Discovered this amazing Björk music video made by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi that I have never seen before today — It is a gem!!!
An ongoing online debate was sparked over why nudity in children’s cartoons, primarily of the female form, was so frowned upon and considered taboo, while male oriented lewdness was more or less acceptable. The debate came to no standout conclusion so will most likely resurface again some time. I made a case for aesthetic appreciation and used Kricfalusi’s Ren & Stimpy for context, so when I searched for an example to back up my point, I found “I Miss You“, and for lack of a better excuse, I pretty much got sidetracked. It is a weird and wonderful music video, don’t you think?
Ever wondered if your feline friend preferred Cat Stevens or Cat Power? Wonder no more because there is a YouTube channel dedicated to cats, featuring music that has been verified by science as being pleasant-sounding for them:
How nice, for the cats. As opposed to those owners who get a kick out of their cats being frightened by produce. As weird as that may sound, it is true; for some reason, cucumbers freak the living daylight out of cats. Toasters, I get, but cucumbers?
This was spotted by Tauranga resident John Miller recently while in a Shanghai wholesale fruit market; “Do the Chinese know something about the outcome of our flag referendum that we don’t know yet?”
Not to be coy; I wouldn’t put it past governments to employ a facade of democracy to implement change. For some socially discriminant reason I’m sure (or Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations clause, for you conspiracy theorists), our government has put the appearance of a flag before the well-being of its citizens. Why do I say that? Because the cost of holding two referendums and consulting on a change of flag has been estimated to be just under $26 million. That figure to me is fucking loony, but that is exactly what is happening in New Zealand at the moment. Instead of feeding and educating children and the poor, or spending it on infrastructure or wherever else money is needed, we are having a vote over two-dimensional non-sentimental symbols.
Luc Besson said he would return to the outer-space science fiction adventure film, and that proposed film is “Valérian and the City of a Thousand Planets” based on a 1967 French comic series from writers Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières.
Luc Besson’s most ambitious project to date is officially happening. Currently in the pre-production phase with the film slated for a July 2017 release, principal cast members have already been chosen (Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Dane DeHaan, and… Rihanna).
Not only that, but, Besson and costume designer Olivier Bériot are asking aspiring artists and creatives around the world to design outfits for one scene in the story. French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier did a fantastic job on The Fifth Element (1997), so this call out may come as a dream come true for many artists out there — 20 winners whose costumes could be turned from sketch into reality and featured in the final film:
Designers are asked to create a piece that could be worn by a human, alien, humanoid or any other intergalactic creature you can think of. The scene for which you are designing will take place at a political cocktail party inside a space station called Alpha in the year 2580. For inspiration and details: talenthouse.com/i/design-for-valerian
For The Fifth Element, there were 954 costumes produced for the final film. Just imagine how many concept drawings were created for each individual garment and accessory, then multiply that by however many hundreds of other designs that didn’t make it past any further development stages. That’s a lot of art.
Some exerts from a Jean Paul Gaultier interview about the fashion of The Fifth Element:
And for anyone preparing to jump on the ‘just another Star Wars inspired rip-off’ bandwagon, understand that French artist Jean-Claude Mézières was one of the most revered artists of future landscapes and characters long before Star Wars was even conceived. The original Valérian and Laurine graphic novel is said to have influenced one of Besson’s earlier features, The Fifth Element — along with the original Star Wars series.
One of the five featurettes on The Fifth Element DVD/Blu-ray Disc — The Visual Element:
For anyone who has seen the original Star Wars trilogy, you’ve also seen the largely uncredited influence of Mézières’ work. Here are a few original pieces for comparison:
And yes, Mézières was well aware of Hollywood’s hypocrisy. In 1983, after having seen all three of the original Star Wars flicks and a fair bit of what he had inspired, Mézières released this single-frame comic in the French magazine Pilote. Sharing a table at a Star-Wars-Cantina-like bar are Princess Leia and Luke opposite Valérian and Laureline:
Judging from the source material alone and Luc Besson’s passion and pedigree of work, “Valérian and the City of a Thousand Planets” looks like it could be amazing.
ABOUT VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
Rooted in the classic graphic novel series, Valerian and Laureline- visionary writer/director Luc Besson advances this iconic source material into a contemporary, unique and epic science fiction saga.
Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are special operatives for the government of the human territories charged with maintaining order throughout the universe. Valerian has more in mind than a professional relationship with his partner- blatantly chasing after her with propositions of romance. But his extensive history with women, and her traditional values, drive Laureline to continuously rebuff him.
Under directive from their Commander (Clive Owen), Valerian and Laureline embark on a mission to the breathtaking intergalactic city of Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis comprised of thousands of different species from all four corners of the universe. Alpha’s seventeen million inhabitants have converged over time- uniting their talents, technology and resources for the betterment of all. Unfortunately, not everyone on Alpha shares in these same objectives; in fact, unseen forces are at work, placing our race in great danger.
This bit of info was written back in October, and it’s funny to me that no one has made a fuss over it yet, because, it’s Planetoid! From Ken Garing’s corner of the net:
“I’m now back at work on PLANETOID and the work is coming easier to me now… and I hope to have an announcement soon! Till then, be well.” (Wednesday, October 28, 2015) ~ http://kengaring.blogspot.co.nz
There is a man in Amsterdam who wanders the streets during the silent hours of the night carrying pieces of cardboard and masking tape, so he can custom shape and stick them to random people’s cars to make them look less ordinary and more like supercharged pimp-mobiles, unbeknownst to the sleeping owners:
“Individuality, self-expression, and status are more important than ever these days. But for some reason you see that things as ordinary as cars are getting personalized less and less, while it could be a strange but great form of self-expression. I thought I’d do people a favor by giving them a custom-made supercar.” ~ Max Siedentopf
Right, and I’m sure they are grateful for it. For more work from this cardboard vigilante, visit: http://maxsiedentopf.com/
The 1937 Azerbaijani novel “AliandNino” tells the story of a Muslim man and a Christian woman in the city of Baku who fall in love. Their cultures will not tolerate such a relationship and they are torn asunder. This enormous sculpture in Batumi, Georgia by Tamara Kvesitadze tells their story. Every evening at 7 o’clock, the two lovers approach, kiss, then pass right through each other:
Actor and stuntman Eric Jacobus mimics the Taekwondo-inspired kick attacks of Tekken fighter Hwoarang. His training dummy is no Mokujin, but it does the trick. And when Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken producer and director from Namco Bandai Entertainment tweets about it, you know it must be good:
Great! 鉄拳ファンこれは必見！ RT@doctorforhire have you seen this? Martial Artist does Hwoarang's entire movelist in real life https://t.co/X6TH068kYv
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