Saturday, December 20, 2008

Houston, TX

Got to Houston kind of late. Now drinking beer. The TWolves are playing, I suppose I should go watch because it's better than sitting alone on the internet.

Damn

My Rick Astley trick worked against me as I just got that song stuck in my own head.

What a cruel, cruel joke this world is.

Friday, December 19, 2008

infopile Dec. 19

It's called a Pickelhaube!

Emergency Communities

"The site, formerly an off-track betting parlor, became recognizable by its large tents and geodesic dome."

Tall Buildings!

James got "Together Forever" by Rick Astley stuck in my head. I feel the need to pass it on to you, because I am a sadistic fuck.

Love,
Bryce

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Synecdoche, NY

n/p Cinematic Orchestra – Man with the Movie Camera

Still getting over the frustrations of new-computerhood. Also Windows Vista has got to be the most enervating operating system I have ever used. I can’t figure out how the damn thing works. Finally got myself out to a coffee shop to write after watching the final episode of season II of Burn Notice which is apparently “GTA: Vice City: the TV show” not that that’s a bad thing, but…

I saw the new Charlie Kaufman movie, “Synecdoche, New York” (see what he did there?). Oh wait, you don’t see what he did there? According to my well informed father, synecdoche is the newest bon mot for the New Yorker crowd, I had never heard of it until he brought it up a while back. Synecdoche, according to the ever factual Wikipedia is: “a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing” as in, “All hands on deck” i.e. all sailors on deck, sailors have hands and are being referred to as such, if that makes sense.

ANyway, Kaufman makes his little play on words about Synecdoche, New York (which is pronounced sin-eck-do-kee) insofar as the main character, Caden Cotard (played bythe ever maudlin Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is a malady ridden theater director living in Schenectady, NY (NOW you see? Schenectady, Synecdoche? Clever!)

Now, Monsieur Cotard, whom M. Kaufman named for the neuropsychiatric disorder in which the sufferer believes himself to be dead, believes himself to be dying. Kaufman’s films have always been about the malleable nature of subjectivity, for instance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman offers up the ability to physically erase memory and then sends Jim Carrey on a mishap –laden trip through his own memories. Cotard manifests all sorts of gruesome physical maladies, however it is not known whether or not these or any other part of the film are actually “real” and in fact Kaufman throughout this film questions the existence of and/or necessity of “reality” in fiction.

Long story short, Cotard’s life falls to pieces and then he is given a MacArthur grant (a magical MacArthur grant which apparently never runs out of money) buys a giant warehouse in NYC and stages a play about his daily life there. He builds city blocks, finds people to play him, finds people to play the people who play him, and continues on ad infinitum.

The original title he comes up with for his play is “Simulacrum” which I believe is referring not to the original philosophical designation of the word posited by Jameson, but the ever so more famous conjecture by Baudrillard that has fueled many a grad school thesis, the copy with no original. Broken down to the simplest parts, the simulacrum is reality, perverted by perception and language which then becomes the hyperreal which then becomes the simulacrum or an unreal reality. Baudrillard went on to say that in the present era we are living in the hyperreal in our daily interactions with everything as, all we have ever known has been detourned by language and subjectivity. Kaufman’s representation of this is his play within a play within a play which becomes the actual reality of all of the people involved.

An interesting watch to say the least. I believe it merits at least a few views before you can truly figure out what is going on, however well worth it especially if Baudrillardian postmodern thought is your bag.

Okey doke childrens, I am sitting outside and my fingers are falling off. Time to go!

P.S. this Cinematic Orchestra record is awesome for writing, I highly recommend.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Wearable Toy Piano

Imagine busking with one of these babies. Insane future busker!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Odetta RIP


Odetta Gordon passed away today.

Monday, December 1, 2008

French Heavy Metal

TRUST

Hmmm...

infopile Dec. 1

Ruin Value
Ruin value is the concept that a building be designed such that if it eventually collapsed, it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing ruins that would last far longer without any maintenance at all.

Archaeopteryx
The first bird!

Sound Unbound
Anyone can feel free to get this for me for Christmas.