Worst title ever.
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Posted in 🎨 A R T : A U D I O 🎶, 👽 [F]-F I L E S, 📰 N E W S
Tags: Prince, R.I.P
Watch Six Gigantic Front-End Loaders Battle Demolition Derby-Style on a Public Street in China
•April 20, 2016 • Leave a CommentBest. Title. Ever. See regular commuters casually drive around the conflict, as laborers from rival construction companies argue over a contract, while still operating their heavy-duty vehicles — a legitimate royal rumble between heavy machinery.
Like deer that jowl horns. Less graceful, of course. Thankfully no-one was mortally hurt, so feel free to enjoy the plight of moronic union worker frustrations, guilt free:
Real estate construction accounts for almost a quarter of the country’s economy but has struggled in recent years, with growth down by two-thirds from its peak a decade ago. The slump has seen related industries – such as steel, glass and cement – having to lay off workers. Tensions are fragile.
See, here is why we have BattleBots. If this is the closest we will ever get to seeing live-action constructicons, I’ll take it!
They have the drivers, all China needs now are tractors with lasers on them, and then we can finally have ourselves an epic industrial rave party! Come’on, China, get inspired.
時をかける少女 & Neon Indian — “The Blindside Kiss” [♬]
•April 20, 2016 • Leave a CommentThe song’s low-fidelity distortion (from “Era Extraña,” 2011) and the film’s experimental aesthetic are a perfect match! Great music video edited by David Dean Burkhart:
Footage is from the 1983 Japanese science fiction film “Toki o Kakeru Shōjo aka The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” by Nobuhiko Obayashi. / Video edited by David Dean Burkhart.
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Transfixed to details in the ceiling Haunts you to believe it One more night Faint strange lights |
Highway glare, nearly there Basement bliss, the blindside kiss One more night Faint strange lights |
Cool visuals; Japanese director Nobuhiko Obayashi has a filmography full of highly stylized stories and special-effects — I will most definitely cover his work in a separate post.
Side-note: The young actress’ name is Tomoyo Harada, and as well as having a prolific career as an actress, she is also a singer who, from what I gather, was a super pop-mega-idol back in the 80’s:
That footage was from her very own stadium concert, Tomoyo Harada Muscat Lips Tour 1986 (原田知世 マスカットリップスツア). This next video was released only yesterday:
All-star band – Pupa is Takahashi Yukihiro (YMO), Harada Tomoyo, Takano Hiroshi (HAAS), Takada Ren, Horie Hirohisa (Neil and Iraiza) and Gondō Tomohiko (anonymass).
I have no idea what the context is for this next video I found, but I like its 80’s aesthetic and random mean streets musical-fight vibe:
Interesting, street jazz style! Reminded me of the final scene from Breakin’ (1984):
I love leaping through time. Not knowing where that may lead is great, amiright!
Transcendental Meditation With Nice Strangers [F]
•April 14, 2016 • Leave a CommentLast week, a dude on Queen Street waved me down to talk about transcendental meditation. I was wearing my headphones, so I decided to give him my time on the basis that he chose to ignore the unwritten rule of the streets; don’t bother peeps when their zoned out on their sounds, yo. …OK, so maybe that isn’t an actual rule, but I just don’t have it in me to ignore people who want to talk. I tend not to do so much myself I suppose, and I didn’t have any appointments I needed to keep, so we talked. His name was Bhakti and he was Indian. A former accountant who converted to the teachings of Krishna Consciousness about a decade ago, my guess was from an existential life crisis/realization. And he was Hindu, right? Yeah. We talked about people, philosophies of the afterlife, why people do what they do and to what ends, and what he had noticed during his travels and his opinion about New Zealanders and those he had interacted with. It was an interesting talk I must say. He told me about a Yoga-restaurant in the city and invited me to give mediating a try with a local group. Well, I made good on my curiosity and attended that, last Tuesday.
Four more university students showed up to the session, with myself, Bhakti and four other young Hare Krishnas. We sat on pillows in a circle, closed our eyes, and chanted a Hare Krishna mantra for ten minutes while three played instruments. The mantra we chanted in unison was a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra also known as the “Maha Mantra” (Great Mantra), composed of three Sanskrit names of the Supreme Being; “Hare,” “Krishna,” and “Rama.” And the group had some mighty good singing voices.
“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”
According to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, one’s original consciousness and goal of life is pure love of God (Krishna), so I suppose the chant was to align balance within oneself. There was no explanation, just straight into it. Then after that, we chanted the same mantra but this time with a necklace in our hands with 108 beads on it that kept our time. The idea of meditation seems cool, but the praying to a God-like-figure I did not know was, something else. Maybe it was supposed to hit me like Jerusalem Syndrome? I didn’t really understand any of it. Then came lunch. Vegetarian, but oh so freaking delicious. One of the dudes must have been a chef for sure.
Bhakti is a cool dude so I will attend one more session out of good faith to the group, but as far as becoming a Hare Krishna devotee, I simply cannot imagine it. I enjoy my space too much. Nice people though and great conversationalists. …To be continued?
I ORIGINS (2014) dir. Mike Cahill
•April 11, 2016 • Leave a Comment
This is a beautiful story and I loved watching it. A very well controlled and interestingly told love story that by the third act, had characters exploring the meaning of identity, ethics, and love, probing the notion of a human’s soul under the rubric of a sci-fi film.
A molecular biologist’s study of the human eye has far-reaching implications about humanity’s scientific and spiritual beliefs. Taking the notion of eyes being the windows to the soul to a heightened level, the film blends science and metaphysics to create an interesting hybrid of a thriller and a romance.
Normally I’d leave you with a trailer to watch, but the trailer is awful in the sense that it practically gives away the entire premise of the story! The movie is great even if you do watch it (like I did), but the trailer could have been better had it not divulged so much information, and that’s not just my opinion. DO NOT WATCH TRAILER! — Short clip is OK:
I ORIGINS is a big little sci-fi drama, beneath-which is a supernatural love story that deals in reincarnation to cosmic coincidence. It is a gem and I wish there were more like it.
I ORIGINS, the second feature film from writer and director Mike Cahill (Another Earth, 2011), tells the story of Dr. Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab partner Karen (Brit Marling), they make a stunning scientific discovery that has far reaching implications and complicates both his scientific and spiritual beliefs. Traveling half way around the world, he risks everything he has ever known to validate his theory. Also starring Steven Yeun and Archie Panjabi, the film is produced by Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray and Alex Orlovsky.
J.Y. Park — “Fire” feat. Conan O’Brien & Steven Yeun [music video]
•April 10, 2016 • Leave a CommentConan & Steven team up with J.Y. Park & a pack of K-pop superstars including the Wonder Girls and TWICE.
Conan recently visited South Korea after having been invited there by a fan. During his stay he tried learning Korean, made a guest appearance on a South Korean soap opera, visited an ancient Buddhist temple, and with Steven Yeun, made jokes at the JSA on the North Korean side of the border. They together also recorded part of a song with Jimin Park and featured in the popular Korean pop-star’s music video, which I have seen more times than I am willing to tell anyone about.
These two play off each other well; good humour. The world needs more Steven Yeun!
I Saw a Kererū, the New Zealand Native Wood Pigeon
•April 5, 2016 • Leave a Comment
Jumped off the bus, crossed the main road and walked down the next residential street to my parked car. My iPod had died on the bus so my walk lacked its usual soundtrack. But that’s how I heard the Kererū above me, standing on a fruiting spike of a cabbage tree, looking down at me as I stood there looking up at it. I was expecting it to fly away so I stood there for a while and waited. It didn’t fly away though, not in a hurry to be anywhere, it just stood there, looking. If it had been a starring competition, the Kererū won; I carried on walking. It was a beautiful bird. Kererū are exquisite.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR — Emojis!
•April 4, 2016 • Leave a Comment
Marvel/Disney have teamed-up with Twitter to produce some unique character emojis for the upcoming Captain America: Civil War movie, so fans can hashtag their allegiance:
#TeamCap 
#TeamIronMan 
#BlackPanther 
#TheVision 
#BlackWidow 
#WarMachine 
#WinterSoldier 
#Hawkeye 
#TheFalcon 
#ScarletWitch 
#AntMan 
Who do you stand with? And what about Spidey? Suh…
Food Waste — Dumpster Diving in NYC with Jeff Seal
•March 31, 2016 • Leave a CommentOn to…it? Far-out we are a wasteful species. My biggest take from this is that the dude was not trolling and is legit. He understands the value of food, which makes me question what the intrinsic value of shame is — Let’s prepare ourselves for the class war I guess?
(PG-13: Language) “That’s when you know you’re swimming in abundance, when you’re throwing away the food that someone else threw away.” Comedian Jeff Seal stocks up on packaged food thrown away by food establishments in NYC:
Directed and edited by Jeff Seal / Shot by Owen Cook, Iain Marcks, Karim Tabbaa / Garbage Consultant: Tanya Solomon / http://gothamist.com.
For many, the term “dumpster diving” evokes stomach-turning images of half-moldy rolls and recently-expired tuna salad snatched from the mouths of gnawing rats. But as many sophisticated urban survivalists know, there is an extraordinary amount of perfectly good, even gourmet, food set out every night in sanitary bags outside city delis, bakeries, restaurants, and supermarkets. The video above shows just how easy and clean the process of scoring great free food can be.
Comedian and filmmaker Jeff Seal spent four nights digging through trash bags outside NYC establishments and documented the process for this video. He says, “I actually got a ton more food than what is in the final video—I had to cut out a lot because it was getting boring and repetitive watching me endlessly pull different types of perfectly good food out of the garbage.”
As Seal notes in the video, “You know you’re living in abundance when you can throw away food that someone else threw away.” Don’t call it “dumpster diving”; call it “Locally-Sourced Reclaimed Food Curation.”
During his research into the statistics of food waste in America, Seal says he discovered that “I am just one in a long line of other self-satisfied white guys who have made videos/articles/art projects etc. about dumpster diving for food. I was reminded of the phrase, ‘Only a rich man can afford to look poor.'”
Seal would also like to add, for the record, “I do buy Sabra hummus pretty regularly.”
New Zealand’s Flag — Congrats to supporters of the current flag. You’ve won the referendum. Condolences to fans of the fern…and all those embarrassed for us abroad.
•March 25, 2016 • Leave a Comment
From Waiheke to Westminster — Pacific Poet and Scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh Reads Poetry to Queen Elizabeth II
•March 17, 2016 • Leave a CommentAuckland University Pacific poetry lecturer Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh was commissioned to write and perform a poem about unity at the Commonwealth Day service at London’s Westminster Abbey.
This was once my lecturer at the University of Auckland, and I am happy to go on record saying, Selina Tusitala Marsh was and still is awesome! She was the one who offered me a spot to perform at a Lounge#37 poetry reading alongside a privileged selection of poets, and in that same year she also asked me to be her research assistant for a temporary period, which was neat now that I think back on it. Kind of felt like a private investigator. One time I was asked to track down Mike Tyson which led me to several Las Vegas casting agents who were rather unmotivated to update their webpages. Each lead colder than the last. Tyson was in New York. I never asked why, but I suspected it had something to do with a book. Another time Selina needed access to a rare interview with a poet from Papua New Guinea, which I discovered could only be sourced through one location and private holder in the world in Australia. After a lot of back-and-forth emails, I managed to obtain a digital audio file and transcript of the full interview, at which point I felt incredibly reliable. Although that job cost money, Selina reimbursed me so it was all good; felt legit.
All the students who I became friends with who were also taught by Selina agree, there isn’t a single class at the university like hers. Hands-down my favourite paper. I could not think of a better voice to represent Oceania and New Zealand, respectively.
Ms Marsh says she spoke with Queen Elizabeth II after the interfaith gathering, attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
“It’s one thing being on Waiheke island composing in your kitchen, it’s another thing to walk in and be standing in front of the tomb of Queen Elizabeth the first reciting your poem and that’s what I did, I spoke to her.” The event is the first of many events the Queen will attend during her 90th birthday celebrations.
“Make Anime Great Again” [screen caps]
•March 15, 2016 • Leave a CommentLIVE on CNN: Someone at a Trump rally with a “Make Anime Great Again” sign…
But what about handwriting? Lol. Apparently the meme has been around for much of the election cycle but this is the most high-profile airing it’s gotten so far. And come to think of it, I do remember Donald Trump expressing his love for anime at a recent rally:
🎭 