Michael: do you ever want to do any artistic stuff? Sent at 2:34 PM on Friday
me: of course
but for the last 3 years research has been my art
i think i might start a BA at auckland uni
1 paper a semester
Michael: i mean
we have a new studio space
if you want in…?
could even do RESEARCH there
me: ha ha
Michael: it may have retail frontage
me: can i write my thesis on the wall
Michael: only in straights
me: ?
Michael: straights – a style of tagging typically seen on auckland fences
me: oh
wat about wingdings
Michael: illegible
me:
Michael: that just showed up as random squares
much like the students in front of you right now
random
squares
tell them first one to finish gets a free door spot at the arc
me: do u wanna come do a ba with me
Michael: fuck no, i need to make money
me: just one paper a semester
Michael: fuck no son i need to make money before im 80
me: art history
Michael: if i have a BA and a communications degree i am officially a cunt
Michael: i need to chuck in engineering
me: so true
Michael: or something
a TRADE
me: im gonna be a super cunt Sent at 2:50 PM on Friday
The US has Barack, we have “Captain Tubbs.” Fix home John, before your son says any more shit about you. Maybe he was shouting at him, eh Helen, oh how’s greatest living NZer workin out for ya?
Was I imagning that someone proved John key was the missing link between man and The Penguin?
By no means new, this movie screened at last years Incredibly Strange Film Fest and just got released on DVD, but Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django was well deserving of a blog post (mostly for people like Pig who are slow on the up-take). This film is heaven for anyone who loves Kurosawa’s and Spaghetti Westerns (Sukiyaki is the closest Japanese reference for Spaghetti, hence the title. Cinematic history 101, the Kurosawa Samurai films dominated through the 50’s and 60’s and set the groundwork for a lot of American cinema. The Seven Samurai, for example, was the template for The Magnificent Seven. This same formula has subsequently been used for almost any film which puts together a rag tag team to overcome a collosal threat, the most recent obvious example being that Michael Bay schtick Armageddon. You have the old wise guy, the young guy who starts out as a burden but succeeds in the name of love, the reserved master, the burly guy and the crazy… however I don’t think Buscemi ever quite lived up to Mifune.
The Seven Samurai
The Magnificent Seven
Armageddon
Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, the tale of a secret agent who poses as a Ronin to manipulate feudal japanese yakuza and protect the innocent, was famously remade as A Fistful of Dollars, one of the first Spaghetti Westerns, directed by Sergio Leone. This was also the birth of Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name” who was a mirror of Toshiro Mifune’s mischevious but honour-bound Yojimbo (the word translates to bodyguard). The Spaghetti Western were largely attributed with reinventing the dying Western genre – and were primarily inspired by Kurosawa. Ironically Kurosawa’s famous productions were influenced themselves by the classic John Ford westerns. Which brings us to Sukiyaki. Miike, in perhaps one of his more accessible films, re-uses the Yojimbo plot, but this time, as if directly inspired by the Spaghetti Westerns with a large dash of Tarantino (he features prominently in the film) for good measure. The result is a crazy black comedy that re-tells the story of a village torn apart by two gangs using an almost entirely Japanese cast who spend the whole film reciting Western cliches in broken english. A definite must watch. Hit me up.
Well that was an extended break… my political conscience was sent home with its tail between its legs after the re-emergence of corporate scum as ideology and it has taken me months to regain the courage to come out at night. But then I read this Paul Holmes: Barack Obama brings hope. Are you fucking kidding me?! Paul Holmes?! Prophet of the new hope?! Remember this is the genius who coined the phrase Cheeky Darky when referring to Kofi Annan.
I don’t wanna be a hater, Obama’s election was a momentous occasion for the US, and really fucking important. This is the country where race killings didnt pass from the hands of private citizens (officially) until the mid 60’s. That responsibilty now seems to rest in the hands of the police force, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post. Although I’d still accuse him of being a dirty capitalist the election of Barack Obama has publically demolished the last obvious resistance to diversity at the superficial level of skin colour.
So why do people like Paul “I used to be a broadcaster” Holmes, Kerre “you can technically call me a broadcaster” Woodham and Noelle “I’m sorry but this is just dribble” McCarthy, feel so compelled to pass judgement on this moment with very intimate details of how it makes them feel, and how this time they feel an individual deserves their vote of confidence. I AM being a hater. I know it. But there is something nauseating about this idle commentary. It’s patronising.
Maybe I’m simply suffering too much white guilt, where’s John Brown when you need him.
C’mon New Zealand, let’s not be the odd ones out. Vote with your hearts and not your wallets, lets keep the white-free marketeering-patriarchy in the back seat.
It details a new study which indicates media coverage in the US favoured Obama 2-1, except in the instance of Fox.
Here’s how it was measured:
For instance, when a voter was interviewed on CBS Oct. 14 saying he thought Obama brought a freshness to Washington, that was chalked up as a pro-Obama comment.
The absurdity is a quantitative study on such an issue is completely defunct, to imply one should report a neagative story in the interest of “balance” highlights the bullshit rhetoric of the media. The study didn’t directly expect this, but it positioned itself in a very problematic way. The Centre for Media and Public Affairs is probably just another lame ass lobby group, a “flak enforcer” as Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky would describe them.
When NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported Oct. 1 that some conservatives say that Sarah Palin is not ready for prime-time, that’s marked in the negative column for McCain.
However I think this statement was most telling. We all know at the end of tomorrow afternoon she’ll be the one who sank the ship.
