FALK!

Because he's Columbo, that's why!

Fringe Film Fun

This past week found Karibe and I taking a couple of different filmmaking events. On Monday, we took in the latest tour of the Gadabout Traveling Film Festival at the Tin Ceiling. Gadabout is organized and presented by Eric Ayotte. He travels the world with his own unique brand of DIY short films, music, and art presented an eclectic group he has met and befriended over the years. This was our third encounter with the Gadabout, though the first two were at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. The quality of films were across the spectrum, but there were several great documentaries, Jack Daniels' commercials with new voiceovers, and a few pieces from founder Ayotte's 31 films in 31 days campaign. Giddy with excitement over next year's tour, I made contact with Ayotte the next day through Myspace and proposed staging Gadabout in conjunction with the St. Louis International Film Festival in 2009. Ayotte was equally excited and hopes to be able to collaborate next year as well.

On Friday, we took in a screening of "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" at the Way Out Club. This film is very gratuitous for the time of production, but definitely pales in comparison to some of director Russ Meyer's later exploitation films. Meyer is the predecessor to such boob-crazed or exploitation directors as Andy Sidaris and Lloyd Kaufman. Pussycat presents a weird and frenetic critique of America circa the 1950s. It presents a backlash against suburbia and the expectations of both men and women. It questions the standards of sex while at the same time celebrating the female figure. It's a great stash of innuendo, quips, and quotes - most notably "Oh, you're cute... like a velvet glove cast in iron." The film is notable because it pushes the envelope, obviously through the very revealing outfits and suggestive camera work, but also because of it's characters' anti-stereotypical roles. It may be generally consumed now as fodder equivalent to that of Miss Buffalo Chip, but the ladies depicted in the film are as likely to give a guy a fist of full tit as they are to give a face full of fist.

Mean Skills

My pal, Jerry, is a graphic designer. He works with his sister and their business has launched a new website. Check out his sweet creation!

Very fun...

Click the pic for more.

Very cool...

Click the pic for more.

Cool Covers

Daniel Clowes is probably best known in mainstream media as the creator of Ghost World, but he's one of the kings in the indie comics scene. I've selected the cover of Eightball #23 because it contains such stark awesomeness. The story contained therein is about Death Ray, a hero who defies convention.

Be Careful Out There

What Shapes A Young Brian Spath?

This shaped my young psyche more than anything I can remember.

Safe for Work

The Beast Man Cometh

Work continues on the video for "Jason and the Beast."  It's taxing and frustrating, but also a lot of fun.  Here's a sneak peak at the arduous work:

Safe for Work

From the mind of James Gunn (and his brothers) and starring Malcolm Reynolds. Notice the wicked, horselike bridge on the female star.

I'm glad I own my home (and fixed at a low rate for 30 years)...

Thanks to Thomas Crone.

Cool Covers

This is the first in an ongoing series featuring my favorite comic book covers from my personal collection. As such, I'll only be able to post images of covers that I could pull out of a box and show you at my house, but since I don't want you at my house you'll have to settle for seeing a picture down below. First up is Wolverine #59 from 1992. Yep, I was ten years old when I first read this issue and it's still a fave in my mind today. Note the "Terminator" reference, which I didn't understand for another couple of years.

What Shapes A Young Brian Spath?

J-Pop!

Thanks, old school Luby!

Be careful out there...

My great, bestest pal Dave

It's funny what the internet can turn up sometimes. Dave Callahan, the sexy and creative half of Meatloaf Productions, graduated from Webster University in 2004, but he has been a ham his entire life.

Here's an article from Webster's alumni newsletter, Scan.

SCAN highlights School of Communications alumni who recently landed jobs in their field. David Callahan (BA, Video Production, 2004) is a video producer for the St. Louis Science Center …

You can read the full article here.

It's Friday!

Let's rejoice for it is the end of the working week which brings the fruits of the weekend! Sorry to all those suckers out there who have to work (but wait, so do I for volunteer registration will not operate by itself!). Will this weekend match the pace from the last? Kara and I hit two art openings on Friday - first at Star Clipper then for our good pal Mister Ben. On Saturday we took in the Benton Park Chalk Art Fair and then headed to KDub's neice's birthday party. Sunday was inline hockey action followed by a casual evening at home. That evening, however, should have been interrupted by grocery shopping and my stomach is still feeling the painful effects of our laziness. Alas, it is Friday and that means good tidings. Since it is Friday, here is a picture of the great Tom Selleck.

He has a 'stache you just wanna cuddle up in!

A Pox on Jimmy John's!

Lunch today - a Turkey Tom from Jimmy John's, minus alfalfa sprouts, plus cheese. They got the cheese portion right. I hate alfalfa sprouts. It's like eating grass. It's like the old days of baling hay - except in my mouth. It makes me feel like I am putting hay into my mouth.

Alfalfa:

Hay: I taste a conspiracy brewed by Jimmy John's!

No luck is better than bad luck...

From the AP (MINDEN, Nev.):
Clint Malarchuk, the former NHL goalie best known for having his jugular vein slashed by a skate in a 1989 game with Buffalo, is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the chin with a rifle.

Wife Christy told sheriff’s deputies that the .22-caliber rifle discharged after her husband placed the butt on the ground between his legs. He had been shooting rabbits.

The 47-year-old former player, now a goalie coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was flown by helicopter to a Reno hospital for treatment Tuesday.

“Our concern is with Clint and his well being,” the Blue Jackets said Thursday. “We are optimistic that he will have a full recovery very soon.”

Sucking at the teat of the Hollywood Beast...

This is Rin Tin Tin.

This is a crazy Texan.

For the whole story, listen here.

Bonafide Bad Ass

Just a cool picture.

My cousin is a psycho*...

Stemming from a forwarded email...

Dude, if the Baptists said they were going to kill us and destroy our economy. I would get the dissenting fucks on the chopping block. But the Baptists or whoever would take it upon themselves and decide to get the ones with in their religion that was bad. Bad is blowing up your young men with bombs strapped to their chests so they can kill innocent people that are not in a war zone,ANd then you pay the family for their sacrifice, and tell everyone God wants it. No Muslim group or groups have risen up in dissent and pointed to the terrorists in US. We still allow Mosques to be built in peace. See by Dax's house. You cannot even have a bible in most Islamic countries. Religion is a Zionist belief system. Force is the only thing they understand. OBAMA is a Muslim. I would not elect a Baptist to be President even if he was now a Muslim if the Baptists wanted us dead. Fucking Christian, My ass. Rev. Wright is a prick. God Damn America is what he said. Fuck you ya veteran jackass. Please pass this on to anyone you want. I hope I am wrong. Obama is the Antichrist. Times are going to get bad. If everyone would see how much we have been given and how dangerous repression disguised as political correctness is, we would have a chance. You cannot fight an enemy while trying not to offend him with bad table manners. Since when do Muslims have more rights than Anarchists. I could not start and Anarchist school in NY. How about a recruitment center for the study of Fascism. Why do women have to wear Burkas. They are beaten for being raped. No not a generalization. Look it up.

Example: It was ok to be a Nazi before WWII. We met wiht them. Signed treaties, agreements. Chamberlain.look it up. They said ok. We smiled. Then we were attacked. Some said oh don't do it they may get angry. Some wanted Joe Kennedy as Prez. He liked the Nazi's. Dick. The Nazi's aren't bad. No they just burned up Humans in Furnaces that were masked as Showers. So after the war Nazi's were bad.They should have been removed earlier. Why did we not do it? Let's see................Fucking table manners. Millions of people could have been saved. Some see evil, some deny evil, some embrace it, some are apathetic. What are you Brian? I would give anything to be wrong. All this comes from a drug addicted-crazy, who is a member of the largest Anarchist organization in the world. NA.Love Fuck all the Bush Arguments, Wake up he is not running Love, DaxBy the way, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly rule. Hannity is a fascist but has a good point or two. Savage is a Nut bar but has a good point or two, like the Baby boomers caused all this with their free love Bullshit.

*but he means well.

What Shapes A Young(er) Brian Spath?

I was in my late teens when I was first exposed to "Cowboy Bebop," but that doesn't make it any less impressionable or influential. That opening is just so damn good I had to post it.

Poly Sigh

This clip is slightly funny, but reminds me a lot of the Squigglevision styles of "Dr. Katz," "Science Court," and "Home Movies." Man, I miss "Science Court."

Thanks to Thomas Crone.

You've got issues.

Through various internet bouncing, I saw a reference to Bobby McFerrin, which reminded me of a "Don't worry, be happy" shirt I had when I was 6 or 7. This lead me to think about another shirt I had when I was 18. I grifted it from my dad, who was no longer able to fit into it (it was his when he was 18) and it had been left to sit in a dresser in a semi-used bedroom. This shirt was orange and awesome and fit so beautifully. It also happened to be adorned with a NY Mets logo (or maybe it just said New York Mets). Damn, that shirt was sweet. This shirt later landed in the hands of girl I semi-dated in high school. After the nuclear fallout, she asked if I wanted it back(in addition to a too awesome to describe vintage Adidas jacket). I said no. What the Hell was I thinking? The combo of the shirt and jacket together was mind boggling and either alone was enough to make me the hippest dressed dude in 1978. I don't have many regrets, or maybe I have regrets all the time, or maybe I don't care enough to realize I should regret something, but to this day I hate the fact that I didn't just take those two articles of clothing back. If I had it to do all over again, I most certainly would. I don't care about the results of a failed high school relationship, but I am constantly haunted by the ghosts of those clothes.

On the "To Buy" list

David Heatley's new work "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down" looks awesome. Two chapters, Sex History and Black History, seem like they need to be read multiple times.

WTF?

Why? Why does Lego Princess Leia have cleavage?

October

There are many things I like about October. The transition into autumn colors. The end of the baseball season. The beginning of the hockey season and outdoor skating. Most importantly, the end of the month brings Halloween. I really like costumes and props and Halloween always presents a great opportunity to shop temporary holiday shops - especially in November when everything is on sale. Karibe is a huge fan of Halloween and I think that has made it a lot more fun for me, being able to enjoy it with someone. Especially when that person is into macabre masks.