This is a movie that I just heard about that has recently come out in theaters. My friend Josh in Chicago told me about it but unfortunately it is not playing in Des Moines right now.
It is a story about two friends who go on a camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade mountians. The trailer is worth watching.
Not to become known as a maker of weird, kitschy objects, but I recently come across this movie featuring yours truly in the process of building a custom XBox case about 18 months ago. It was a major group project by the staff at Curiosity, something we did as a gift for a good friend and co-worker who had cancer. I came up with the concept of old school fuel pump and built the case. Drew Anderson did all the wiring (and there was a LOT) and “hosted” the show, a parody of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” Many, many others helped out with the painting, film-making and acting. Scott passed away a few months later, but it was a way for us to pay some small tribute to him through this homage to his chief interests: classic cars and video games. It’s cheesy, but fun. 12 minutes or so.
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The dial on the front is a dashboard dial pulled from a 1950s Cadillac, and the light on top is a replacement for a 1958 Cadillac. The gas hose on the side of the pump is actually the power cord.
3 things
1. Well, I was looking through the archives and realized I had not posted a picture since Sept. 26. So here is one of the last pictures we took with Brandy’s camera. There is hope in sight, we sold my film camera on ebay and I am going to buy a digital from there too. Yesterday was the ninth consecutive day that I have worked long hours so I have not even been able to go to the store to look for a camera. I should finish up with the trimwork today and then I am going to spend some time at home working on projects that have been building up.
2. I received an interesting phone call from Dave at 1:43 am about meeting half way in South Dakota for Namminga Fest 2007. I think it sounds like a great idea! The black hills is one of my favorite places. But perhaps Dave could elaborate on this latest conceptual travelling idea.
3. The other thing I wanted to discuss was movies about artists. One of my favorites is actually a short film by Martin Scorcese in the collection called New York Stories. Nick Nolte portrays a successful painter who has an awesome Manhattan loft for is studio. He works on large abstract paintings while struggling in a relationship with a young paintress. I like that he has a basketball hoop set up in his studio and practices during his breaks. I am not sure if I like this movie because I can relate or because I aspire to live his livestyle. Anyway, if you have not already seen it you should check it out. The other two films in the collection are done by Coppola and Woody Allen. I personally did not care for either of the latter.
Another movie I wanted to see was Surviving Picasso. Have you seen it? It looks interesting.
I guess we’ll find out. I had an eye exam about two weeks ago that identified me with astigmatism. Basically, my eye is shape d more like a football when it should be round like a basketball. Sarah helped me pick out some frames (made right here in Portland), and here I am.
I am getting so old.
Question for discussion: Did any famous artists have glasses?
Also – I watched “Modigliani” this weekend in preparation for my upcoming post, “Top 5 Films About Artists.” This will not be in the top 5. Pretty interesting story, but very spotty acting and the premise of it “not being a true story” from the get go seemed to color things negatively for me. That and the slowness. The end was more exciting, but the first 100 minutes dragged on a lot. Horribly uneven soundtrack, too, from period jazz to techno opera in the space of 10 minutes. Bleh.
This evening I had the pleasure of watching Kon-Tiki, a 1950 documentary that tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl on his quest to cross the Pacific Ocean in a balsa boat. Making some leaps in history, he had the theory that the Polynesian Islands were peopled not by early Asians, as most scientists believe, but by early South Americans. His impression was formed by the stylistic similarities between early South American statues and Polynesian statues, itself some interesting food for thought.
Even if you can’t make the leap by that evidence, Heyerdahl suspected he might be taken more seriously by undertaking a voyage across the Pacific using marine technology known in South America at the time (as recorded by early Spanish explorers such as Magellan). After assembling a boat of 9 enormous balsa logs cut from the Ecuadorian forests, Heyerdahl and 5 companions set out from South America following the Trade Winds … I won’t give the story away, but aside from a charming 1950s soundtrack, look for enormous sharks, huge whales, parrots speaking Spanish with Norwegian accents, flying fish, dolphin hunting, poisonous eels and deadly coral reefs. Really just a great film overall, very inspirational. Kon-Tiki (the name of the boat and the film) won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
What made it even better was the large bowl of homegrown popcorn I enjoyed while watching. Homegrown popcorn, Sarah and I both agreed, is crunchier and more flavorful than store-bought, but doesn’t pop as many kernels. But, you get about a bowl from each ear. 18 stalks planted grew about 40 ears, I’d say.
Also ended up finishing the second frame for the labyrinth tonight. I will never by wet 2x4s again. Nor will I ever again violate my rule: no lumber from Home Depot.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Letting Go
What can I say Will Oldham has done it again! This is a great album!
Tracks #1, #4 and #12 are probably my favorites.
The Last Kiss – Written by Paul Higgis and starring Zach Braff
Despite the cheesy title, I thought this was a really good movie. It was almost a little to close to the situation that Brandy and I are in. We both realized this and walked away from it feeling inspired!