Author Archives: Cimaxion

Rolling Stones: Doom and Gloom

by Cimaxion

The Rolling Stones need none of my help selling anything, but damn I like what they do in this single! This is some Rock. I love reading the lyrics in the video because they are so damn good. They punch and drawl and leer with all of Jagger’s wit and silk-tempered vitriol. The man is a goddam world treasure and we shall never see his like again. If you can, go see this band play. It is like a bolt of lightening. Nobody does it better.

Alan Watts Drones on About Doing What You Want

by Cimaxion

The late Alan Watts makes a rather pedantic speech about doing what you love. He’s probably right, but most of his skill is in making something boring sound really good. And his advice only works for the wealthy. Everybody else can just forget everything this man ever said.

Secret Recording of NYPD Stop and Frisk Assault on Teenager

by Cimaxion

 
This short documentary contains the only known secret recording of New York City police conducting a “stop and frisk” for absolutely no reason other than simple harassment. The audio is both illuminating and terrifying because it makes clear that the officers have no respect for the rights of citizens. They simply want to fulfill their quotas and impress their bosses. They shove, threaten, mock and restrain this teenager in Harlem, but he's recording them all the while on his cell phone – which is legal in New York! Congratulations to him for the excellent work and for bearing up well against the brute force of criminal cops.
 
The film, directed by Ross Tuttle, goes on to interview some actual NYPD cops about how unpleasant the stop and frisk policy is and how it makes the police hunt civilians. It is my opinion that populations need to turn against police departments that are clearly veering out of control. In New York, every stop and frisk should result in an immediate mob scene that gets out of control within moments. Police should be surrounded and isolated by large groups of New Yorkers. Sudden and total shutdowns of police harassment by large mobs will be an extreme problem for the police. It's called resistance and it works. If a police officer wants to stop and frisk someone for no reason, they should draw a crowd. If the courts can't stop this nonsense, people will.
 
That’s my opinion on how to treat these cops in New York.
 

 

The Live Streaming Supersonic Freefall From Space

by Cimaxion

Red Bull is a drink company that I always associate with a general low-brow, trailer trash sort of existence. Chances are if you are drinking Red Bull you are an abject fool in a tank top. Maybe you’ve got a tattoo right at the top part of your ass. You’re just a lumbering primate who thinks they need some extra energy. Okay? Deal with it.

But this former Air Force parachutist is preparing to jump out of a balloon capsule from 23 miles up wearing a pressurized suit that will allow him to survive a supersonic fall from the edge of space. That’s pretty interesting because you just have to wonder if he will make it in one piece. Can a person re-enter earth’s atmosphere from space? I’m sure one can. I enjoy this little advertising film for the live stream of the jump. Hopefully, the stream will actually show us something in the next few days since inclement weather has so far delayed the jumper, Felix Baumgartner.

The live stream of the Stratos jump will be here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zDxLl-qDy1A#!

Masters of Photography: Diane Arbus

by Cimaxion

This 1972 documentary on the brilliant photographer Diane Arbus contains her own words which turn out to be quite possibly some of the most penetrating observations and comments about the art of photography that one will ever hear. She says she never takes a photograph that she intended. She says what a photograph is of is more important than what it is.

 

Grand Central: Animation by Fred Aujas

by Cimaxion

Okay, I have no idea what this is but it was submitted to my Vimeo short films group and I like it. It has a goofy look and it just makes me laugh even though it’s in French. It actually appears to be the work of a graphic designer named Fred Aujas. Here is how his web site describes this little film:

Outrageously Ferocious and vulgar !
A trashy animated series worthy of the great grindhouse films of the 70s.

I mean seriously this thing should just go straight through to a full-blown TV series. Right now.

The artist has a very cool web site.

The Quixotic Videos of Steve Roden

by Cimaxion

Artbound produced this short documentary video about artist and video-maker Steve Roden whose recent work has taken inspiration from composer John Cage, philosopher Walter Benjamin and choreographer Martha Graham.

The artist says,

I think failure is one of the most important things you have as a maker because that’s when you learn the most and you realize what you want. It’s not just about doing something bitchin’.

Artbound has an article about the artist’s recent exhibition.

Aelita Queen of Mars: First Russian Science Fiction Film 1924

by Cimaxion

This is regarded as being the first Soviet science fiction film. Made in 1924, it’s an operatic scenario involving a mysterious radio signal sent toward earth, a scientist who builds a spaceship to get to the red planet only to find a totalitarian state, and a dictator’s daughter who wants to lead a revolution. There’s even a hammer and sickle to go along with the establishment of a socialist republic on Mars.

The film combines outlandish stage scenery representing Mars with the gritty streets and factories of Moscow. There’s some really beautiful photography and truly absurd costumes throughout.

Directed By Yakov Protozoan
Written By Aleksei Fajko and Fyodor Otsep
Based On A Play By Aleksei Tolstoy

All six parts of the film can be seen in this YouTube playlist.

Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? 1970 Disney Driver Education Film

by Cimaxion

 
 
Disney produced this amazingly good drivers education film in 1970. It is one of those cheerfully playful experiments with common avant-garde techniques that were so much a part of seventies culture because of shows like Sesame Street. The filmmaking is generally quite good and sometimes even approaches brilliance. I've been working vaguely and lazily on a new film about cars and Los Angeles and I'm quite prepared to lift some things right out of this film or at least use it as a template for commenting on car culture in this great throbbing fast lane metropolis.
 
Kurt Russell of ham acting fame gives the narration and he's actually good, playing the young man in school who is about to go for his driving test and qualify for the license to kill that will get him lots of action as long as he looks out for little girls chasing big red balls into the street.
 
Enjoy a trip through Los Angeles of yesteryear and remember that cars just work better out here.
 
 

Death in Syria – How Global Post’s Tracey Shelton Captured Her Iconic War Images

by Cimaxion

Tracey Shelton, a photojournalist working for Global Post was on the Syrian civil war front lines in the city of Aleppo, covering a group of rebel fighters who were manning a barricade position. She was using a Canon 7D DSLR camera to take video as the fighters prepared for the possible approach of some tanks. They were caught unprepared and her camera captured the moment when they were killed by a tank shell. The resulting images have become some of the most direct examples of just how suddenly death can come in war. They are a shocking reminder of war’s brutality. The bravery she must have to sneak around those streets with only a camera to defend herself from snipers, tanks and rocket propelled grenades is astounding. I think I would simply put my camera away and run.

DSLR News Shooter has an in-depth article about the photographer.

The photo of Tracey Shelton is by Niklas Meltio.

The original video of the terrible moment in a short documentary is shown here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJh67GjjPI

Here is an interview with the photojournalist about how she got her images:

http://vimeo.com/49395813