Hello People of the World;
Here we are coming up on the last few days of
summer. Yes. Fall begins in September. All in all, a pretty tame summer,
weather-wise. No out of control 100-degree days but a lot of humidity overall.
Watch this, I’ll be totally wrong by the time I post this. I typically am. I
just know that the earth turns and it surprises most people that weather
changes.
Officially, summer does not end until the end of
this week that I am posting but the temperature has dropped that for the first
time in months, I have turn BOTH fans off in my place. So much going on in the
world I hope that you can keep up.
Anyways, let’s get started shall we?
1:[ First
Item of the Month:
Warp Engines are POSSIBLE! According to this article scientists at NASA’s
Johnson Space Center have been working on a Quantum Thruster that uses exotic matter
to sort of “churn” time-space around it and propel a vehicle it surrounds with
a ring structure through the vacuum of space like a submarine through water.
Now, this is in its infancy and a long ways off from being a legitimate form of
space travel, if ever.
In any case, I’mma gonna start building my
spaceship right now….
2:[ My Truthfulness Stuffs:
My Useless Self: Why
HAMLET?
So I am working hard on trying to produce another
adaptation of Hamlet. Why? About close to three years ago, I bought the Kenneth
Branagh version on "Hamlet" on DVD. I am a fan of Branagh. In his
introduction, he stated that a full-text, full-length adaptation has never been
done before on film. He added, rather smugly, "and never will be
again".
To which, I replied "Bullshit. I'm going to
make one."
So, it is pure ego that I make this version. The
question then arises: how to make it stand out from other adaptations? Do it
with a full Native American cast. Then, this touches on many other themes and
issues in Native-produced media: self-representation, a sort of reverse
cultural appropriation as Native take an exclusively Anglo story and adapt it
word for word through a Native lens without relying on the beads and feather
and logos that place us into these self-made boxes of today’s society.
While, the idea of Indians spouting Elizabethan
English just made me laugh, it also made my point. Subtly so. I also do it as a
challenge to the Native American Arts community, which, of late, has become a new
type of reservation system of pay-for-play, art-as-collectable-coffee-mugs
ideology. In short, I want to challenge The People, the so-called supporters of
Native Art to making a feature film for no money.
I think Natives filmmakers and actors, in general,
are afraid of Shakespeare. The verbiage scares them. Because, they are afraid
of not being identified as a “Native Whatever”. In the end, it all comes back
to how much do you really love what you are doing. People say they would do it
for free. But none do. I am trying to make a movie for free. That is how much I
love making movies.
I hope that my version of HAMLET sort of awakens
the creativity of Native filmmakers and show them a point of view that they
have never considered before….
Updates from my other Truthfulness Projects:
+ NAMELESS: The Authentic and Magical Ledger Art of EW3
A Treatise on
American Indian Art
“All you care about is money. This city deserves a
better class of artist. And I’m going to give it to them.”
Still working on tightening up this one. It sort of
streamed out of shape and now I have to step back and revise and re-edit and
clarify what I really want to say with this project statement. The pieces of
work speak for themselves. I have heard some good remarks about my “Ledger Art”
so far. I even had one inquiry but when I tried to offer the piece they wanted
without taking money, they did not get in touch with me again. Weird.
My friend and I were talking about this concept of
something such as an independent comic series not being real unless DC or
Marvel publishes it. I can attribute this same attitude towards art. People
seem to give meaning and “realness” to some piece of art because they paid
money for it. Yet, my ledger drawings exist. It also seems as if they are buying
away the expertise of Native Art from the Native artist in a sense. Commerce
trumps Significance every time.
Hopefully, I will be showing my work in the fall. I
really would like to get going on this project again as I have five or six
sketched out and I really need to start inking and coloring them. I enjoy the
drawing process. To me, that is priceless….
“Quote the great man, ‘It’s not about money. It’s about sending a message…’.”
+ The Five Six SEVEN Hypocrisies of Native America:
(Because Seven is a sacred
number):
It is very sad that we allow the Aaron Huey’s, Shep
Fairey’s and the Paul Frank’s of the world to become the authority over “Native
American Art” and imagery. Sadder still, is that we hand them this authority
ourselves.
What I find hypocritical is that we will never
offer Michelle Williams or Gwen Stefani the same chance to make restitution
like we did with Paul Frank, simply because we like his monkeys.
+ ONE: A Spoken Word:
Not giving up on this one, especially, when there
is so much fodder for Crazy Horse to be angry about. I think I will try to
finish this up soonest. Still, there is no forward movement on this one. But I
did read a rough draft to Bonnie.
NEXT MONTH’S TRUTHFULNESS:
Ego and _____?
Let me know what I should
cover next in my series on Truthfulness.
3:[ More MOVIE TIME ADVENTURES:
+ For the longest time I have
yet to write my reviews of the following films for no other reason than: I
didn’t feel like it. But in both cases, especially in the case of “Star Trek
Into Darkness”, I had to make my point about the increasing branding and
sequels of modern cinema. Doesn’t that ring silly to use “cinema” in the same
sentence as “Star Trek”. I know ass-hats love to try to make a distinction
between “Movies” and “Film”, trying to elevate the latter to some artistic
status yet both types of film do the same exact thing: they get the money in
your wallets.
Don’t be fooled. Films are NOT art. Sorry. This is
an area that needs more discussion, especially in the other so-called Arts.
Anyways, here are my reviews:
(PS: Simon Pegg says “F*ck you” for not liking Star
Trek Into Darkness.)
My Man of Steel Review. Finally.
+ Redbox Review: Ah, once
again I am able to go out and rent a DVD from the local grocery store and catch
up on something I may have missed out on in the theaters or to take a look at
something I avoided. Here now are the latest:
“Twixt”
is the latest film from auteur Francis Ford Coppela. It began as a live showing
experimental screening at film festivals and various conventions where both the
director and the audience participated through interaction. It is the story of
a third-tier horror mystery writer who gets caught up trying to solve the
murder of a young woman in the small town he arrives at to sell and sign books.
It has an odd dreamlike feel mainly because the author (Val Kilmer) gets all of
his clues about the murder and inspiration to write from the dreams he suddenly
begins to have and in which the murdered girl (One of those Fanning girls) contacts
him. So, with the help of the crusty town sheriff (Bruce Dern) and Edgar Allen
Poe (Ben Chaplin? The dude from “Thin Red Line”), he delves into what could be
a sinister murder involving vampires. I found this enjoyable if a bit muddled.
The digital video feel sort of took me out of it but it is more of a curiosity
than a movie, more of an experiment, which I tend to like in movies. Check it
out if you want.
“To the
Wonder” is the latest film from artistic filmmaker Terrence Malick and is the
follow-up to his divisive “The Tree of Life”. It tells the story of a
relationship that breaks apart and a priest that is questioning his faith.
That’s it. The rest is filled to the brim with all the new tricks that Malick
seemed to have liked about “The Tree of Life” without the compelling characters
and grand universal themes to anchor it. The movie rolls over philosophical
ruminations on love that could have worked had we not just seen him give the
same style lecture on the creation of the universe in his last film. I like
Mailck’s sensibilities. I love “The Thin Red Line” more than “Private Ryan”
because it takes a philosophical look at the violence of war rather than just
recreating it. I loved “The Tree of Life” because of its musings of religion and
nature. This one, did not do it for me.
+ I went out with Bonnie and
saw Rifftrax Live: Starship Troopers
in Evanston. We have not missed a single live screening from Rifftrax. Before
you get mad about Cinematic Titanic, we love them too and saw them live
in-person the only time they performed here in Chicago. This particular event was
sponsored by fans via a Kickstarter campaign to help Rifftrax secure screening
rights to “Twilight”, one of their more popular riffs. But since it is still a
cash cow for whichever studio released it, they refused and they moved on to
Starship Troopers next. Before you get mad, I do not think Starship Troopers
the satirical classic you desperately want it to be. You just want it to be to
justify the co-ed shower scene. Much if it is pretty cheesy and ripe for being
made fun of by these guys. Great time, great company. I missed the encore and
now, so did you because they cannot get DVD or VOD rights. Too bad….
+ The “Finally Saw’s”
I finally saw “8½”!
Yes, I did like it and I see the influence the film has had on so many others.
I guess I steered away from it because it was always bandied about at Columbia
College. I never trust film students for good film reviews. Never. But I am a
fan of Rob Marshall’s “NINE” based on the musical which is based on “8 ½”. I
loved the dreamy elements to it. The Criterion edition I got from the library
even had an introduction by Terry Gilliam talking on how it influenced his own
goofy films. It was funny and heartbreaking and I think Anouk
Aimée is beautiful. I know most of you have seen this already, so there is no
need to make any recommendations.
After seeing “The
Grandmaster” I looked up “In the Mood
for Love” by Wong Kar Wai. Bonnie and I fumbled through his “2046” a few
years ago and felt rather left out of that moive, which serves as a sequel to
“In the Mood for Love”. This one concerns two married people, the stunning
Maggie Cheung and the equally stunning Tony Leung, who gravitate towards each
other after living as next door neighbors and discovering their spouses are
cheating on them with each other. Instead of revenge fucking, they share each
other’s company and set down to write a series of martial arts stories for the
newspaper Leung’s character works for. Soon, as their feelings develop they
must face taking that next step. After seeing this, “2046” made more sense and
in my view improved that movie’s affect on me. Recommend.
+ “The Grandmaster” review: The best movie I have seen so far this
year. I am writing a more thorough review and will post it soon. Promise.
4:[ Speaking of Movies: Did
you know that the very first movie to begin numbering its sequels was “The
Godfather Part II”? Yes. Before then, movie studios would give different titles
to the sequels to, get this, to avoid confusing the audience by making them
think they we being sold the same movie again.
Now days, that is all we are sold….
5:[ Ah yes, settle in Dear
Readers for more of:
Adventures at
the Coffee Shop!
+ Does driving an ambulance make you any less of a
jackass parking in the handicapped space? I wonder if we give too many passes
to such folk?
+ Seeing the dudes slyly checking out the woman in
the short shorts is always amusing. No matter what coffee shop I am in. It is
fun to see. It does not matter that the gal is in shorts, yoga pants or sweats,
the dude will look. I love human nature at work….
+ Went to another regular spot today with Bonnie
and we noticed something: Smaller portions, higher prices? Almost all of the
snacks in the case looked smaller in comparison to the last time I was in
there. Shoot, their muffins were nothing more than those pre-packaged kind that
come in school lunches now and yet the price went up. Over-priced muffin-tops, practically.
Even the cookies were smaller. Wow….
6:[ MANLY MEN MAN-ITEM OF THE
MONTH: So, there I was, heading home after a full day at a teacher workshop,
carrying home leftover box lunches and tired out of my brain. Just prior to
this I caught a ride with my boss to central office to pick up my paycheck and
caught the Purple Line at the library stop. I get on the first car and I notice
the front of the car was open. No one was sitting there, except this man in the
right front seats. This was a tough-looking, tattooed, wiry little dude.
I get the front seats facing forward out the front
window, quite possibly my favorite seats on the els because I am still an
overgrown child that likes to watch the train tracks, and as I sit down the guy
in those other seats gets up and moves away in a hurry. He didn’t get off so I
took it kind of personal that maybe he didn’t like sitting next to the likes of
me. Why not? I’m likeable.
At the next stop and another big, manly guy gets on
and moves to those seats and stops short, then hurries off leaving them empty.
I didn’t get it. The next stop is where all the blue-shirted trader guys get on
and they pour onto the train in droves. One does sit in those seats and this
time I hear a buzzing and look over and the dude is absolutely freaking out,
waving his arms because there is a Red Wasp on the el train. Oh! I get it now.
The guy gets up in a crowded car and stands away
from the wasp. Every person that approached the seats saw the wasp and beat a
hasty retreat, shaking their hands in front of them like they are eeked-out.
These were big, tough, manly guys all scared and running from a wasp. It was
fun to see. What is funnier is that they think running away is going to help.
Wasps have wings. They fly.
So, I look over again just as the wasp lands on my
shoulder. Looking at it on my shoulder, it looks exactly like this. I have some
fruit cups in the box lunches I have and that is what is attracting the wasp to
me. I know you have to be calm. So I brush the wasp off my shoulder slowly. It
then lands in my long hair. (I hate having long hair.) Again, I slowly brush it
out. I know that it will keep coming for the fruit cups so I have to deal with
it. I don’t want to kill it though.
I dig in my bag for a sheet of paper. If I can walk
the wasp onto the paper I can carry it to the door and release it at the next
stop. So, I get out of my seat and track it back to the other side of the cab.
But it flies off. So, I follow it and steer it towards the door and PRESTO, it
flies out on its own at the next stop. All the folks on the train were staring
at me.
So I let out a war-whoop and danced back to – Man,
I can’t even type that with a straight face. I just went and sat down again.
Dudes get scared of the silliest things….
7:[ And now Wisdom of the
Sages presents:
“An Ever-growing List of Things That MUST Stop!”
+ What is it with still disrespecting the Handicap
Space anyways? Everyone all feels that they can simply park in it willy-nilly.
Or am I missing something? (Spell check says I spelled Willy-nilly wrong.) I
know we are not supposed to coddle the handicapped but we should give them some
simple consideration. So, parking in the handicap space just to get a coffee
needs to stop….
+ Watching the credits to “The Grandmaster” I
overheard one guy complaining about it. “It had no plot. I mean, even without one,
it was like watching a Wong Kar Wai movie.” Wait, isn’t that what you just saw?
Yeah, complaining that movies are EXACTLY what you want? That shit needs to
stop….
+ Media is very subtle in its manipulation of us.
It seems that more and more we tend to be taking sides in meaningless shit. It
began with the home team mentality and it braches off into other areas. Most
recently, talking with my friend about this Marvel vs. DC nonsense that is
raging right now with the movies. I suggested that since comic books and comic
book movies are now popular with the general public they bring that home team
mentality with it for some reason. Sure, the whole DC vs. Marvel thing has
always been but never to the extremes it sees today. As a comic book reader, my
interest was always with characters and stories that interested me, whether
Marvel or DC. Despite liking one over the other, back then, it was okay to
enjoy comics from both.
But now days it seems that we are always being
force to choose sides in some form of conflict or debate – Bears versus
Packers, Atheists versus Christians, Democrats versus Republicans and so forth.
Yet, we are only ever presented with two sides, never all points of view. Shit,
even the Twix candy bar is making you choose between sides. You’re still
choosing a fucking candy bar!
It is this illusion of freedom that must come to an
end….
+ Now, let’s talk a bit about Exclusion predicated
on a fabricated necessity. Another media trick is exclusion. The best example I
can set is the recent online ads for the Microsoft phone. In it a woman is
talking about how she felt left out as her friends would do all kinds of cool
things on their phones: taking pictures, shooting videos, surfing the web while
hers was too slow to do such things. Funny, because I have an ancient,
pay-as-you-go phone that my girls always complain I should replace because it
is not touch-screen or wifi compatible. But you know what my phone does? Yes,
it makes fucking calls. Like it’s SUPPOSED too! So, does that stupid woman’s phone.
So, you’re phone works. Don’t be tricked into buying something that you don’t
need. Geez….
+ I find it funny and hypocritical when fanboys are
complaining about movie you are going to see anyway! That needs to stop. You
can end your anguish with a simple decision….
8:[ Speaking of: It was
recently announced that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the upcoming “Man of
Steel” sequel. You could hear the fanboy minds exploding around the world.
Geez. Look, I have my issues with this decision. I admit it took some of the
wind of out my sails in my excitement to see it. I have issues with Ben
Affleck. But, I believe I will still go to the theater and pay money to see it.
It is going to be a big movie regardless and Affleck was smart to get in on it.
If it is successful, it will not because of Ben Affleck, it will be because of
Superman and Batman. So, don't see it if all you’re going to do is complain about
it. That never made sense to me….
9:[ From the “This Just In” Department: I am
beginning my second year as a Media Mentor with Chicago Public Schools’ Adobe
Youth Voices Program. Last year was fulfilling and fun and I got to see a lot
of the city by traveling to schools and helping teachers show their students
how to design posters and make videos. This year I have some new schools and I
will be visiting schools from last year. I was hired as a freelance filmmaker.
Getting to know the youth and see them working towards a creative
accomplishment is great. I really do enjoy this job. Wish me luck for this school
year….
10:[ Last Item of the Month: Living a Balanced Life:
I see everywhere, well, mostly on Facebook, people
spouting quotes about living a “balanced” life and yet all of there quotes are
about being happy and having positive thoughts because let’s face it, you just
have a bad attitude about your cancer or whatever. Now, a balanced life to me
means exploring all aspects of it. One example I often cite is the concept of
the “Uninformed Voter” – where everyone who voted NEVER looked at the positive
ideas or best concepts the opposition had, but instead just looked for ways to
tear them down. They voted without being fully informed.
Balance means having that bad with the good, that
misery with the happiness. I had a student in my class who refused to do their
movie reviews because they did not want to express anything on the negative
aspects the films were presenting because they wanted to have “a balanced life”
and not focus on the negative in the world. Balance does not mean equal and it
certainly does not mean only two points of view. It means facing everything as it
comes, having everything in balance. I never understood how only focusing on
what makes you happy is supposed to be a good thing. I have lived through some
horrible stuff and while I do not focus on them, how do I say this, I never let
the bad overwhelm me or my thoughts. But I never really try to push them out
and forget them. You can’t. But know you are in control despite them. Balance.
I wish I could be more clear about this and maybe I will write more about it soon.
That will do it for this month. Here is something else I
noticed. Apple for the last few years has been pushing the iPhone – replacing
the iPod, video cameras, photo camera, the computer and even clocks by putting
them all into one device. So, since they virtually replaced watches with clocks
on the iPhones, why even the need to produce an iWatch that everyone seems to
want now? Isn’t that creating a want predicated on a reductive necessity? Like
phasing out coffee mugs with your cool, new aluminum water bottles just so you
could be the only one selling coffee mugs. I don’t know.
Again, please feel free to comment, correct or
contradict anything on this blog of mine. You do not have to let mine be the
last word on any of this. I must keep my ego in check and the best way to do
that is to let discussion and disagreement take place, to be ready to be wrong
and to be unafraid to admit that sometimes, someone smarter will figure it out. We tend to resist that for some reason.
Until Next Time, “I try to show the schemers how
pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2013 Ernest M. Whiteman III
