Author Archives: Editor

Bob Dylan Drives a Big Stinky SUV

by Editor

I didn’t realize that Bob Dylan meant his exhaust fumes were blowin’ in the wind. Check out this ridiculous Cadillac commercial featuring a leather-fetishist ersatz-cowboy Bob Dylan driving a huge honking stinky earth-eating Cadillac Escalade right through the big red heart of America. Sometimes a guy does something so damned dumb that you just have to say a few words about it. Look, if you need ten bucks for a cab ride, Mr. Dylan, come on over to the house and I’ll give it to you. Get out of the bloody Escalade and drop the silly cowboy costume. Escalades are for short people who can’t read.

Honestly, I really can’t stand finding out how dumb famous people are.

Animation: The Forest

by Editor

David Scharf made this lovely animated film called The Forest. A young girl uses her imagination in a world that doesn’t fit her well. She resists being drawn into the ordinary life she sees around her for as long as she can.

The animation is beautiful and the film has a dark, smokey look. It’s a story told simply and with a delicate touch.

I found this via my favorite film site, No fat clips!!!

First Sci-Fi Film: A Trip to the Moon

by Editor

Today is the 107th anniversary of the first science fiction film ever made, A Trip to the Moon. It was directed in France by Georges Méliès who had been inspired by the novels From Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, and by The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells.  This is the film with the famous image of the spaceship landing in the eye of the moon’s face.

Giacometti Painting a Portrait

by Editor

GiacomettiThe Rumpus has short article by Julie Greicius about her favorite book by biographer James Lord who recently passed away.  His book, A Giacometti Portrait, chronicles the effort by Alberto Giacometti to paint a portrait of Mr. Lord.  The work goes on for days with the artist constantly destroying the previous day’s work and starting over.

Here’s a quote from her article:

Lord exposed how much destruction was necessary—at least for Giacometti—to the process of creation. He also captured the complexity of the relationship between artist and subject.

Harvey Pekar Making Web Comics

by Editor

PekarProjectI don’t think there is a more significant American comic book writer than Harvey Pekar.  Now he is making comics on the web.  Smith Magazine offers the first installment of what promises to be a series.  It’s called The Pekar Project.

The first story is Pekar & Crumb: Talkin’ ’bout Art.  It’s drawn by Tara Seibel.

This might be the best thing on the web today.

Animator Nina Paley Releases Source Files for Sita Sings the Blues

by Editor

Animator Nina Paley, who single-handedly made the feature film, Sita Sings the Blues, has released all of the Flash animation source files (.fla files) that make up the entire film.  She’s giving away the building-blocks of the entire film!  That’s like a traditional animator giving you all the drawings.  Paley has given the files a Creative Commons License which means animators can use her art and animation techniques in full or in pieces for their own projects as long as she is credited.

Sita Sings the Blues is a musical, animated personal interpretation of the Indian epic the Ramayana.