Latest
Ubu
Max Ernst: Ubu Imperator, 1923.
I wonder if this painting has anything to do with Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi? If anyone knows please post a comment (as if anyone ever reads this blog), while I try and find a book about Ernst somewhere.
First edition cover of Ubu Roi, 1896:
Ain’t no-bod-y dope as me
Last day of my “holiday.” Tomorrow it’s high time I got on with some serious work, and the various enjoyments of reading what I like, watching films and playing Minecraft will have to be limited once again. In my short time off I managed to get through the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls, Steppenwolf and the first two parts of Barefoot Gen, and I’ve started Crime and Punishment: probably not a good thing to start when time is running short, but it’s been fantastic so far. I’ve also watched Three Colours Red:
Throne of Blood:
and My Neighbour Totoro:
in the last couple of days, all of which were pretty excellent. The Totoro trailer makes it look a bit stupid, but it was actually rather good; a bit more on the side of an out and out kids film than Spirited Away was, but heartwarming fun nonetheless. Throne of Blood is extremely atmospheric and spooky; whereas some of Kurosawa’s other historical dramas are pretty straightforward realism/with elements of myth, this one is pretty supernatural. Interestingly, Washizu, the stand-in for Macbeth, is brought down more by paranoia than ambition, due mostly to Asaji (Lady Macbeth), his wife, and her manipulation of his fear of betrayal; he seems to betray to avoid being betrayed, rather than because he really wants to become the ruler of “Cobweb Castle.” Best character in it is the witch, the scenes with her are pretty dang freaky. Three Colours Red was great too, although I think my favourite in the series has been Three Colours White.
My other recent time consumer, other than applying for jobs, has been Minecraft. I’m not really sure what to say about it; Heather assures me that it’s very boring to watch me play it, and a lot of it just seems to be endless digging through walls, but I love it. My heart leaps whenever I come across an underground cavern, diamonds, or (I discovered my first one today!) a dungeon with a chest. I can’t wait until the complete game comes out. The only problem is that it’s very difficult to think of things that no one else has built; some of the videos on Youtube of people’s creations are insane, and whenever I think of something that might be cool I look it up, and inevitably it’s already been thought of. Still, I have built a very nice windmill with a red roof. Video unrelated:
Quite unfit for women!
I recently ran across BFI’s youtube channel. There’s some pretty amazing stuff on there; old newsreels, early films, trailers from rare old movies… Here’s a few of my favourite clips:
Topical Budget newsreel:
Footage of Scott’s trip to the South Pole:
Jack Cardiff – Temples of India:
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog, and last time I updated it was the first time in a long time; but I have a month free of part time job responsibilities, and I’ve given myself at least a week off from uni work (although I have to get on with applying to jobs), so I’m going to at least try and get a few entries in before my time is completely eaten up again.
Since last time I posted I’ve taken up the position editor of the newly created creative section over at Durham student magazine The Bubble. It’s fairly exciting, if time consuming, and there’s been some really good submissions so far; I’d post some here, but I don’t want to show any favouritism (not that anyone is even aware that I have this blog), so go and peruse at will.
Bullfight
Women/Cold Pumas/Fair Ohs/Friendo four way split. Might be the last thing Women release, great songs, 7″ with free digital download. Check it out!:
The State That I Am In
It’s been a funny couple of days. The weather has been utterly insane (/hyperbole), and a glance at the BBC news website will indicate that it is causing “chaos” etc. and as a result I’ve been released from the clutches of work early for the last two nights, allowing me to engage in what is apparently known as “socialisation”. This included visiting Klute, in Durham, a place which was allegedly voted the second worst club in Europe at some point. It’s certainly harsh to say it lived up to this; it was dingy, the draught coke machine was broken, they only had cold water in the toilets, the drink was kinda expensive (and erratic – 2 quid for a gin and cranberry [no draught lemonade either], £2.90 for a bottle of Tuborg!) and the music was awful beyond belief (I mean, the music in most clubs is bad, but at least it’s chosen to allow dancing; this is not the case in Klute), but the staff were nice, and didn’t seem to be brain dead, unlike the staff in Fat Sam’s for example (the cloak room guy was reading The Selfish Gene!). I even came across a nice bouncer – which I’m pretty sure means I have to call whatever agency he was working for and make a complaint.
Anyway, I’ve been in worse places.
I also went and saw Travesties at the DST, which was pretty good. I mean, the writing was excellent, being Tom Stoppard and all, and the acting was decent (although it did seem to take the actors 10 minutes or so of being on stage before acting properly), but I wasn’t massively keen on some of the stage direction. However, what really annoyed me, as usual, was “other people”. The problem with going to see student theatre is that the audience have a vested interest in appearing to enjoy themselves – that is to say, they want to support their friends, and they obviously take some genuine extra enjoyment out of seeing someone they know act like someone else. However, this leads to all sorts of overacting in the audience – for example, the dude sitting in front of me laughed in the most affected way imaginable, at the most inappropriate times, which was pretty irritating.
Tonight Heather and I are going to see Belle and Sebastian, with full orchestra. I’m really excited – I think I’ve only ever been to one sit down gig before, which was one of the first gigs I ever attended (RHCP), and it was completely lame (which may have had something to do with it being RHCP). However, I think sitting down will really suit the music and the experience, plus years of going to gigs has somewhat jaded me to the appeal of standing for hours and jumping up and down.
Portrait of Tristan Tzara (one of the characters in Travesties and a founder of Dada) by Lajos Tihanyi, 1927:
