Mexico City: Urban Art

I dont mean to get all political on you but I like this image. Its from an awesome Urban Art Blog from Mexico. My motherland.

PhotoBlog: Me Gusta

Only in Seattle would I find a book of drawing on a light post... I was walking up to Bauhaus to get my coffee before work when I came across this cute little book. Each page says "Me Gusta"(I like) on it with a drawing depicting what it is they "gusta" (like).

The paper was crisp and thick and the material used to color the white pages was waxy on my finger tips as I flipped through it snapping photos and wondering what it could mean. I imagined everyone behind me in the coffee house thinking I was lame for being amused by this.

I would normally not want to stick out as the guy on the corner shooting photos but I thought this was really neat and decided to set my insecurities aside. I wondered if maybe it was something for Maurice Allen who lost his life after being shot near that very corner on Friday night.

It might be something deep, beyond my understanding. It might be an art project someone didnt care about and tacked up on a light post to be funny. It might be in remembrance of a lost life...who knows! But I like it and was pleased to have ran across it this morning. Me Gusta.

Film Review: No Country for Old Men

In preparation for Gay City's Annual Oscar Party I am attempting to watch most if not all of the nominated films. I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly earlier this week and tonight I had the awkward pleasure of watching No Country For Old Men.

This was the one film I was hesitating to see for fear that it would be glorifying of senseless violence and possibly overrated. I have never been much a fan of those types of films and have passed up many an Academy Award winning movie for the same reason. Javier Bardem is one of my favorite actors so deciding whether I was going to do this was tough. After arriving too late for a screening of Atonement my fate was set and I sucked it up and bought a ticket for Country. I was nervous, but I was glad I was getting it over with.

The shots of the desert landscape brought me back to Arizona and growing up in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweeds, old trucks, plaid shirts, farmers tans and strong willed old men like my Father. I was quickly drawn in and longed for spring in the desert back home riding alongside my dad in his dusty old truck. Back to the fil- The story takes place in Texas where a hitman, Anton Chigurh played by Bardem, is hunting down a brief case with several million dollars in it. I say hunting because he kills just about every person he comes across on his way to this cash. The chase begins when Llewelyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin runs into a massacre as a result of a bad drug transaction and takes the money and leaving one of the rug dealers to die in the desert. Plagues by guilt over the man he left to die he returns to the scene in the middle of the night where he narrowly escapes being killed by more drug dealers. He goes on the run with the money not realizing there is a tracking device in the suitcase that Anton is following.

Javier Bardem was perfect for this role. He played it real and allowed you too look past him and see his character. Too often these roles are played by Hollywood pretty boys and audiences cant get past the Collin Farell or Will Smith on the screen. Bardem is handsome, with a great presence and manages to play a man you dont sympathize with but at the same time, who you cant bring yourself to hate.

Tommy Lee Jones has impressed me a lot lately with some of this film selections. Sure he always plays the cop, but he pulls it off different every time. People think of him in terms of The Fugative while I relate him to The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, another great film. Jones was the background of the story but also its narrator and the character that brings sense to the plot and helps to clarify some of the underlying themes.

Jones plays a Sheriff at the end of his rope with the direction of society and finds it hard to understand why his world is heading into such dark violence and despair. The fact the the story takes place in the early 80's really makes one think about his concerns then and the world we live in now. At one point all of the characters have their moments of being chased and of being the chasers. All of the characters seem to be equally involved in the story but dont share too much camera time together. The Coen Brothers manage to make rural Texas beautiful.

The film isnt heavy on music, it uses acting and the camera to set the tone. Its dry yet emotional. Violent but hopeful.

It ends rather unresolved but leaving you with a real understanding of the world we live in. It does not romanticize anything by drawing conclusions or a happily ever after.

I love Javier Bardem more than ever and am surprised Tommy Lee Jones was not nominated for this. although he was nominated for In the Valley of Ellah. I, of course, recommend this film. Its not one of those you'll want to watch over and over again but it is definitely one you will be glad you experienced.

See it.

the photo is from a sunset back home.

PhotoBlog: Pipes

PhotoBlog: Looking Out From Someplace Warm

It was so hard to get out this morning when I would look out the window and see this. I think its snow or some slushy form of snow. I decided to strap on my boots and head out anyway.

I have been at Bauhaus for about 3 hours taking in the city from this table by the window. I can people watch here all day. I love seeing the people walk up and down the streets. Days like today are a special treat because its cold and I love checking out how people layer for the temperature. I realize that a lot of us prefer more fashinable clothes than the warmer less attractive options. Its also worth mentioning that I will never understand how smokers can keep up with standing out in the sidewalk in freezing weather for a smoke. I guess if I were hooked I might relate but I am too much of a wuss and would find the weather reason enough to quit. Cancer just wouldnt be enough.

I like to take photos out in the city but with the cold today we will just have to settle for shots taken from my table at Bauhaus.

PhotoBlog: Sunday Evening Walk on Pike

Astronaut.



Window Display @ Square Room



No More Sugar. Sweet.



Round Corner Tile @ Cafe Vita



Comet.

I want this coat

I want this jacket. Marc by Marc Jacobs. Picture from Altamira NYC.

PhotoBlog: Sunday Stroll-January 27

Pine Phonebooth.



Ice on 11th.



Every sidewalk should look like this.



I had never noticed this place on Union.



Zapatos.



There is Waldo.

PhotoBlog: Not Today.

PhotoBlog: Shots from Jan 24th.

From an Alley on the Hill



Window display at Area 51



Above Area 51



Post on Pine



Post on Pine



Le Froc on Pine

PhotoBlog: Le Scaphandre et le Papillon

I decided quite early today that I wanted to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I love having a theater like The Egyptian in my hood and watching movies there is always so much more enjoyable than other large generic multiplexes. I was determines to see it whether boyfriend would see it with me or not. Luckily, he agreed and we attended the 9:30 screening...

Theaters like The Egyptian always make biased towards the movies I see in them. How can you not enjoy the movie if you are walking into this classic space created solely for the purpose of sitting back and enjoying something on film.

In the dark, with a bunch of strangers.
It also helps that I refuse to see anything that I dont truly want to see.

The Diving Bell got my attention because it was directed by Julian Schnabel who also directed one of my all time favorite films Before Night Falls. Diving Bell is based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby was editor of Elle in France but after suffering a stroke ended up suffering from "locked in" syndrome leaving him paralyzed from head to toe.

His only way to communicate was through blinking his left eye. With his new form of expression he worked with a publisher he had a pre-stroke contract with and wrote this beautiful memoir.

The life he describes in the book that is so beautifully put on film intertwines his memories, his past, his present and his thoughts on where he was and where he is.

Jean-Dominique Bauby died just a few days after the book was published in 1997.

I thought a great deal about how I felt about this movie and as drastic as it may be... I dont think I have ever seen a movie more beautiful.

Here is this man who was a Parisian socialite, rich, successful and editor of a leading fashion magazine. Not exactly the kind of person I would ever feel a connection with but I cant imagine a harder challenge than the one before him. Overcoming self despair and hopelessness to maticulessly write a novel from the depths of his consciousness unable to express it by any conventional means.

He hang around long enough to give us this beautiful story. I have not read the book, but I will buy it this weekend. I am excited to read it after having seen the film. I did not want the show to end but I hope the book will allow me some more time to get to know this guy.

If you have not seen it. Do. Let me know what you think.

In the meantime... check out the trailer:

film photos not mine.

blogazar.com on Not For Tourists

NFT is an awesome resource for major US cities and the people who inhabit them. I am the only link in the "Esoterica" section for Seattle :)

I am honored to be liked.

Check it http://www.notfortourists.com/UltimateWebIndex.aspx?city=SE&catID=11

Kenneth Cole Downtown is G-O-N-E.

Kenneth Cole is gone. At least when I walked by on Monday it was dead inside. Everything was thrown around and hand-written signs saying "everything is out!"- The staff had obviously had a bad couple of days because they were RUDE. I guess I would be rude if I were out of a job too. People were scouring through all of the left over merchandise but at that point the majority was crap. I did manage to buy a really cute sweater down from 98 to 30... so it worked out well for me.

So I guess it is happening. Kenny Cole is out and H&M is in ! Score! Its soooo close my house. I will never lack fun underwear again. I am still bummed we will all be wearing similar versions of the same outfit... but alas a cute deal is a cute deal.

As for Kenneth Cole... Who's gonna miss them?! You can just buy him at a department store.

PhotoBlog: January 24th 2008

I felt like taking pictures this morning but I didnt have time to wander around so I took some alleys on my usual route but I didnt find much that I was interested in shooting. These three below are the ones I liked. Nothing special. I love my hood though.

PhotoBlog: The Day Heath Ledger Died

A police car was hit crossing the intersection a block from my place and one of the vehicles ended up in the building. The street was closed most of the night and police lights flashed through our blinds all night. On my way to Bauhaus this morning I decided to take the route that would take me right by the building so I can see all the terrible damage. It wasnt that terrible. The only somewhat dramatic thing about it was that it also crashed into scaffolding around the building. The fist 2 pics below are of the scene of the accident. oooh. Read the PI Story here.

What a deceiving day. It was so sunny and blue skies everywhere. I was fooled into thinking the sun would keep me warm and that the day would be a good one. Instead it was actually freezing. The puddles here and there were frozen over. The cold in the shade wad numbing. My "me time "at Bauhaus was cut short because I had to head to work early... all of this and Heath Ledger is dead! Ugh. What a crappy day. I love me some Heath Ledger especially because he kept it real and lived in Brooklyn. I am trying to not read the news about it because I dont "really" him... I dont want to get too emotionally involved. This is the last time I will mention it. Promise.