Semicolons

REAR WINDOW loop, a visual installation by Jeff Desom, based on...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:37:00 +0200

REAR WINDOW loop, a visual installation by Jeff Desom, based on footage from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” (1954)

I dissected all of Hitchcock’s Rear Window and stiched it back together in After Effects. I stabilized all the shots with camera movement in them. Since everything was filmed from pretty much the same angle I was able to match them into a single panoramic view of the entire backyard without any greater distortions. The order of events stays true to the movie’s plot.

More info on author’s website, wherein you’ll also find a making of.

In some underground New York, Tokyo or London club, Shannon...

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:26:45 +0100

In some underground New York, Tokyo or London club, Shannon Funchess’s powerful contralto punches through the fog-filled stage — as does the spread of green laser light emanating from behind her. Funchess, the Light Asylum frontwoman, drums and sings, pogoing around in a mix of black leather and new-wave neon, like a punker, harder-edged Grace Jones possessed by the sensibilities of Ian Curtis. Her voice has appeared on tracks by bands like Telepathe and TV on the Radio, but it’s with this latest project (a duo, with Bruno Coviello on synth) that she has come into her own. Light Asylum is catchy but raw, music you can lose yourself in.

Offical website.

"Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and..."

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:25:22 +0100

“

Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug. The attraction of this way of writing is that it is easy.

It is easier — even quicker, once you have the habit — to say “In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that” than to say “I think”.

”

- George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” (1946)

Photo

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:25:07 +0100

"I always return my Gram’s phone calls and do as she asks right away, she’s 90 and if she died..."

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:56:34 +0100

“I always return my Gram’s phone calls and do as she asks right away, she’s 90 and if she died before I could respond I’d feel horrible. I’ve been living like this for the last 6 years.”

- (via kellyoxford)

(via lesfauve-deactivated20100818-de)

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:56:05 +0100

(via lesfauve-deactivated20100818-de)

It’s no coincidence that Le Rev is a Los Angeles band....

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:52:49 +0100

It’s no coincidence that Le Rev is a Los Angeles band. With its theatrical lyrics and guttural guitar riffs, Le Rev dances a fine line between Hollywood histrionics and indie eastside aesthetics.

As lead singer, C.C. Sheffield can downshift from whisper to scream in a drumbeat, alternately channeling personas as varied as a French chanteuse, larger-than-life diva and little girl lost to belt out emotionally-charged stories over Nico Chiotellis’s anthemic/angular guitar work. Equal parts heartbreak and pop hooks, Lev Rev’s studio debut “Tales of Running Away” is a bloody valentine with introspective lovelorn lyrics pitted against a blaring sonic soundscape.

"You see, I believe in freedom. Not many people do, although they will, of course, protest otherwise...."

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:52:37 +0100

“You see, I believe in freedom. Not many people do, although they will, of course, protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all the others are based.”

- Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

missfolly: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnHendrickje sleeping...

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:52:17 +0100

missfolly:

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
Hendrickje sleeping
ca. 1655

DarkDriveClinic is the new project from producer John Fryer and...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:51:45 +0200

DarkDriveClinic is the new project from producer John Fryer and singer Rebecca Coseboom.

John Fryer has virtually defined several genres with his production work; like the ethereal ambient Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil of 4AD, the industrial rock sound of Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward and Gravity Kills, the modern day sound of Gloom Pops, HIM, and Lacrimas Profundere, and has dipped into Bone Yard Blues with Ledfoot. Never confining himself to one style, John has:

Produced, engineered and mixed The Schools Spellemannspris’ Norwegian Grammy-nominated album “Espionage”

Mixed the US breakthrough album for Jesus Jones, “Doubt”

Produced Cradle of Filth’s “Midian” Album, HIM & Nine Inch Nails’ multi-platinum selling albums

Mixed or remixed White Zombie, A-Ha, Anthrax, Sarah McLachlan and Ashbruy Heights amongst many others.

John’s newest project, DarkDriveClinic, is a collaboration between John and singer Rebecca Coseboom. Rebecca is also a member of Stripmall Architecture, and has been called “a female front woman with an incredible voice” (CMJ). “Her voice flutters around your head like a silky scarf and the whole is like a sonic manifestation of a romantic swoon…” (The Stranger, Seattle).

DarkDriveClinic is currently recording their debut album of eclectic dark alternative music, which is due out in 2011.

Official website.

"Under any conditions, anywhere, whatever you are doing, there is some ordinance under which you can..."

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:51:15 +0200

“Under any conditions, anywhere, whatever you are doing, there is some ordinance under which you can be booked.”

- Robert D. Sprecht, Rand Corp.

Photo

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:51:01 +0200

Film clip for the Gotye song Eyes Wide Open, directed by...

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:10:59 +0200

Film clip for the Gotye song Eyes Wide Open, directed by Brendan Cook at PictureDRIFT, featuring character design and animation by Darcy Prendergast at DeePee Studios, and design and animation by Jeremy Bianco, Darryn Rogers and Brendan Cook.

Official site.

"The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. Children, of course, begin..."

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:10:27 +0200

“

The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. Children, of course, begin life with an autarnished sense of wonder, a capacity to experience total joy at something as simple as the greennes of a leaf; but as they for older, the awareness of death and decay begins to impinge on their consciousness and subtle erode their joie de vivre, their idealism — and their assumption of immortallity.

As a child matures, he sees death and pain everywhere about him, and beings to lose faith in the ultumate goodness of man. But if he’s reasonably strong — and lucky — he can emerge from this twillight of the soul into a rebirth of life’s élan. Both because of and in spite of his awareness of the meaninglessness of life, he can forge a fresh sense of purpose and affiramtion. He may not recapture the same pure sense of wonder he was born with, but he can shape something far more enduring and sustaining.

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment.

However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

”

- Stanley Kubrick interview, Playboy (September 1968)

by Alina Lebedeva

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:09:00 +0200

by Alina Lebedeva

"Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working."

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:08:41 +0200

“Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.”

- Pablo Picasso

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their..."

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:14:20 +0200

“Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives.”

- Sue Murphy

Yawning Dog by Shannon West, National Geographic’s Photo...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:13:28 +0200

Yawning Dog by Shannon West, National Geographic’s Photo of the Day

Official video to “Matrioszka” by Julia...

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:21:36 +0200

Official video to “Matrioszka” by Julia Marcell, directed & produced by Iwona Bielecka.

Julia Marcell is a singer/songwriter/pianist/violinist/composer from Poland. She recently signed a deal with Mystic Production. Here’s what Michał Wardzała, head of Julia’s new record label, had to say regarding her music and the upcoming album:

She knoced me off the ground. Literally! I fell in love with all beautiful sounds I heard, I fell in love with her voice, feelings, passion, the whole range of emotions; all of which Julia shares with us through music. I admire her talent, and I know it’s something out of the ordinary; it exploades with supernova power on the new album!

New album “June” coming out in October.

Untranslatable Foreign Language Words

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:20:32 +0200

Toska – Russian

This word can be described best in the words of Vladimir Nabokov: “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases, it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”

Litost – Czech

According to the famous Milind Kundera, the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, “As for the meaning of this word, I have looked in vain in other languages for an equivalent, though I find it difficult to imagine how anyone can understand the human soul without it.”

The closest definition of Litost is a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery! Deeply provoking?

Prozvonit – Czech

This word means or refers to the act of calling someone on a mobile phone and letting it ring only once so that the person who has been called, calls back, thus saving the money of the original caller.

In Spanish, the word for this is “Dar Un Toque” or, “To give a touch”. Surprisingly, this word can be translated into languages other than English.

Torschlusspanik – German

Literally translated, this word means “gate closing panic”, but contextually the meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.”

This can somewhat explain why so many older/elderly people wish to “recapture their youth” in an attempt to reestablish their passed opportunities.

Wabi Sabi – Japanese

A lot has been written about this profound Japanese concept: but if one tries to understand it in a sentence, this is probably how it would go. “A way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.”

L’appel du vide – French

The literal translation of this French expression is “The Call of the Void.” Colloquially it can be used to express the instinctive urge to jump from high places!

Strangely morbid?

Ya’aburnee – Arabic

This incantatory word, both exquisitely beautiful and morbid at once, means, “You bury me”, a somewhat declaration of one’s hope that they will die before another person, mostly because of how difficult it would be to be alive without them.

Duende – Spanish

Though originally this word was used to describe “a mythical, sprite like entity that possesses humans and created the feeling of awe of one’s surrounding in nature” – however its meaning has transitioned into describing, “the mysterious power that a work of art has over a person to have him deeply moved by it”.

Saudade – Portuguese

A precious, deeply beautiful but haunting word whether it is translatable or not – this word refers “to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost”.

Fado music, a type of mournful singing relates to Saudade.

Mamihlapinatapai – Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) an archipelago off the coast of South America.

The word can be described as “The wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start”.