Cysfilm

A Separation

I just got home from the theater – I saw A Separation. It’s the best film I’ve seen this year, when it was over I actually kissed my fingers and looked toward the sky to acknowledge the film gods. I know being over earnest is a shortcoming but this is for real, the finger kissing I mean. The trailer makes it look more like a melodrama than it is. Behold a giant of a director: Asghar Farhari. A GIANT I say.

I’m still absorbing it so I don’t really think I should write about it but I do have one thought to share: If Italian Neo-Realism was born out of the collapse of Fascist Italy during the Italian Spring in the mid 1940′s than maybe there’s reason to hope much more work like A Separation will emerge (and be recognized) from the Middle East in the next decade? I really hope so.

(IN)VISIBLE PROJECT at University of San Diego

There’s a great photo project that’s on display at USD right now. The (IN)VISIBLE PROJECT is a self-contained gallery space for a photo project shot by Bear Guerra. It combines beautiful black+white portraits of local homeless people with audio recordings of the subjects telling their stories.

This kind of thing done poorly would be a one-note bummerfest/exploitation but Bear’s take weaves a diverse set of stories together in a way that’s illuminating and like any good art – provokes recognition. In my case – a recognition that the homeless population is extremely diverse in itself as are the causes of homelessness. Like many people, my interactions with homeless people are limited to fleeting moments of uncomfortable eye contact at intersections and little more. The show was a nice opportunity for me to think a little deeper.

I helped Bear set the show up last Sunday. Toward the end of the day I found my inner voice chattering non-stop about homelessness – something I’m personally very afraid of. So much of it seems to be just bad luck. One man in the exhibit, a ship worker, tells his story – he was transferred to SD by his company then laid off six months later without enough money to get home. He didn’t have family that could help him. It took so little?

I’ve had the idea for a while now that life is much more like Plinko than I would like to admit and listening to these stories partly confirmed that. The randomness, the unexpected intervention of bad luck into these people’s lives is frightening. If the world really is that random, and I believe it is – then we need a great deal of help from one another. And that unfortunately is an idea we individualistic Americans are not well invested in.

On the surface the (IN)VISIBLE PROJECT is a meditation of one city’s homeless population but beneath that I think it’s also a look at the downside of a core American value – that we are individuals responsible only for ourselves. The up side is that we’re allowed to claim all of our successes as self manifested – but if we fail, we fail alone. There are reams of American artists who’ve studied the loneliness implicit in these values but Edward Hopper comes to my mind first (you could argue that his figurative paintings are not studies of people but the spaces between people). If you’ve never been alone or lonely then you’ve never been American.

Check out the show, it’s free and will be up for another week.

The maps

Casual Friday

A guilty pleasure for your friday.



Third Man Records | Myspace Music Videos

Feltron Virus

It’s weird how the mind/body thing works. I got a cold yesterday and as it was bearing down I made the mistake of looking at the Feltron blog. His design work is so trick it sent my brain on the same journey my body was on. Inspiration sometimes feels like a sickness – damn you Feltron for making me want to learn code! The video is an in/out bump that I used processor to generate the lines for, so the work flow goes: processor – photoshop – final cut. I wanted to freshen up my little end bump at the end of videos, which is weird because I haven’t made anything new to park this on. Maybe this is a first step. The picture below it is my mouse path(s) while I made it, which also kinda looks like a sickness. I’m going outside for the rest of the day!

If you want to record your mousepath like this here’s the ap: http://iographica.com/

Bush League at Third Goal IFF

Just back from Columbia, Missouri where Bush League headlined the Third Goal Int Film Fest at the University of Missouri. What a community of the people we met there – no joke, Columbia has got something really special going on. Let me say thanks one more time to the Third Goal Int Film Fest, The Central Missouri RPCV group and Columbia Access Television for bringing Jake, the film and myself out to be part of it.
Here’s Jake and I with a few of the RPCVs who organized the festival:

And the audience greeting the people back in Malawi in Chitumbuka:

A Few More

A couple more shots from Saturday night, I took some pictures of my friend Freerk from the Netherlands:

Saturday Night Photos

Just a few photos of my friend Latanya taken last night. I need to shoot more, I love it.

Bush League at the Third Goal Int. Film Fest

From a scorching hot San Diego (it’s January?) I’m happy to report that Bush League will headline this year’s Third Goal Int. Film Fest in Columbia, MO. Jake Wilson who is featured in the film and myself will join the Central Missouri Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group who put the fest together for the screening Feb 4th.

It will be my first time in Missouri and I will be doing everything I can to summon the spirit of my all time fave – Mark Twain. Is anyone in San Diego free on Feb 4th? I have a picket fence that needs some paint.

Student Photos from Irvine Valley College

I’ve been teaching still photo at Irvine Valley College for a year now and wanted to share a few of the student shots from last semester. As the new semester begins, it’s nice to take a sec to look back at last semester’s work. There’s a lot of talent out there.

SOPA/PIPA and Senator Feinstein’s Letter

The Motion Picture Association of America is the villain in the SOPA story right now (it’s also the org that rates movies (violence ok, sex not ok)) but I can’t help but wonder about all the U.S. government agencies that were hammered by wikileaks and their stake in this. I wrote to Senator Feinstein a few weeks ago expressing my concern about SOPA and was disappointed to receive the following response:

I received your letter expressing opposition to the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act,” commonly known as the “PROTECT IP Act.” I appreciate knowing your views on this matter.

The “PROTECT IP Act” (S. 968) gives both copyright and trademark owners and the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to take action against websites that are “dedicated to infringing activities.” These are websites that have “no significant use other than engaging in, enabling, or facilitating” copyright infringement, the sale of goods with a counterfeit trademark, or the evasion of technological measures designed to protect against copying.

The bill does not violate First Amendment rights to free speech because copyright piracy is not speech.

America’s copyright industry is an important economic engine, and I believe copyright owners should be able to prevent their works from being illegally duplicated and stolen. The protection of intellectual property is particularly vital to California’s thriving film, music, and high-technology industries.

I understand you have concerns about the “PROTECT IP Act.” While I voted in favor of this bill when it was before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have also been working with California high-technology businesses to improve the bill and to address the concerns of high-tech businesses, public interest groups and others. I recognize the bill needs further changes to prevent it from imposing undue burdens on legitimate businesses and activities, and I will be working to make the improvements, either by working with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) or through amendments on the Senate floor.

On May 26, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the “PROTECT IP Act” for consideration by the full Senate. Please know I will keep your concerns and thoughts in mind should the Senate proceed to a vote on this legislation. As you may be aware, Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has introduced similar legislation, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (H.R. 3261), in the House of Representatives.

Once again, thank you for sharing your views. I hope you will continue to keep me informed on issues of importance to you. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.

Wishing you a happy 2012.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator