TEEN FEELINGS

Front Page

2011-08-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

Front Page

This was pretty great. It’s already something I want to see, but managed to be riveting. I want things that force me to do something, if not to compete to at least gain competency.

Global Village

2011-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Global Village.

Definitely the most challenging marshall mcluhan book I’ve read. Tough, especially because it is predicting the future from thirty years in the past. Of course, it is very accurate in terms of the internet, but I’m sure there would be far more insightful if written today.

In that way, it is similar to my experience with reinventing comics. But this has more muscle, or content, although it has a sheen of new age, or slightly uncritical approach to orientalism or primitivism. Of course, it’s written too well be completely flawed in opinion, but still.

Since I was already using the scanner I copied all the tetrads from the glossary. Intense.

Series of unfortunate events movie.

2011-08-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

Series of unfortunate events movie.

Pretty sure I saw this when it came out. I was expecting to hate jim carrey, and while he is not evil or menacing enough to be a count olaf, he is actually really funny. I fell asleep during this.

Ali- Fear eats the soul

2011-08-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ali- Fear eats the soul

I had this from netflix for about a month before I watched it. I have, more than ever, a hard time beginning movies, especially those I know have substance, or cannot be tuned out. This is especially true for subtitled movies, which I cannot multi-task during.

The german accent is especially weird or foreign here. I guess it comes off as askance if not being delivered by a nazi. Powerful movie. But also pretty inconsequential.

Akira

2011-07-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

Akira

I want to revisit the comic, which was probably one of the seminal things of my youth. I went through a faze obsessed with the super distopian Akira and battle royal. Evangelion would have fit too, had I known. There is a Japanese capacity to work on a macro scale way bigger (mostly invented) that pretty much never happens in the west.

This movie is still pretty great, in spite of virtually no coherent writing. I remember the manga fleshing things out, but I’m still at the pint, watching it now, as I was whenever I first saw it, where it is immensely impressive, but narratively nonsensical.

The league seasons 1 and 2

2011-07-20T08:58:00.003-07:00

The league seasons 1 and 2

I watched the first season on netflix and downloaded the second. I really enjoy a few of the comedians in this and wanted to really like it, but it is written unpleasantly. There are non-sequitur mediocre jokes, but really, every female character is written as a bitch or a one-of-the-guys misogynist. That’s a stupid character.

Overall, pretty unpleasant. I can’t really get to why I wanted to see both seasons. It’s inoffensive enough to keep going. Bland.

I should have watched children’s hospital, I keep hearing that’s good.

Breaking Bad season 1

2011-07-20T08:58:00.001-07:00

Breaking Bad season 1

Re-watching the first three seasons in advance of the fourth. Seems more and more like a result of the wire and the sopranos, as we can now focus our own dismay or recession within an accurate criminal field. Still really intense and great.

Casino Royale

2011-07-20T08:56:00.001-07:00

Casino Royale

Hoped this would be engaging, very weird and disconnected. Seems in really bad taste. I wasn’t really paying attention, but I couldn’t get into it.

House of Leaves

2011-07-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

House of Leaves

I heard about this on four chan’s paranormal forum, referred to as the genesis of a lot of the writing that gets passed around there. All of the writing from the main character’s perspective is pretty terrible, in a way that really seems unintentional. And the academic parody is pretty thinly done, although the book does kind of address that.

Really, even if the whole thing is written poorly it’s so ambitious that it cannot be bad. It takes itself seriously, to the point of success. I don’t know if it really affected me, but it’s form makes it worthwhile.

2011-07-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

Girl who kicks the hornet’s nest

These kind of killed my evenings, but it’s nice to bond, or experience something as a family.

The movies could be a drastic oversimplification of whatever the books are, but they become an impassioned attack on the power dynamic of gender politics. Nothing is particularly nuanced, but it’s definitely something which the mainstream should invite, or did invite. It is even harder to hold strong opinions on undercurrents of hierarchy and abuse than it was ten years ago, probably because of obama or whatever.

Girl who played with fire

2011-07-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Girl who played with fire

No separate plotline or structure in this one. I want one black jacket, and that’s it. She destroys that look.

Girls with the dragon tattoo, movie

2011-07-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

Girls with the dragon tattoo, movie

My Dad was way into this stuff, and we ended up seeing all three of these movies, one per day, in sequence as a family. There’s really no romance, for me, about any cold European country. Sweden seems pretty unpleasant.

This was a lot simpler than I expected, but I really only expected depth because of the subtitles. The actress is pretty great though. It seems pretty progressive. Also, like a broad feminist essay.

Bon Appetite, magazine

2011-07-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

Bon Appetite

What’s-her-name on the cover is terrible and a monster, but there were worthwhile things in this. Pretty much all food writing is precious and more stupid than a lot of things.

Series of unfortunate events book 11

2011-07-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

Series of unfortunate events book 11

Took a long time, relatively, to get this from the library. I remember these being really popular, but the library only has multiple copies of the last one. This breaks any kind of previous formula and is weirdly sentimental in a sort of detached, mysterious way. In that there are characters are automatically likable purely for not being evil, but also jerks. Definitely weird sexual tensions involving young teens.

Also, having the baby’s talent be her large teeth is a lot funnier than ret-conned cooking.

The series of unfortunate events 9

2011-07-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

The series of unfortunate events 9

This one was way better than the hospital one, which is the only one I’ve read of which I remember any of the plot. There’s a lot of clever stuff in here. He repeats a page, he makes really weird references.

I remember hearing an interview with the guy who wrote these, out of character, on maybe the sound of young America. I was pretty distanced at the time, so I don’t really remember any of it, but he seemed genuinely pleasant. I really hope Count Olaf isn’t just after money. I want there to be a larger conspiracy, but at this point, it seems like it might just be all about money.

The series of unfortunate events 8

2011-07-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

The series of unfortunate events 8

I read up to ten of these books whenever they came out, but guess grew out of them, or really, lost interest in them before the series ended. My sister just got way into them and so I’m reading them along with her.

I really like that these are so short, yet with so many pages. I get the rush of completion pretty quickly. And I think some of the writing in genuinely pretty funny.

The medium is the message

2011-06-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

Medium is Massage

I’ve read parts or the entirety of this in photocopies and pdfs, but never the original, which is dramatically more engaging through design. Engaging isn’t the right word, because the ideas in and of themselves are engaging, but the design forces holds and pauses and an interesting delineation over certain thoughts, allows them to breath. I wish I owned this.

The Immoralist

2011-06-29T12:11:00.002-07:00

The Immoralist

Read this because andre gide was referenced in a fucked up son, and this was the book of is they had in the library. Pretty great. Hard to tell if controversy stems from the veiled pedophilia or the outright rejection of dictated virtue. Need to read some of the context around this.

Very angry, if untimely restrained. Can’t tell if that’s a sentence to be proud of or a stupid one.

American Splendor another day

2011-06-29T12:11:00.001-07:00

American Splendor book

Some really off putting artwork here, in the vein of the front cover. Although, it makes sense to include it as it draws a focus to central themes of all the writing. He’s really pretty incredible, and I’m enjoying reading piece meal through the library, although soon I’ll have to download a torrent to get it all.

Easier to ignore digital comics.

2011-06-29T12:10:00.001-07:00

Midnight in Paris.

I think I’ve flipped my initial, or maybe just the perceived script in that I think he’s king of owned the entirely creepy daughter marriage. He just keeps moving through the sane space, again and again, sort of unperturbed. There’s a segment in henry Rollins talk show in which he wrote a letter to woody allen praising his tenacity in making interesting movies, which is sort of true, but there’s not much there.

Hard to compare this to annie hall or manhattan. Not a lot going on.

The Game, 1997 movie

2011-06-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Game

Interested in these all-present control movies, this is strains reality too far for me to enjoy it.

Medium is Massage

2011-06-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

Medium is Massage

American Splendor book

2011-06-23T00:52:00.000-07:00

American Splendor book

Easier to ignore digital comics.

Bridesmaids.

2011-06-23T00:51:00.001-07:00

Bridesmaids.

This is really good, but maybe to great. It is not nearly as subversive or interesting, subversive to me almost entirely being interesting, but it is done with such really intensely skillful comedic sense or timing. The plot is rote or maybe hack, which is a term I don’t totally get, but every choice is performed in a very interesting or subversive way. I guess it doesn’t do well on that feminist conversation movie scale, but it does, through existence alone, highlight the ways in which women are cased in comedic movies.

Pirates of the caribbean 4

2011-06-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the caribbean 4

A movie theater opened up right across from the landmark theater close to me. All matinees are five dollars, which single handedly changed my opinion on an establishment which forces a dress code into their combination cocktail lounge and bowling rink. These movies are about fumbling around and tossing bits of popularly-identified artifacts, which is funny. Weirdly mocking history, which maybe isn’t weird.

The man who mailed himself

2011-06-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

The man who mailed himself

I got this as a gift, which I think was regifted, but it’s a pretty good guess as to what to get me. This is written from some kind of a stamp collector perspective, while I imagine it would be far more interesting from an art perspective. Proto mail art. I’ve been trying to read about neoism, which seems to involve mail artists, which I don’t really know anything about.

I which there was something in the library about that. In Michigan, there aren’t any interesting books in the library. There are a bunch of baudillard books I want to read or reread, but they don’t have them in any library around me. They do tend to get all the knew, quote unquote edgy graphic novels. I find the guy who draws all the mcsweeneys type complicated comics with the circle characters unbearable. I remembered his name, but I don’t want him to accidentally read this through a google alert.

Really nice scanned pictures. Really something to look at, or enjoy, in a specific, graphic way.

80’s underground comics.

2011-06-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

80’s underground comics.

These were pretty bad and universally depressing. Not all of them were boring and sad, but enough to taint the entire experience. No one really succeeded.

Dharma Bums

2011-06-20T21:06:00.002-07:00

Dharma Bums

This took longer to read than I hoped, I had to use the full two library weeks, but to be fair, I was reading a lot of other things at time. I read the beginning of this book in a chapter to chapter switch-up with the slippery slope baudelaire book, which both deal with similar subject matter, at least in the beginning of, inn terms of dharma bums, but in very different ways. That was surreal, in its own right.

Can’t tell if I get more from this than from on the road. A more beautiful but maybe less interesting or ornate version of jodowrosky’s book on buddhism. Some of the same issues of interfacing with reality after self identified spiritual breakthroughs. I just have a hard time reading anything written before 1980. I don’t think my generation can read fiction anymore.

I’m still here

2011-06-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

I’m still here

Everything I want to see ends up somthing on netflix instant watch. This might be the best movie I’ve seen since apocalypse now. Most of what I’ve read refers to it’s confrontation with celebrity in terms of tabloids and popular perception, but I found the most significant stuff to be the wa his peers and subordinates treated him. There is a sense of particular oddly dissociated identity. Disassociated to mean defined by a public, but inherently separated.

It’s definitely weirdly noble to reject identity in the ay the character does.

Bioshock two

2011-06-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Bioshock two

I can’t play any of the new games on my xbox anymore, so I played this, which I started around whenever it came out, and then stopped. The first one was about submersion within an already active and moving, though foreign and unknown environment, so there’s no way this one can succeed by trying to do the same thing.

Understanding Comics

2011-06-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Understanding Comics

I took a class in 3^rd grade in which the teacher read this book to us, assuming because it was about comics it could be easily digested by third graders. I remember the part about personifying symbols, or maybe just identifying symbols. It’s a really well written and articulated book. Self decrepitating in a charming way, relentlessly hopefull.

to do note

2011-06-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

notes I made to remember things I needed to write about. MAde this way to long ago. Writing about things only really helps me if I can do it timely. Which I don't think I can. I going to really put in some effort.

Our cancer year

2011-06-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our cancer year

This is pretty great. It’s drawn ridiculously well. Maybe it’s not quite as significant or powerful, in some definition, as the normal American splendor stuff, but it’s definitely pretty significant. I hope I don’t get cancer. I’d like to think I could develop an overwhelmingly positive attitude and survive.

Adventure Time season 2

2011-06-11T23:23:00.005-07:00

Adventure Time season 2

Too good to really have a lot of reflection on it. I like talking about it, but I’d rather just have it happen to me.

Bioshock two

2011-06-11T23:23:00.003-07:00

Bioshock two

Red Dragon

2011-06-11T23:23:00.001-07:00

Red Dragon

This is maybe one of the weirder mainstream movies that function as statements, or semi attempts at complete points, can’t really articulate that. It has the exact set of plot lines from silence of the lambs, but every set piece and all the dialogue is all exposition. I remember silence of the lambs being very human and divergent. It’s divergent at least in terms of two serial killers. This is very oddly cold, and intensely similar.

The season of parks and recreation the just ended.

2011-06-11T23:19:00.003-07:00

The season of parks and recreation the just ended.

Whatever torrent I downloaded of seasons one and two missed the last few episodes of season two. It’s all on the netflix instant watch, but it took me a really long time to realize I was missing whatever section of the plot.

This is now the best of the three thrusday night comedies I watch. I guess its buy the American office creators. They essentially made the show they wanted the office to be, which is relatively conflict free and featuring people who are genuinely content with their position in the world, or at least see their goals as obtainable. The office shouldn’t be that, but as it’s own thing, this really works. Leslie knope is the new liz lemon. Although I heard aziz ansari is an asshole, which I hope isn’t true.

The season of thirty rock that just ended.

2011-06-11T23:19:00.001-07:00

The season of thirty rock that just ended.

I watch all these thursday night comedies the night they happen and will probably continue to do so for the rest of their run. The office hasn’t been good for a while, but it just kind of happens and I can eat while watching it. I can’t really eat and invest in something interesting or particularly good.

I think 30 rock is past the point of being any good, or has for a couple of seasons. The jokes tend to be the same and because of that, all the characters grate. I’m writing this just as the tracey morgan homophobic tirade thing broke. Also, the guy who runs snl, whatever his name is, is an asshole.

The season of the office that just ended.

2011-06-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

The season of the office that just ended.

I think I’ve come to some kind of circular peace with the office, in that it is not very good, but it has no real aspirations to be good. All the characters are content to have boring jobs and have defined themselves in bland, simple ways. Everything is shot in hd and there are jokes.

Understanding Comics

2011-06-11T23:17:00.000-07:00

Understanding Comics

When I was in third grade, I had a class taught by a librarian revolving around this book. In retrospect she had no idea as to the content of the book, and chose it because it was long and about comics. All I really remember was the passage about humans recognizing abstracted faces.

Now, this is, of course, really earnestly great. Especially after reading zot. The entire construction is slightly self-depreciating in a very approachable way, approachable in that it seems to be actively requesting iteration.

Reality is Broken

2011-06-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

Reality is Broken

This is actually the first book I’ve read entirely digitally. I wanted to read it quickly, and it was too expensive. In hind sight, maybe not totally worth the money anyways. It’s not bad, but it is generally shallow, or maybe just not from an art prospective.

I knew this was in some way about args, which is what I want to read about, but it turned out to be solely about args as tools for positive direct action. It’s very optimistic in a way that cultivates both optimistic and boring.

The largest problem is the lack of scrutiny which would be apparent in art. She’s worked for mcdonalds, the Beijing Olympics and the world banks. When you’re trying to cause social well being, you can’t work for the bad guy. The attention to deficit required to locate problems solvable be mass scale games requires dismantling these larger organizations. It’s not a bad book, in that there are interesting things about motivation (not really derived from positive psychology) but it’s hard to take seriously as activism.

Reality is Broken

2011-06-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

Reality is Broken

Sopranos Season 4

2011-06-11T23:14:00.003-07:00

Sopranos Season 4

This took a long time. I hit a drop off point about half way through. Of course, it’s really great. I’ve got too much stuff on my computer, but I really can’t wait to keep going. I mean, I don’t find it applying day to day, but as a dramatic thing, it’s captivating.

Punisher max, 1-60

2011-06-11T23:14:00.001-07:00

Punisher max, 1-60

I read half of these at the start of the semester and half at the end. The problem with the construction of these, is that the punisher cannot die, but part of his character revolves around being mortal. In the first act he tries to kill someone, then gets grievously injured and somehow manages to kill whomever he need to kill.

That being said, these were really good for marvel comic books. There’s a through line and everything varies to point close to unpredictability.

Generation x

2011-06-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Generation x

My sister told me to read this during the holiday break. It’s weird how bad comic art was in the nineties. For a long time the xmen were my one defining idea about what super heroes comics are. Turns out, they’re pretty boring in a weird way. Their obvious themes have been performed so loudly and frequently that they feel played out.

Curating new media art

2011-06-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Curating new media art

This was the one book I finished out of few I almost finished at the end of the semester. Not really a huge amount of perspective. No one seems to be aggressively looking for solutions, rather moving inside set spaces.

Siege

2011-06-11T15:03:00.002-07:00

Siege

I stopped reading dark reign after I hit the climax and read straight through this. I don’t really know about thor. Still not sure how exactly he works in conjunction with the human. Are they the same person, or does thor occupy his body?

Really, I don’t remember much of this. I got way into these marvel comics for about a week and read a whole bunch of them, but they’re really not very good or redeeming.

Dark Reign

2011-06-11T15:03:00.001-07:00

Dark Reign

I got hooked on these mainstream comics after reading secret invasion. Honestly, I didn’t finish the four gig folder full of dark reign that I downloaded, but I read a bunch of it, and finished the interesting plotlines. It’s not really as interesting or engaging as civil war or secret invasion, but I think I approach all of these comics with some kind of detachment, or at least lack of genuine investment.

Out of all the various incongruities of having sixty year old plotlines, I think the largest here is the general public’s willingness to turn against the heroes. I guess it’s some kind of shallow commentary, but it doesn’t make any sense. Especially when we do have a political climate so easily swayed by ad hominum, it doesn’t make sense that a notorious super villain could gain the public trust, or that his resurrection through therapy would hold any water.

The punisher briefly fought the sentry, which was great, but then I geuss they killed him. I guess he can’t be really dead, but I haven’t followed it up.

Punisher war journal 1-30 v2

2011-06-11T15:02:00.003-07:00

Punisher war journal 1-30 v2

Went through a phase where I read a lot of punisher, dropped it and picked it up after the semester ended. Here he fights supervillians, but only the lame ones. He does kill a lot of them, which is nice in its own way. It does seem like weird self referential navel gazing, because none of these characters are relevant.

The punisher is the best marvel character because he cut through most of the marvel bullshit. In that, he’s willing to kill and is defined through killing all of his enemies. The entire world revolves around close calls and circular rejuvenation. He can’t really exist in the main continuity, because he has to die of kill whomever he hunts, which isn’t sustainable to the general comic book cycle, as a I understand it, which isn’t that much, really.

The newest terminator movie

2011-06-11T15:02:00.001-07:00

The newest terminator movie

I downloaded this along time ago and stopped watching it after ten minutes. It’s intensely bad. Weirdly depressing in a deep way. There are no ideas here. It doesn’t seem like anyone cares about any decision here.

Too fat for forty

2011-06-11T15:01:00.003-07:00

Too fat for forty

I don’t know why I downloaded this. I used to listen to his podcast, but then he started smoking pot every day and it got intensely derivative. Can’t really remember this.

Johnny Neumonic

2011-06-11T15:01:00.001-07:00

Johnny Neumonic

I’m pretty sure I wrote about this a long time ago. Keanu Reaves is probably my favorite actor, but I haven’t ever thought about who my favorite actor is.

Top Chef season 8?

2011-06-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

Top Chef season 8?

I started watching this season having watched season 1 and two and knowing that I would recognize at least four of the contestants. And Anthony bourdain was supposed to be a constant judge, which was a lie. Looking back, had I known he wasn’t going to be on the show regularly I wouldn’t have watched it.

It was something to look forward to during the week. Really, it’s just intense ideas about food.

Adventure Time Season 1

2011-06-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Adventure Time Season 1

I’ve been watching any interesting animation I can for the last couple of months. I heard about this from the line in yonkers. It’s beyond good. Very reminiscent of superjail, but better written and animated and thought through. It’s all weird timing and slightly uncanny one-liners. That’s all I need. That’s my sense of humor. Man, I could have written something cool about this if I had done it a month ago.

Nausica

2011-06-11T14:45:00.001-07:00

Nausica

This was another miyazaki movie I hadn’t seen. Too far out to have any profound opinion. Guess we shouldn’t pollute.

Ponyo

2011-05-13T21:16:00.001-07:00

Ponyo

I sort of avoided this whenever it came out because it seemed really young and there’s something about casting the youngest cyrus daughter. Something seemed wrong. It’s pretty intensely done. I still have the file on my computer. I can’t totally look past the animation to see these movies as a whole, but that is not the end of the world.

Freakonomics documentary

2011-05-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

Freakonomics documentary

I don’t really know what the freakominics books and phenomena are and they seem suspect. I watched this because morgan spurlock directed one of these segments, and I was really into him at the time. I can’t wait for his new movie.

Man Myth Magic 1

2011-05-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Man Myth Magic 1

I think I might have written about this before. I got a bunch of these at a garage sale last year and really regret not buying the whole set. I think they were around two dollars each and I know I haggled, but I bet if I really worked it I could have gotten a good deal.

I skim these for images constantly and decided I should read them In come kind of symbolic display of respect. The writing is pretty lame. I kind of doubt most of these academics are legitimate academics.

Can of coke 2

2011-05-13T21:13:00.002-07:00

Can of coke 2

I don’t really know. This was on my list. I don’t really drink soda, but I superstitiously think that coke helps nausea. I was probably nauseous when I bought this.

Transmetropolitan

2011-05-13T21:13:00.001-07:00

Transmetropolitan

At this point its been a long time, relatively, since I finished it and I know I had cogent thoughts about it at one point. I found out about this by reading a thread on cyberpunk fashion posted on a cyberpunk message board I stumbled across. Which is probably as good a way as any to learn about anything. I can’t really remember why I sought this out, but I definitely really liked it.

Maybe it’s because I read it all in one go, but there is something really charming and possibly good about this. It’s written in a way inn which I assume quote unquote nerds assume hunter s thompson wrote. At it’s worst, it’s hot topic esque posturing, but it also approaches some of his most coherent political writing. I can’t really remember anything from the comic at this point, but on the 72’ campaign trail is the best Thompson book and at times the comic either approached the great parts, or took them directly. It’s really digestible, in a way I don’t think hunter Thompson was. This might be really lame, but it definitely channels the 90’s stuff I was kind of afraid of when I was 8-10.

Avadon

2011-05-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Avadon

This is the new game from the guy who makes Avernum. I’ve played these games since I was maybe ten or twelve, which is pretty intense. Every now and again I visit the site and get whatever the newest one is. Although really, I end up waiting too much time if I have a game on my computer.

I tried to have a fresh start and not cheat through this one, to have a unbiased and pure protestant experience, but don’t want to waste more time by grinding and I got to points which my team could not possibly win. Maybe it’s because I didn’t put enough points into endurance, but I’d be fighting a drake that could make seven copies of itself, all of which could attack twice as well as cast daze spells essentially immobilizing my party. Look, one daze spell is not going to stun both my magic users, but these guys would hit me with like five per turn and I don’t care how high your intelligence is, eventually you will be turned into sitting duck.

So I cheated some. I guess I had fun. It is not like I wont play the next game. It’s just a process of owning a computer at this point.

Odwalla,

2011-05-13T21:10:00.002-07:00

Odwalla,

I bought this after I had just spent the night working on something. I’d drink this perpetually if I was rich. I feel like I’m making positives steps forward drinking these. Pretty expensive.

Cadbury egg

2011-05-13T21:10:00.001-07:00

Cadbury egg.

I have pretty intense memories about how great these are, but I guess in cold daylight they are not very good. Little gross.

on the way to work

2011-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Damian Hirst Book

I wanted to buy this years ago, but It was like 50 dollars. I expected to finish it in under a day, but in reality, it is kind of excruciating. He’s just kind of a jerk. He never really sounds sympathetic and all his statements are grandiose all or nothing pronouncements about the way art should be. About a month later, I don’t know what I’ve gained from this. It’s probably something. I like Damien Hirst, in a particular way. I guess the most interesting or revelatory moments were his discussion about financing the first shows. Really, the works been pretty lame since then anyways. Or at least pretty derivative.

Flower Tunnel Olifar Eliason Book

2011-04-20T21:07:00.002-07:00

Flower Tunnel Olifar Eliason Book

It’s been a long time, relatively. I definitely checked amazon to see how much a copy of this would be. It was like 35 dollars, so nothing I’m going to buy, but there are a bunch of pages that smell like the individual flowers, which follow a whole lot of discussion about said flowers. That’s great book design.

Vice Guide to Everything season 1

2011-04-20T21:07:00.001-07:00

Vice Guide to Everything season 1

I caught up the all the vbs from the past year or so. During my senior year in highschool, when I didn’t have many real classes, I spent the mourning reading the vice blog and reading whatever book before working. Kind of stopped. I put the bookmark into this computer, but I didn’t keep the habit.

I bought this on itunes for maybe like 11 dollars. Weirdly enough, there weren’t any torrents. I don’t know, I’ve gotten a lot of stuff from them for free and I wanted to see it. A lot of it is just re-cut and none of the new stuff is that great. Everything is too short. Everyone seems smug. It’s still better than most thing though.

Coke

2011-04-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Coke

I bought this while I was feeling nausaus. I’m pretty sure that’s an old wife’s tale or whatever, but it’s an excuse to drink soda. But really, I don’t need an excuse. I geuss it’s kind of ingrained. Sometimes I make a mental note to do something like drink more soda, but then I forget. I really don’t need the sugar. I’m trying to stop the sugar.

Off Brand Neutella 5

2011-03-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Off Brand Neutella 5

Think I’m done with this. And maybe grocery stores. It was fun while it lasted. I haven’t really cooked for a few weeks. But also done a lot of all produce lunches. Really, it’s just that I forget to eat during the day if I eat anything in the mourning.

Off Brand Neutella 4.

2011-03-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

Off Brand Neutella 4.

I think I’m going to totally move into writing about every piece of packaged food. Normally I buy mostly produce or things to cook with, which I don’t think count as singular experiences. The things to cook with that is, packaged produce, like berries should be fair game. I always think giving myself more responsibility in terms of the things I try to document will help me be responsible, but I couldn’t even handle music, so time will tell.

Off brand Neutella 3

2011-03-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Off brand Neutella 3

I don’t know. I can’t help it.

teen feelings 2

2011-03-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

Vice Guide to Everything season 1

2011-03-18T01:51:00.001-07:00

Vice Guide to Everything season 1

I bought this on itunes for maybe like 11 dollars. Weirdly enough, there weren’t any torrents. I don’t know, I’ve gotten a lot of stuff from them for free and I wanted to see it. A lot of it is just recut and none of the new stuff is that great. Everything is too short. Everyone seems smug. It’s still better than most thing though.

Peanut Granola bars

2011-03-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Peanut Granola bars

I got these on sale at whatever grocery store I go to all the time now. This is essentially candy. There’s some kind of oat, but if it has peanut flavoring and chocolate, then it’s candy. I ate one on my way back from the store and the rest way to quickly. I remember eating a lot of “chewy” granola bars in elementary school because they were sold in bulk. I wonder if that still exists. I guess it was all corn syrup and chocolate, but I feel like could eat a lot of those right now. Like, I’d start, and just eat until exhaustion. I’m so into that idea right now. I hope those are still a thing.

Dogtooth

2011-03-13T23:15:00.002-07:00

Dogtooth

I’ve been avoiding seeing movies because my membership is expired and the theater is right next to my gym, which I’ve also been avoiding. I saw the trailer for this ages ago and had to see it after randomly checking the theater website.

What a good movie. How does something like this not win Oscars. This was a movie. There’s some real meat there. It’s shot so well and the acting is ridiculous. I don’t think I can generally evaluate acting, but the opening scene with the siblings is so perfectly constructed and phrased, the way she rushes through her explanation and garbles words. Man, it just comes at you.

I need to be more cultured. I’m doing to village voice thing, but age of innocence gave me a serious block. Got to finish that tomorrow.

World War hulk

2011-03-13T23:15:00.001-07:00

World War hulk

This was probably the first superhero comic I’d ever seriously read a few year ago. I downloaded a torrent, although I don’t remember finishing it. Turns out I probably had, because the endings pretty lame. The whole thing is kind of cathartic. I feel like comic books might just be stuck in a phase of endlessly commenting on themselves. The hulk is pretty great.

Fig cookies

2011-03-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

Fig cookies

I got these on sale when buying assorted bulk nuts and dried fruits at a health foods store. The blueberry kind of kills the fig neuton experience I wanted. Although Fig neutons are probably half lard. It’s been a long time since I had a fig neuton, I wonder if that’s still a thing. I’m trying to stop eating sugar. I guess these lasted awhile. They’re not really coffee cookies, which probably has something to do with it. That’s very important to me.

rasberries 2 + 3

2011-03-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Rasberries 2 and three

I got two cartons for a dollar and just combined them and threw anything suspect away. I did pause for awhile in front of the dricoles ones. They were 0ne fifty each. Everything’s from mexico irregardless, but they looked way better. I can’t resist that two for a dollar thing. I wonder what I’ll do tomorrow. I can’t go on like this.

Rasberries

2011-03-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

Rasberries

These were two for a dollar in Kensington, which means they were on the verge of molding and low quality anyways. Sometimes, in Chinatown, there are berry deals this good on just mediocre product, due to some traid business or whatever, but in Kensington it means it totally sucks. I love raspberries. Partially because they seem to be the most consistently expensive.

Don’t like spelling it with a “p.” The second carton moulded overnight.

Marvel Secret War.

2011-03-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

Marvel Secret War.

Year ago at this point I downloaded the entire marvel civil war. In my mind, nothing really important ever happened after that, otherwise it would have somehow perpetrated the mainstream media, like the civil war. My sister is super into comic books and has a marvel encyclopedia which I flipped through whenever I was last back, which got me interested enough to download this.

I read way too many comics in too short of a period. Nothing can really happen in the pan of twenty pages, especially when it integrates with a larger narrative. This is way to muddled to be great story and each individual piece is discredited by a need to advance said plat. And whatever happened to the black panther. And why did captain America show up at the end.

Please buy me this ticket

2011-03-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

http://teenfeelings.net/buymeaticketplease.php

dynamic xml querying from hotwire dev api. same ol' stupid shit.

Current issue of the Believer

2011-03-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

Current issue of the Believer

I really like the believer. I should subscribe. Nothing better than that essay about reading at the end. It’s too devoted to be precious. Too much meat on those bones, or whatever.

Broken Cubes

2011-03-05T22:31:00.000-08:00

Broken Cubes

I read this directly because of a project. It’s pretty intensely good. That might be overstating it. It is not something I’d recommend anyone, but it is intensely good.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

2011-03-04T22:26:00.001-08:00

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Technically I finished this. Maybe. I mean, it doesn’t end, but that just seems like a cheap cop out I use too much. I played the second probably more than any other videogame. I have serious points to make about this game, but they all seem to stupid and boring to bother typing. Like, it’s just not worth the effort. I like thor.

Johnny Neumonic

2011-03-04T22:25:00.000-08:00

Johnny Neumonic

This movie totally delivers. I really love keanue reeves. He may be the best mainstream actor. Pretty much everything he is so focused. I think discussions about his skill at acting really reveal how bullshit acting is. Or at least quantifying it. He’s not doing what Daniel day lewis does, he’s doing what Keanu reaves does. And what Keanu reaves does is way more interesting than what Daniel day lewis does.

This move has henry Rollins and ice-t in it. Henry does his kind of clueless trying to act professionally, but not really pulling off any kind of character, while ice-t just plays himself. Man I loved that. Henry Rollins is talks down Keanu reeves and swears at him and stuff. There’s a cyber punk dolphin shooting sonic rays. Every plot point is explained a half an hour after it is introduced, or really just displayed. The script must be all scene direction that doesn’t translate.

I like these future worlds in which everyone assumes nothing will be designed. Like we will hit a technological zeitgeist and disregard aesthetics in a rush to progress. It is surreal to think how close this and the matrix were in terms of production.

L’age d’or

2011-03-04T22:23:00.000-08:00

L’age d’or

I decided I’m going to watch all the movies in the village voice anniversary collection. In the past two years I don’t think I’ve really watched much that was particularly substantive. I like to have self-imposed rules, or I at least like to think that I like self-imposed rules.

Technically, this was the predecessor to a lot of my favorite movies, but of course it is totally out of date. For nineteen thirty though, this would have been pretty intense. The end where the guy shoots himself was laugh-out-loud funny. Makes me want to see la chat andalu again. I typed a sentence in which I didn’t remember the name of that movie, but in reality I did so why hide it. It’s only because it was on an exam I took recently.

The spiritual journey of alexandro jodawarsky.

2011-02-18T00:48:00.001-08:00

The spiritual journey of alexandro jodawarsky.

I got this for Christmas the year before last and had been saving it as a gift to myself. Really, I wanted to read it after watching his movies back to back again. I the end, I just read it, because it had been a year.

I was expecting it to be tonally, his esoteric tarot religious jargon, but much of it is actually very lucid. He seems aware that not every astral visit from some medicine woman is total fact and could actually be hallucination of some sort. Although I do feel like I can’t trust anything he rights about the real world, which is too bad. Not only did everything take place before internet fact checking, but most of it is in mexico, and has gone unrecorded. There’s not a a lot of explicit talk about his films, but really, it’s all intimately connected.

The final chapter is just a series of anecdotes involving besetting the obstacles of filmmaking with zen, which is great. I wonder if that’s like a thing that happens in latin American writing. I wish they’d translate more of his books into English. Although there’s probably no market in it. I hope he is able to make another movie before he dies, and that he spiritually transcends or whatever. I got the feeling that life is just a series of breakthroughs only to realize it’s deficiencies.

Off Brand Nutella 2

2011-02-18T00:47:00.001-08:00

Off Brand Nutella 2

They have actual things of nutella, but they’re giant and this discount brand is three dollars. When I was really young I took nutella for granted. Really though, it’s essentially chocolate.

Off brand nutella

2011-02-18T00:45:00.002-08:00

Off brand nutella

I’ve started going to the urban branded version of sobeys that is just a little farther out of my way. They have giant bags of day old bread items and normal, packaged products, instead of just raw fruit and vegetables, which is what I tend to buy otherwise. All I really want to do is eat sugar and nutella turns day old bread into a desert product. Or really, something that can be eaten with coffee.

Orange Juice 2

2011-02-18T00:45:00.001-08:00

Orange Juice 2

This brand sounds really nice. I think it’s actually owned by Tropicana or something evil, but it appears to be wholesome. It’s weird how orange juice has so totally penetrated.

Orange Juice

2011-02-18T00:44:00.001-08:00

Orange Juice

I bought orange juice to offset all the the day old bread I;ve been eating. I;m not used to eating bread so consistently. Orange juice isn’t really very nutritious, I think. I want it to counterbalance carbohydrates, but it’s all sugar. There’s no fiber or whatever, that allows the nutrients to penetrate your body. I remember that froma book about raw foods, so it is definitely suspect.

Meet the Climate Change Deniers

2011-02-13T00:23:00.005-08:00

Meet the Climate Change Deniers

I downloaded this from cinnemagedon in a two hour span of depression. I don’t need to see this movie, I get it. I felt obligated to watch it, although it’s pretty short and fairly riveting. Or at least interesting. The lord subject is fascinating. He operates in a such a total field of superstition and stereotype. He’s definitely a simulacrum of stupidity. Or intolerance or ignorance.

I think I have a real problem whenever anyone claims to have invented some kind of miracle cure for degenerative disease and is now “working though the knks” or whatever. It seem wrong and sick. I recognize that the drug industry is evil in its own way, but not one of these assholes has cured anything, for if they actually ad, their proven lust for attention would have gotten the better of them and they would be out in the streets curing the lepers.

Walking Dead Season 1

2011-02-13T00:23:00.003-08:00

Walking Dead Season 1

I watched the first four episodes as they came out and the last two a few days ago. I remember really enjoying the first four, but I wouldn’t stand the last two. It must have been my mood or expectation, but the whole thing seemed insipid. In hindsight, I can’t see how I enjoyed any of it. All the character seem annoying. And I’ve read the comic, so I know it’s all just an endless string of melodrama.

The newest george romero movie

2011-02-13T00:23:00.001-08:00

The newest george romero movie

I think I forgot to write about this. I saw it around the time I saw sex in the city 2. I feel the need to label anything I can as simulacrum, just to grasp the concept in a more full way, and this is totally simulacrum. There’s no merit to this movie in anyway. It is a movie made by george romero, that’s it. There is no content. The zombies aren’t the focus, the character’s aren’t the focus and there’s no plot. It’s weirdly fascinating. There’s nothing in here.

Stachii artoholic book

2011-02-13T00:22:00.003-08:00

Stachii artoholic book

I read this maybe a month ago in a bookstore while waiting for someone and forgot to write about it. It is a really nice looking book, but he really comes off as someone who is so self analytical that he has no real opinion on anything. I didn’t know that he was married to nigella Lawson. For awhile I was into Youtube videos of one of her shows, which ere ridiculous. I think I’ll watch some of those in the near future.

The british press sound like real assholes. Why even bother making a boutique art book in which charles stacchi has to say whether something is art or not.

Elderscrolls oblivion

2011-02-13T00:22:00.001-08:00

Elderscrolls oblivion

Technically I finished this, but I cheated. I played a bunch of the game as a stelth guy, but then caved and made a god, played a all the dark brotherhood quests and just assassinated everything else. Honestly, I probably had a better time cheating. I’m playing again without cheating and while I might never finish, I feel like whatever I’ll have to say then will be more valid. My computer can’t run this unless it looks like crap and even then there’s lag, which is too bad.

Super jail

2011-02-11T00:42:00.001-08:00

Super jail

I’m really in a place where I’m enjoying these adult swim cartoons. I feel like one bad one could ruin it though. There sure are a lot. This is pretty great. I’ve the whole season twice at this point. Just looking at it is a gratifying experience. I feel like there are corpse faces pressed up against my window and I can’t really think through writing these reviews. It’s like the middle of the day. I need to do something else. I couldn’t even read the alehandro jodowsky book I promised my self I would finish today. It’s too weirdly spiritual. For right now I mean. Normally, all I want is the weirdly spiritual.

Design Anarchy

2011-02-11T00:41:00.000-08:00

Design Anarchy

I’ve had this book for awhile, but started re-reading it while working on a semi-related project. Related in that it was about design not working. This is a great book. The design aspects resonate with me far more now than back in 2008 or whenever I first read it. The political stuff seems really old. There’s a dvd to. I can’t wait to watch that.

Mr. Show Complete

2011-02-11T00:40:00.000-08:00

Mr. Show Complete

I haven’t watched all the episodes from this exact set, but in the last few months I’ve definitely watched them all and I need to keep myself honest. I think it took me awhile to fully get everything, but now I can watch any episode and be enthralled by it.

Discount Cookies 2

2011-02-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

Discount Cookies 2

Are these really discount. It seemed like the right thing to write. Actually, the night before buying these I bought some name brand cookies which ended up being awful. I’m trying to write about every real consumer object, or maybe packaged object I buy, but I didn’t want to dig those out of the trash after I forgot and threw them away.

All my body seems to want is sugar. Which isn’t good. I eat very healthily, but still feel not so great frequently. But I’d feel worse if I didn’t. I suppose I probably cheat a few times a week. I haven’t bought cookies since these. Up to this point. As I was about to throw these out, one fell out, as it had been lodged in the back. That was pretty great. I’m in a dark and paranoid mood after reading a bunch of scary stories and I feel like all this writing is coming off very dark. But I have to get it done to feel accomplished.

Creative Space

2011-02-11T00:38:00.002-08:00

Creative Space

I got this about a year ago and read a little over half and kind of forgot about it. It is all nice things. Nice tastes. It’s pleasant. Something about the concept seems to make the interviews seem a little taciturn or disattached.