Traveling with "The Fall" (Tarsem Singh)

Last night, we watched the movie The Fall, (available for instant view on Netflix) by director Tarsem Singh. Tarsem (as he calls himself) has created many ads and music videos ("Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. is his) as well as two spectacular films, The Cell and The Fall.

Adam Howarth, who has also worked on many commercials and films, played a major role in realizing Tarsem's vision by making things blow up, creating building models, and making many of the spectacular costumes, working with reknowned costume designer Eiko Ishioka, including this amazing horned headdress.

Howarth's photos on Flickr are all wonderful, and the set from the shoot is breathtakingly beautiful, giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of a movie that was made entirely on location in some of the most spectacular landscapes and structures in the world. Here is his Flickr Set, published under the name of his company Siam Eye. In these photos, you can see some of the amazing details of costumes, building models, and many of the stunt doubles, actors, local people and sights during the filming.


I wanted to know where all the scenes were filmed, and found this wonderful site where someone who shared my desire has compiled a detailed list with still photos. Thanks, to blogger ally for helping us travel vicariously!


For another vision by Tarsem that incorporates many of the elements he expanded in the film, here is a video he did for the French duo Deep Forest (Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet), who mixed a vocal from the Solomon Islands with their own production. The original video, shown on MTV in 1994, can be viewed on his website's reel, but this remake adds much more to the "around the world" dream. In both this video and the film, a young girl's dream vision guides us through the imagining and creation of a voyage around the world.

All movie stills used in this post are available for download at the movie website.

Book piracy in Perú: a talk by Daniel Alarcón.

via zunguzungu, I came across this absolutely fascinating talk on UCTV (the University of California's ten-year old educational television channel--and a rich resource!) by novelist Daniel Alarcón on book piracy in Perú. As he describes it, it is one manifestation of the much larger phenomenon of piracy of all kinds of media and documents. What is significant is that he is describing a thriving business in print piracy, not electronic piracy. Without an understanding of this vigorous economic black market in printed books, those making international laws about internet sharing, copyright, file-sharing, and piracy are only seeing a very small part of the problem of how artists can survive as artists. He raises many important points about who is buying, who is selling, who is profiting, and why this should be especially problematic in Perú.

A print version of this talk, "Life Among the Pirates" was published in Granta earlier this year. I highly recommend either viewing the video or reading the article. Here is UCTV's description. You can download the talk under a Creative Commons license.

"Daniel Alarcón is the Associate Editor of Etiqueta Negra, an award-winning monthly magazine published in his native Lima, Peru, and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Latin America Studies at UC Berkeley. In 2007, the journal Granta named Alarcón one of the Best Young American Novelists. Series: Story Hour in the Library [5/2010] [Humanities] [Show ID: 18506]"

Christmas in Crookston

We spent the holiday up north in Crookston with family. The day after Christmas, the sun came out.

We walked across the way to have a little something at Dave and Ida's place.

Although it wasn't super cold, about 5 degrees above zero, the moisture-filled air had covered the trees with hoar-frost.

It looked as if the trees were in bloom.

winter hike at the farm

Last Sunday, the sun was out, the wind had died down, and we went out on a hike around the Northfield farm. Two people had snowmobile suits on, two others had on snowshoes, and we struck out on a trail that had been broken by winter campers the day before. We reached the spot in the woods where a giant tree had fallen.

We tried out the sled, but the snow was too fluffy to get very far, so we left it behind.

These snowshoes, on the other hand, made the walk easier. I had never used snowshoes before! I think I need to find a place in Minneapolis where I can try them out.

There were lots of signs of life: tracks in the snow, and this fungus on trees:

Felices Fiestas/Happy New Year to all!

Dear family and friends,
the seasons change; our children grow; but our love for you remains constant. May the coming year bring you health, peace, and joy!
momo/Joanna

'Romance de la luna, luna'

In honor of the lunar eclipse on the solstice, here is a poem about the moon by Federic García Lorca, "Romance de la luna, luna."

Camarón de la Isla sings, with Tomatito on the guitar:

La luna vino a la fragua
con su polisón de nardos.
El niño la mira mira.
El niño la está mirando.
En el aire conmovido
mueve la luna sus brazos
y enseña, lúbrica y pura,
sus senos de duro estaño.
Huye luna, luna, luna.
Si vinieran los gitanos,
harían con tu corazón
collares y anillos blancos.
Niño, déjame que baile.
Cuando vengan los gitanos,
te encontrarán sobre el yunque
con los ojillos cerrados.

Huye luna, luna, luna,
que ya siento sus caballos.
Níno, déjame, no pises
mi blancor almidonado.

El jinete se acercaba
tocando el tambor del llano
Dentro de la fragua el niño,
tiene los ojos cerrados.

Por el olivar venían,
bronce y sueño, los gitanos.
Las cabezas levantadas
y los ojos entornados.

¡Cómo canta la zumaya,
ay cómo canta en el árbol!
Por el cielo va la luna
con un niño de la mano.

Dentro de la fragua lloran,
dando gritos, los gitanos.
El aire la vela, vela.
El aire la está velando.

The return of Privilege Denying Dude, the meme that cannot be denied.

There is a meme generator. One of the memes is "Privilege Denying Dude." Apparently, the guy whose picture was in the stock photo that used to be called PDD complained and got it pulled. His image should now be called "the stock image model formerly know as PDD." And the Tumblr Blog of that name had to take down the images. So sad! But the very generous edman (who is really very sweet and not a PDD at all!) contributed his very own likeness, with (as he says) his "most smug face" and volunteered it to become the NEW FACE of Privilege Denying Dude. To which I say, Rock On, Edman!
Here's what he says in his post:

Also, at the top is a downloadable template, so you ladies and gentlemen can run wild with it should you see fit.

Note: I do not endorse the words of Privilege Denying Dude in any way. A long time ago in a land far away, I was that dude. Sometimes arguing with said Dudes can be a terribly frustrating experience, and the only thing a sane person is left with is the ability to throw their hands in the air and laugh. Since I’m a cis-gendered, white, heterosexual male, I don’t really think I’m very qualified to jump into the “feminist conversation” proper, so instead, I offer my support for the cause, and my smug face for a good laugh.

Thank you, edman, thank you!

The Rose Ensemble

Last night I had the very great pleasure of attending a performance by The Rose Ensemble, and extremely talented and accomplished choral group that specializes in authentic performances of rare choral music from around the world. What a delight! They were performing Spanish villancicos, songs associated with Christmas, from the Early Modern (Renaissance) period. A few were in Latin, but most were in Castilian. My friend Barbara had done many of the translations for the program. Each of the singers is impressive as a soloist, and together they brought impeccable balance, warmth, and attention to accuracy in the pronunciation of the language to their performance.
The group has won the right to represent the United States in the World Symposium on Choral Music next year in Argentina.If you have a chance to see them perform, don't miss it!

Embracing winter, MN style!

via@NewsCut aka Bob Collins on MPR, two of the best Minnesota winter sports videos I have ever seen!

Now where is that video of the guys

Remedy for the sads

Yesterday I faced one of the tougher situations I've ever had to deal with as a teacher. I won't go into the details because I don't talk about my students on this blog, but let's just say that I think I handled it OK, but it left me feeling profoundly sad for all involved and really disappointed in myself for not having seen the warning signs more clearly. I did the best I could yesterday, but I'm spending some time in the next few weeks trying to figure out what I could have done differently or better, even though I recognize that when people behave badly, sometimes there is nothing I can do to prevent it.

To cheer myself up as I head into my grading marathon, I'm sharing with you these amazing parrot videos. The bird is Lolita, and her friend peachy525 has clearly taught her well, starting with the simplest of songs, and building up to more complicated ones. ("you forgot "gently down the stream!") Lolita even freestyles at the end, clearly a happy and well-loved bird.

Then.. there is this: Lolita's rendition of the alternative metal band Drowning Pool's "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor"-- a song that gets used for a lot of youtube remixes. The vocal is by Dave Williams, the band's first singer, who died of heart disease after the first album was released. Lolita's version is going viral even as we speak. my favorite part? the way "nothing's wrong with me" seems to change to "nothing cockatoo" LOL!

There. I feel better now.

Cool data visualization

Does anyone remember being thrilled in that scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise manipulates streams of data with hand gestures? This is even better because it's real. One of a series of cool data visualizations I'll be exploring over the winter break. The story being told here is also fascinating. How many other ways could this data be broken down and displayed?
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Cablegate for Dummies

Sometimes we have to laugh so we don't cry. This is one of those times. Most of the horrible things that have been confirmed by the wikileaks cable publications have either been suspected or already reported by expert analysts: the torture, the perversions of justice, the abuse of power in pursuit of maintaining US/international capital's hegemony. But a salutory effect of the publication is the confirmation of these stories. Now it is up to the traditional press to stop being complicit in the cover-up, as they have been for decades, of stories they have suppressed or ignored.

Blizzard People! December 10, 2010

I'm so glad that Blas and Loren arrived home from Spain safely on Friday night before the blizzard arrived. There were safe at home the next day while it snowed and blew and busted the roof of the Metrodome. Many epic tales of digging out cars and shoveling were told the next day, as we woke up to a blue sky and frigid temperatures.

Snowpocalypse? Snomaggedon? SnOMG? This year's fun label/Twitter hashtag was #blizzardpeople, and lots of jokes were made about how our local weather celebrity, Paul Douglas, was vindicated in his projections of snowfall, after people mocked him for making us all worry about icy death (with reason) during our Thanksgiving travel.

But someone named galina put together this mashup of video footage with a great song about Minnesota blizzards.

Brother Ali made a blizzard rap last year. The New Standards do a version of "Snow Days" (originally recorded by Trip Shakespeare, bassist John Munson's group).

No equal: Aretha Franklin

At the age of 14! singing "Precious Lord." The voice is a gift.



Think (Freedom) high quality sound:

Just a few years ago, in 2005, with her own health problems, she sang Amazing Grace for the funeral of Luther Vandros. Her voice is a shadow of what it was, but her spirit is indomitable.

Happy birthday, Little Richard!

Richard Wayne Penniman was born today in 1932. A gospel singer since he was a child, he began performing professionally at 16. His sound made the transition between "jump blues" (like this classic 1953 "Little Richard's Boogie" with Johnnie Otis's band) and what would later become rock and roll. I like this early song because it is about food.

His first commercial success was"Tutti Frutti" but only after the lyrics had been cleaned up for radio. He would have 16 hits between 1955-57, including 7 number one songs. Musically, he has been one of the most influential artists, the originator and the idol of a host of musicians. White artists such as Elvis, Bill Haley, Pat Boone covered his songs in the fifties, but unlike so many other black musicians of the time, he himself achieved tremendous success with his own music early on, if not the recognition and awards he deserved. Before Jerry Lee Lewis, there was Little Richard doing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"

His charismatic performances had formerly segregated white and black fans dancing together, inspiring a racist backlash, but not enough to keep people away. But throughout his life, he would experience conflict between his wildly hedonistic side and his religious beliefs; while on an international tour, after a series of deaths among his family and friends, he renounced secular music for gospel, and returned to study for the ministry. A few years later in 1962, when invited to tour England where his records were still hits, he began to perform some of his secular songs again, to frenzied fan reactions.
Here he is performing "Rip it Up" on an English TV show with a great local backing band honking a baritone sax.

The Stones were on his tour, and were in awe of his effect on the crowds. For a while, the young Jimi Hendrix played with his band. Here is Little Richard performing with his disciple Tom Jones on Jones' TV special.

He was successful again, and recorded some great soul influenced songs, like "Freedom Blues" but his drinking, drugging and partying led to a crisis moment when he was threatened with a gun by a friend over a drug debt. He retreated again from rock into religion, and for a while said that he could not reconcile the two. Thankfully, he became able to enjoy a balance in his life that has allowed him to continue performing, and to enjoy the awards and recognition he deserves to this day.
He has performed and recorded, contributing to movie and TV soundtracks, guest-starring a himself in a number of shows, and raising money a great deal of money for charities with his children's recordings. He also continues to be a minister.
In 1994, he participated in this tribute to the great gospel singer Marion Williams, along with Billy Preston and the divine Aretha Franklin:



And I will also love this classic, the theme song to The Magic School Bus ("rock the river of lava1"):

Dance dance

Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart: taking the time to really listen

Two quite brilliant people talk at length, with humor and intellectual rigor, about how they understand politics, media, comedy, and their own roles. They don't always agree, but they are not afraid to disagree and talk it out. Yes, it is possible.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

History lessons as earworms

I bow down before the "historyteachers" YouTube channel! Their original lyrics give history lessons, set to popular songs, and combine their love of dress-up with clips from films to make learning fun. There are 47 as of now, and they are history teaching gold.
Some are tongue-in-cheek like this lesson on prehistoric anthropology to Britney Spear's "Toxic."

Others are oddly gripping like this lesson on the Vikings set to "Personal Jesus"("And when we expire we set our boats on fire")


I like how they the Canturbury Tales to the tune of "California Dreaming," and included a recitation in Middle English!


The Lady Gaga "Revolution in France" vid has received the most views, I think ('Bread bread bread, off with her head!") but I really like this one about the Odyssey.