“Maledict Car” – Jemapur

Glimpses of Tokyo at night, kaleidoscopically manipulated and set to an electronic track. Visually very cool.

Kondou Akino – 『電車かもしれない』

One of her student works from 2002. Interesting song by Chiku Toshiaki (知久寿焼).

(from TokyoMango)

Decepticons x Lucky Star

/jaw drop

Moe Deceptions… @_@

You can watch the original Lucky Star OP sequence here.

Reading without rhythm – 24/4/08

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Thanks TokyoMango!

– Vom leisen Inferno der Depression und von der Unheimlichkeit des Glücks.

– Vantan gets a sneak preview of the Peranakan Museum. The museum occupies the old Tao Nan school building at Armenian Street, next to The Substation.

– PingMag pays homage to Tony Silver, one of the first to identify and capture the anarchic spirit of graffiti culture on film in the 1984 Style Wars. When he went back to interview the same kids in 2003:

The reunion was different for each person. Some of them had succeeded as artists while others regretted what they had done in the past. But every single one of the kids Silver had captured in the early ’80s on his 16mm film were radiant and the filmmaker who shared that moment might have been one of the first few adults to deeply understand hip-hop culture.

– It’s nice that Newater’s winning prizes, but maybe we should learn from how the Aussies conserve water?

– Omodaka, responsible for the infectious Kokoriko Bushi video, has more music videos up on YouTube.

What is OMODAKA?
OMODAKA is the name of the project developed through a trial and error process of mutational fusion of music and motion graphics. It will knock over your existing image toward a music video by a beautiful trajectory.

OMODAKA って何？
音楽とモーション・グラフィックスの突然変異的融合を試行錯誤してきた企画の名前それ が OMODAKA。あなたのミュージックビデオに対する既存イメージを美しい軌跡でひっ くり返します。

– SFS is screening Manufactured Landscapes this Saturday afternoon (details here), and Sight and Sound has a review.

– Ok, we know Makhmalbaf, Kiarostami, Majidi, Abbas, (does Satrapi count? viz. Persepolis) But who’s Rakhshan Bani-Etemad?

Internationally, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is a directors’ director, loved by the dedicated and the educated. At home, she is a godmother of Iranian cinema who has been working for two decades and whose films are hits even as they critique Iran’s paternalism. Her work deserves to be seen abroad because she addresses many of the questions which western Europe and America have, not only about living in an Islamic state but also about the individuality and identity of all women who live under anti-woman regimes.

– In criticising religion, atheists don’t have a good explanation of why religion is still so pervasive. They seem to have ignored its narrative power, as Mark Dery argues:

Arguably, this is because it’s not about God; rather, religion is simply the only philosophical (or, if you will, mythic) language available to some Americans to articulate their discontent and their visions of social change. The Dawkins/Hitchens question—What’s wrong with religion?—is far less illuminating than the question they might have asked: What are American evangelicals really talking about when they talk about religion?

The Diary of Tortov Roddle (或る旅人の日記)

According to the Anime News Network:

Follow Tortov as he journeys through very surreal, magical, picturesque landscapes, meeting interesting characters and circumstances on the way. Accompanied by his long-legged pig friend, Tortov takes us on an on-going adventure of peaceful contemplation.

A bit surreal. The pig-steed that Roddle rides looks like it came from The Temptation of St. Anthony.

Episode 1 is here:

Year of the Rat

Year of the Rat by Badly Drawn Boy

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone.

Kokiriko Bushi

Too good not to post.

From Pink Tentacle (via How The World Works, Ectoplasmosis etc).

Everyone loves Evangelion

(found at JapanSugoi)

A Litany of Complaints

(If you haven’t heard of the Complaints Choir Project yet, just watch the following clip.)

The Project’s coming to Singapore, and looking for Singaporeans.

The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2008
presents

THE COMPLAINTS CHOIR PROJECT
by TELLERVO KALLEINEN & OLIVER KOCHTA-KALLEINEN (FINLAND)

(co-presented with The Arts House)

WORKSHOPS FROM 07.01.08 – 25.01.08
THE CHAMBER @ THE ARTS HOUSE
BY REGISTRATION

PERFORMANCES FROM 26.01.08 – 27.01.08
VARIOUS VENUES
FREE

http://www.singaporefringe.com
http://www.complaintschoir.org

“…. griping and whining were the fifth most cited essential traits
of a Singaporean. ”
– The Straits Times, 12 August 2007

A spectre is haunting the world – the spectre of the Complaints Choir. People all over the world – in Helsinki, Birmingham, Jerusalem or Alaska – have joined together to sing out their complaints with fellow citizens. No complaint is too big or small: from broken underpants to snoring husbands to offices with Siberian temperatures, the choir members decide on their favourite gripes that will be made into the song.

Join the Complaints Choir of Singapore – see our call for participants here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/singaporefringefest/video/x34kfw_the-complaints-choir- project-call-f

The movement has finally arrived in Singapore. This is your opportunity to show our uniquely Singaporean complaint culture. Come and join the Complaints Choir of Singapore! Show your pride for our infamous complaint culture and sing, Singapore! Anybody is welcome – no singing skills required.

For more information or to register, please email info@singaporefringe.com or call us at 6440 8115.

Get involved.

Aside from the formation of and performances by the Singapore Complaints Choir, all four Complaints Choir Videos – Helsinki, Birmingham, Hamburg and St Petersburg – will be showcased as a 2-channel video installation at The Art House Gallery from 13 – 18 January and 20 – 23 January 2008. Admission is free.

Pot calling the kettle black

This is possibly the worst kind of social reformer — the one who adopts the very tactics she condemns in the pursuit of some “greater good”.

(from The Thought Kitchen)