kozyndan

I was checking out an invitation to check a out a pop up store in Times Square. Since I didn't know who or what was the schoomoze collective, i googled them and the first link was wooster projects. as i checked out their stuff i found out about this couple called kozyndan. they've been doing lots of illustrations for Giant Robot magazine as well as music art and other interesting stuff. What got me more excited was the fact that they sell posters and even though it took me forever to decide, I bought this one.
For some reason, they draw a lot of bunnies... and I love bunnies!

http://www.kozyndan.com/

Mary Ping sample sale!

Spanish Cinema Now

The latest greatest movie I've seen recently.


Darkbluealmostblack by Daniel Sanchez Arévalo
http://www.azuloscurocasinegro.com/english.htm

Meet Ivan Abel

Since I started working at the Film Society I've had the opportunity to meet very interesting people. Among them, Ivan Abel. At first he was Andrea's husband, the guy whom we used to dance with during parties. We also used to "bench" it during many donor screenings and special events. What I didn't know was that he is an excellent Director of Photography and also an animator. He's worked with Michel Gondry (Devendra Banhart, Kanye West) Adria Petty (Regina Spektor, Stella Star, and Ditty Bops), Associates in Science (Interpol), and Peter Slutzka.

check his videos and commercials at:

http://www.ivanabel.com/main.html

It is strange... but interesting.

A couple of weeks ago Morissey gave a show in my hometown for the first time. Many people I know went to see him. During those moments, I remembered a film a have not yet seen, but very much wish to. It's called Is It Really So Strange? and it's directed by William E. Jones.

What's strange about it?
Well, it is a documentary about a Morrissey fan base among an East L.A. Hispanic community.

This is a comment someone posted on imdb:

William E. Jones, a Smiths fan, made a documentary about some kind of a phenomenon that occurred in LA, or somewhere in southern California (I'm not sure about the exact location): it seems that twenty years after The Smiths broke up, there's this huge fan community there, and they're mostly Hispanic. I went to see this one at a festival, 'cause I thought it would be really interesting... Like, sociologically or so. Why would this people relate to Morrissey, an Irish man, living in England, and to his lyrics about teenage angst, despair and frustration, lyrics full of sexual ambiguity and so on. What could this man and this band mean to them? Well, at first, everything was great... There's this tribute band there, The Sweet and Tender Hooligans, and loads of people go to see their shows, as if they really were in a Smiths gig; a bunch of Hispanic people who are really enthusiastic about The Smiths, and that's okay, I'm a fan myself. Then it just got silly. The director started interviewing some of these fans, and it suddenly became all about their sick obsession. The way they asked Morrissey for autographs and tattooed them afterwards; the way they fought for Morrissey's shirt during his gigs; their opinion on Morrissey's sexuality or political views; how Morrissey helped them coming out to their moms... I can't really explain what happened there. "Sick people" is the most I can say without being offensive (and I sure did get offensive in the theater). Well, they made me laugh, that much is true... But I don't think that the director's goal was to make a comedy or fun of those people. So, if you want to see a bunch of sick Morrissey fans, go for it; but you won't get anything from this experience, besides, perhaps, a higher self-esteem.

Vocabulary!

I'm not embarrassed to accept (well, a little) that I've read these words during college and grad school and I've never known exactly what they mean. But now, I know.

Vis-Ã -vis from the French language, literally "face to face", is:

* A type of carriage where the occupants face each other
* The term is also used when describing things "(in) relation to" one another.

Mis-en-scene: Putting into the scene.

Diaspora: The term diaspora (in Greek, means "a scattering or sowing of seeds") is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands; being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture.

Zeitgeist ((audio) (help·info)) is originally a German expression that means "the spirit (Geist) of the time (Zeit)". It denotes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era. The German pronunciation of the word is [ˈtsa͡ɪtga͡ɪst] (IPA).

Was she pretty?

Out of all the books that I've been reading about in the latest book reviews, Was she pretty by Leanne Shapton winked at me. I first read a small review on Entertainment Weekly that said: deceivingly simple. Pretty pairs melancholy, broad-stroked portraits with stories about sundry men and their exes...in just a few sentences. For the fans of... The Nails' song "88 Lines About 44 Women"; Jules and Jim. Does it deliver? Droll gemlike lines ("Alsdair's ex-girlfriend was his first cousin...They were a close-knit clan of eccentric and photogenic aristocrats") will amuse, then leave you wistful and wanting more. - Nisha Gopalan

but if you want to read a more "legit" review check this New York Times link
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/review/Pessl.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Obsessive Consumption

Three weeks ago, I went to babysit my fave girls Karina and Saskia, but it turned out they were both asleep. I had especially shlepped a bag of magazines and catalogs for them (and I) to make collages, and thought I was going to re-read them again but it was Sunday and this means: New York Times Style Magazine, Sunday Styles and Travel Magazine. Overly excited, I sorted the sections and started with Sports, the less interesting one (at least for me). Worked my way up to the magazines and found out about Obssesive Consumption.

Obssesive Consumption: A project created by designer Kate Bingaman-Burt based on her obsessive compulsive behavior when it came to shopping. This immediately rang the bell, -as my mother- I keep absolutely every freaking purchase receipt. I paste them on a notebook, I check my bank account and love documenting my (not so wise) spending. But Kate not only saved those receipts, she started drawing the objects she bought at their receipts and this turned out to be a great CONSUMER PRODUCT.

Yeah, you can buy her art on-line at http://www.obsessiveconsumption.com/

Thanksgiving in Tucson

I didn't expect to end up in Tucson for Thanksgiving, but it sure was great to spend some time out of New York. To be quite honest, Tucson is everything they've told you, no less. It's all desert and cacti. Huge cacti in all shapes and sizes. Also, the city is very weirdly spread out. But the greatest thing was the sunset. I had never seen such beautiful skies, it seemed as if the sky was burning...