mediated reflexivity
Finished, but still thinking about:
– ‘Mediated’, Thomas de Zengotita
– ‘Khafka by the Shore’, Haruki Murakami
In progress:
– ‘Mind Wide Open’, pop-science.
– ‘Densha Otoko’, true life love story that’s been making the rounds in Japan
Next:
– ‘Tokyo Cancelled’, fiction, stories told by travellers stuck in airport when flight to Tokyo is cancelled.
on the bus on the way home tonight, I saw this dad and kid getting on at Fillmore. They had obviously just been to see a movie, because the dad was throwing away a nacho tray. the kid quickly grabbed the remaining nacho bits in his hand before his dad could throw the tray away.
and then the kid poured the chip crumbs into his pocket.
On the way home tonight, walking up Fremont towards Market, a man in a bright red wig and a red dress ran in front of me.
Passersby stared as he jay-ran across the street. I made eye contact with a lady walking towards me and we both burst into laughter.
That felt good.
I got to the bus stop on Market and I saw several more red dressed runners. I managed to get some pics with my phone.
I looked it up, and of course it is the SF Hash House Harriers, doing their annual Red Dress Race. First time I ever saw it.
It was pretty funny.
I saw Rize on Sunday night. It’s a documentary with a fascinating subject: hip-hop dancing clowns as an alternative to gang violence in the inner city. It’s not really hip-hop, but a dance style called ‘krumping’ which is fast, intense, and aggressive.
Ebert’s review of the movie is more of a backgrounder on the topic.
There’s a montage of archival footage of African tribal dances and krumping that makes you raise your eyebrows at the obvious similarities. Particularly the makeup on the faces. Henna tattoos and clown paint, but they are not so different, really.
The links between the dances and the community is alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming. Most of these kids come from troubled homes, and they latch onto the dance family fiercely–even if the father figure is a literally a clown.
The director has a definite point of view. He’s got some issues to highlight, a story to tell, and even though he’s not using narration he makes sure that you understand what he thinks about it. Some people may resist this, because otherwise his story telling style is neutral, and it doesn’t seem to jive. However, if you go see a Michael Moore film, or go see Super Size Me, the bias is up front, and you expect it.
The one fault this film has is in its visual style. The director is a photographer, so he can’t resist using great lighting and commercial-quality setups, even when it contradicts the humble origins of the dance. It has the effect of making the dancers and the dancing into objects or products, and because I wanted it to be real, I didn’t like it presented as a manufactured experience.
Sure did look good, though. See this if you get a chance.
3/4 stars.
the last two weekends I’ve been taking a video production class at Bay Area Video Coalition. it was a lot of fun.
in the class i learned about lighting a set and holding a microphone, working with a camera and editing in Final Cut Pro.
the class split into two groups for filming. my group went to delores park, interviewing people about music and ipods and the weekend. we filmed this guy with a guitar, who sang us a song he wrote. I wound up using that song as the background for one of my videos.
after filming, the next weekend we learned about editing. I wasnt very creative with the first video, because I just wanted to get something done so I would have a chance to experiment.
here are the videos. You’ll just need Quicktime 7 to watch them. (encoded with H.264)
1. Delores Park
“Weapons of Mass Deception”, a song by a guy named Mike in Delores Park. Very San Francisco. July 17th, 2005. 120 seconds, 11 megabytes. In this video I just wanted to use the footage from class and crank it out.
2. Bridge (Interlude) by Utada Hikaru
This is a little instrumental bridge from the Deep River album. 70 seconds, 7 megabytes. Easy and fun to cut film for. I tried to be a bit more experimental in editing this, and play with some of the tools that FCP gives you.
45 minutes. just under 3.5 miles. Hill profile, 4.5 mph.
I prefer running outside, but it’s nice to have the machine to pace you–since I’m terrible at pacing myself.
and I got to meet up with a friend who was also here for work.
We had hotdogs and beers and whiskey at Shorty’s, a pinball machine/old videogame bar.
Fun. I still suck at Defender.
Wow, a pretty crazy bus ride home today.
I got on at Montgomery. Sat in back, a wiry Chinese guy was taking up two seats because he had a big backpack still on. So I sat in the seat ahead of him. He didn’t really notice how much room he was taking up.
Bus was packed by Union Square. The bus pulled over twice over 3 light cycles to let screaming fire trucks by. A rescue truck pulled to a stop just opposite Macys.
From my seat I could see 5 other people with headphones, carefully shutting out the crowds.
At Powell several people pushed their way aboard. A lean black guy dove for the seat taken by the lanky Chinese guy’s backpack. And complained and pushed and wedged into the seat.
Lurching up to Jones, Lanky and Lean moved towards the door. Lanky Chinese guy looked to be new to Muni (and English and manners) and didn’t know to step down. Mr. Lean turned mean, and shoved the backpack guy aside. Too late, though. Doors closed.
So Mr. Lean pounds and screams and yells. “BACK DOOR! BACK DOOOR!!” Driver opens the door. Lean tumbles out.
Lanky backpacker gets out, too. He’s steamed. I can’t quite see. But then I see Lean dancing away, fists raised. And Lanky has thrown off his backpack, and started swinging wildly.
Kid: “If I had a camera I would post pics on the Internet.” Driver pulls away.
In the commotion I didn’t notice the bum who boarded. Man. Stinky. Then old Chinese guy started mumbling at the bum. I was wondering if there would be another fight. I think old Chinese guy was muttering about the smell, but his mannerisms suggested crazy old guy, so we all stayed clear.
The iPod contingent all traded glances. How crazy could this ride get?
At Van Ness, a short asian man sat down across from me. His face had several large lumpy growths, and his upper lip extended out from his jaw by about 3 inches. It was somewhat grotesque. I tried not to stare,but I couldn’t help glancing over my book a few times. He scratched his nose a few times, which was wnormous and rubbery. No idea what condition he had, but it must be horrible to endure.
My fellow headphone wearers got off the bus. I wonder if they went home and told their friends about this crazy bus ride, too.
I went to this show cause my friend KA called me and invited me out. So glad she did!
Pants Pants Pants – extremely uneven, extremely entertaining/
featuring a big white guy who can actually rap, play the trombone, do some kick ass lip syncing, and play the bass.
Then there’s Evolution Control Committee. A bit of Negativland, with live samples, lip synching, and videos.
also, ECC gets the award for coolest hot-shit musical hardware: the Thimbletron!
One of my favorite songs had Dan Rather samples over AC/DC, with weirdly disturbing video images in the background.
All this, just 2 blocks from my house! plus, my waitress friend at King of Thai bought me a thai iced tea when I dropped by after the show. whoo!
I went to see Annie at the Mighty on Friday night. You know, trying to get out to meet new people. Or at least to see some live music.
The crowd seemed a bit younger than the usual burning man/techno dance crowd. There was a radio promotion, too, an FM 103 van parked outside.
I missed the first opening act. The second one was pretty good soundwise, but really were into the onstage theatrics.
Annie came on at about 1230am. Her voice is so glasslike, it is hard to hear in a club setting. She did seem completely relaxed, and completely natural. She’d stop after every song and acknowledge the applause. The crowd started to thin just slightly about halfway through.
I wonder if people went away disappointed. After the manufactured emotions of the 2nd set, Annie just brought her music: light and cheerful and slightly sad. Above all, not overpowering or demanding.
I slipped out into the fog and cold. Walked up to 11th, where all the clubs were getting out: DNA, butter, Studio.Z, Paradise Lounge. I saw the 90 owl bus at Harrison and 11th, and nearly killed myself running out in front of a speeding cab. I back pedalled, he hit the brakes, and then passed. I jaywalked again immediately, and the driver waited for me. At Geary and Van Ness I got out and hailed a cab.