglaf in Beowulf, but I remember him first as Hamish Campbell, best (childhood) friend and badass comrade of Mel Gibson's character William Wallace in Braveheart! I loved him as Frank in 28 Days Later, and of course Ken in In Bruges. He brings a steady, solid demeanor to his often mentor-like roles; he's the embodiment of a big heart within a big body.

Liam Neeson, from Northern Ireland is probably best known for his role as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey, and for providing the voice of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia. My favorite roles of his are Daniel in Love Actually and Henri Ducard in Batman Begins, though it is safe to say I like every role he is in. And next he's set to play Abraham Lincoln! Quiet but commanding, earnest and thoughtful, I love watching Liam Neeson onscreen.

To be honest I have only watched this Dubliner in Bend It Like Beckham and parts of Velvet Goldmine and Mission Impossible III! Oh the shame. Haven't seen Match Point, August Rush, or the acclaimed TV series The Tudors, so I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of viewing Jonathan Rhys-Meyer's talent, but he sure is gorgeous.

You probably all know who Colin Farrell is, I don't think I need to bother reminding you about his roles in Daredevil, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, Alexander, S.W.A.T. - I've seen three of the six mentioned (hangs head in shame). I would however like to see his performance in The New World, and I am itching to see his coverage in the tri/quad-role of Tony in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (quick FYI - the last role of Heath Ledger that had to be recasted with Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farrell - but preserving Heath's performance). In my younger years I remember his 'Hollywood bad-boy' reputation and rolling my eyes at him, but he's okay as an actor... and easy on the eyes. Rawr.

Other notable Irish actors that I did not include:
Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Gambon, Dylan Moran, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole.

I ♥ san francisco

Giant hearts, lush flowers (sometimes in unexpected places), the sea breeze, the misty atmosphere, people milling about, the hum and clang of transportation, rolling hills. I think I belong there.

favorite directors

I was watching one of my favorite movies again last night - Sunshine, and it got me thinking about my top five favorite directors. This is the list as of now...

DANNY BOYLE
Danny Boyle is wonderful because everything I've seen by him to date I have absolutely loved, or else have been completely blown away by. He's done them all - drug film, zombie film, family film, sci-fi film, bollywood-ish film - and he excels with every single one. I am happy for him about his Slumdog Millionaire sweep at the Oscars, but I could care less about him getting so much acclaim right now because I have loved and will love him all the same.

DAVID LYNCH
His films are challenging, complex, dark, bizarre, and a gorgeous sight to behold. He doesn't care what people think of his films, so long as they make one THINK. And best of all he doesn't bother to explain his films - you the viewer have to make what you make of it.

INGMAR BERGMAN
Pure poetry. I didn't fall for black and white foreign films until Bergman. His impeccable narrative is so personal, yet relate-able. The themes he explores in his film are as real as life, heartbreaking, damaging, and redeeming. Best of all, he knows what it is like to be a child.

STANLEY KUBRICK
This should go on without explanation.

EDGAR WRIGHT
The youngest and... lightest of this bunch? Everything Edgar Wright touches is pure comedy gold. Everyone needs some brevity in their heavy heavy lives, no? Edgar Wright is the source for when I need some funny. <3

P.T. ANDERSON
P.T. is a funny one. After seeing one of his films I usually don't like it right away, but each time it'll get stuck under my skin, and as I let my thoughts stew, I just appreciate it more and more. And they are strangely unforgettable. A quality I'd like to have, if that makes sense.

deliciousness

Phillippe's. top to bottom - split pea soup; pork french-dip sandwich with a side of potato salad; bowl of chili; $.75 glass of lemonade; our meal!

excerpt - Whatever You Think Think the Opposite

(Manny handed this book to me randomly during one of our lectures today - a quick but engaging read, I finished it in 15 minutes.)

STEAL.

Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.

Devour films, music, books, paintings, poems, photographs, conversations, dreams, trees, architecture, street signs, clouds, light and shadows.

Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Authenticity is invaluable.

Originality is non-existent.

Don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it.

Remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to."

[I stole this from Jim Jarmusch]

-- Paul Arden, "WHATEVER YOU THINK THINK THE OPPOSITE"

polaroid land camera 320

first two shots!

Polaroid Land Camera 320
Polaroid 669 Film

Carnet de Voyage

"My eyes burning and hand crumbling, I felt like I was performing some pathetic martyrdom -- but for what cause?
...to break the language barrier?
...to win the favor of strangers?
...to distract myself from heartbreak?
...to commit slow suicide?"

I bought this from my favorite local comic book store, telling myself I'd read it when I finish my final project next week but alas, I read it all in one sitting after sneaking a peek at the first two pages. This is basically a sketch journal, complete with written narrative, of the time that artist/author Craig Thompson (of Blankets & Goodbye, Chunky Rice) took traveling and researching for his upcoming book Habibi. Upon viewing the images and reading the words, the reader feels the same excitement, anxiety and weariness of the 'wandering artist' and how one copes with being away from home by finding solace in (new) good friends and small comforts. I find out next week whether or not I get to study abroad in Asia this upcoming summer, so if I do, Carnet de Voyage is a great source of inspiration for the level of documentation I plan to execute; if I do not make the program, then it's just all the more reason for me to keep draw-draw-drawing. :)

I love my dogs

Only photos of BB. (Max can't hold a pose as well as she can.)

you must protect it

"You cannot betray your identity for too long, or it will die. If you hear it screaming, if it undergoes the slightest torture, you must protect it, you must be your own rescuer."

Goodbye, Chunky Rice

"There is no goodbye, Chunky Rice."

hasselblad.

look what arrived today.

Dan and Trevor, we are going to have much too much fun with this. I can't wait.

free ways

one of the slides I shot for my photo class. exposure something like ten seconds.

"the faint cry of freeway like that of sickly lungs expelling final wheezes of suffering before deflating at last in the presence of cold death...the rainbow that streaks across the night sky bears no witness but assembles regardless, illumined by moons & smaller satellites no less bright...must have been the eye of death to peer upon the living, communicating their will to the slumbering Grave Diggers"

I miss him. in a lazy way.

excerpt - The Happy Birthday of Death

from "DEATH"

Let's all die
Let's practice a little
Let's play dead for a couple of hours

Let's everybody weave elegant everlasting cerements
build fantastic tombs
carve lifelong coffins
and devise great ways to die let's!
Let's walk under ladders, cross the paths of black cats,
break mirrors, burn rabbit feet, snip the 4th petal,
Yes! Let's draw the ACE OF SPADES --
Let's sleep with our doors unlocked


--Gregory Corso, The Happy Birthday of Death

if I got stranded on a desert island...

It has been a while. I was going to do a desert island survey, but halfway realized it was too stupid to go on, so I deleted it and all that remains of the original post is the title.

I have been gone a while. I wish I had a cool reason but really it's because I reverted to the analog method of blogging - writing with pen on paper. But I return to this blog to say hello, because I don't want this thing to lie dormant. No one really reads this, and that's okay. It's how it should be.

I've a lot to do this Sunday night, but I'm taking my sweet time getting around to completing my assignments. A better life update to come, later.

Blankets

This one is absolutely perfect. I read it while listening to Sigur Ros. I can't even believe how many of the same childhood thoughts I shared with the novelist/artist Craig Thompson, though not as eloquently, nor poetic, nor as heart-wrenching. This is the first book of my adulthood that has made me cry.

excerpt - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

"How many more nights and weird mornings can this terrible shit go on? How long can the body and the brain tolerate this doom-struck craziness? This grinding of teeth, this pouring of sweat, this pounding of blood in the temples...small blue veins gone amok in front of the ears, sixty and seventy hours with no sleep..."

--Chapter 11, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson

Brazil (1985)

Terry Gilliam's brilliant take on a 1984-ish world, wrought with stunning visuals, excellent themes and wonderful acting.

excerpt - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

"You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe."

--Chapter 15, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

La Jetée (1962)

I watched this two years ago and it did not invoke the same effect it did for me today upon my second viewing. It gave me unbelievable chills.

excerpt - The Rum Diary

She laughed. "It won't last. Nothing lasts. But I'm happy now."

"Happy," I muttered, trying to pin the word down. But it is one of those words, like Love, that I have never quite understood. Most people who deal in words don't have much faith in them and I am no exception--especially the big ones like Happy and Love and Honest and Strong. They are too elusive and far too relative when you compare them to sharp, mean little words like Punk and Cheap and Phony. I feel at home with these, because they're scrawny and easy to pin, but the big ones are tough and it takes either a priest or a fool to use them with any confidence.

--Chapter Five, The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

excerpt - Something Wicked This Way Comes

"So, in sum, what are we? We are the creatures that know and know too much. That leaves us with such a burden again we have a choice, to laugh or cry. No other animal does either. We do both, depending on the season and the need. Somehow, I feel the carnival watches, to see which we're doing and how and why, and moves in on us when it feels we're ripe."

goodbye my iPod

iPod gave out today, after 5 years of faithful service.

You served me well since 2003, you were a great consoler and friend, I will miss you.

time of death - 3:27 am

excerpt - The Illustrated Man

"When life is over it is like a flicker of bright film, an instant on the screen, all of its prejudices and passions condensed and illumined for an instant on space, and before you could cry out, 'There was a happy day, there a bad one, there an evil face, there a good one,' the film burned to a cinder, the screen went dark."

Kaleidoscope, The Illustrated Man

Tystnaden (The Silence) 1963

For me, the most relate-able of Bergman's "Trilogy of Faith."