Found Poem: James Joyce - Contents

James Joyce. The man, the myth, the legend. The man whose beer we're bound to hold forever. I have a rich history with James Joyce. Back in 2012 my favorite method of merciless smothering of huge chunks of time was translating his poems from "Chamber Music" into ukrainian just because i could. And i did it over and over again. Because reasons. It was an interesting period of my life. I was full of artistic ambitions and desperate to break into the literary world. Which manifested itself in behaving like a moron and saying bad things to people who had better things to do than deal with me. I got better later. 

"Chamber Music" caught my attention after spending summer translating Ezra Pound's "Lustra". This thing never really turned out into a legit book but the experience served as a crash test in poetry writing. Ezra taught me a lot of tricks. But I felt bad about messing up the translations and so i thought it would be a good idea to try Joyce. Secretly i felt the need to punish myself. And so i was spending evening after evening trying to do legit translations.

It went nowhere in the end. While i've finished first round of translations - i never went back to revise and edit them. I just didn't cared. Not that it was particularly disappointing experience. I just felt that something was off in me and that prevented me from truly engaging with material. The resulting translations were cold and detached - nothing like those tender, gentle verses you can find in "Chamber Music". It was more related to Gertrude Stein than Joyce and that really bugged me. 

After a year gap i came back to Joyce and finally started to read "Finnegans Wake" (it was my third attempts, the other two were in 2006 and 2010 respectively). It was transforming experience. It helped me to understand how to compose text without falling back on tried and tested tricks. Two years later i did a little mash-up of "Finnegans Wake" thunderwords with various screenshots of Futurama through Morbotron. 

And now this:

This my found poem. It is a table of contents for "Chamber Music" as presented by Monoskop' "Collected Writings". Seeing it was a gut punch. I immediately felt the need to screencap it. You know that feeling: "This is the thing". It reminded me the works of Erica Baum, "Card Catalogues" series in particular. Erica Baum is a great master of recontextualization of the things that are not meant to be pondered upon. In her work she tries to reveal hidden narratives, rhythms in the systems of references. 

The resulting poem is a memorial of the world it was disconnected from. Every number meant to lead to a certain place. But now it is stripped of its function and left on its own. In that way - it is a conceptual piece in a Fluxus vein. It is hollow inside. That is void is toxic. It creates certain kind of tintinabullation. It is unbearable nothing. On its own it is "every picture tells a story". Just like Louis Aragon "Suicide" it intentionally omits the any notion of comprehension and instead plays in pulling fingers while holding breath and trying not to smile. That makes this found poem so special.

Bil Sabab Power Hour: Robert Palmer - Drive (2003)

"Drive" is unjustly forgotten record. It is an album by the great late Robert Palmer released in 2003. It his last album, he sadly passed away the same year. Nevertheless, "Drive" is a dark sheep in his discography. Unlike his signature carribbean-tinged blue-eyed soul of the 70s and tacky 80's rocco-waka-waka-bossa-nova-from-hell-rock - "Drive" is barebones hard-edged no holds barred old-school blues album with nuclear levels of cool just because. A bit of a sharp departure from bland near-anonymous adult contemporary of the previous album.

BSPH: Neil Cicierega / Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away Lyrics

"Fly Away Lyrics" is a reinvention of a Lenny Kravitz song "Fly Away" executed (with extreme prejudice) in 2014 by digital media extraordinaire Neil Cicierega. In its original form "Fly Away" was catchy but user-friendly cocky, arrogant pop-/-rock-ish dancehall bow-wow-wow. "Fly Away Lyrics" turns it inside out and a little bit backwards and gives it Frank Zappa / Captain Beefheart spin.

Neil Cicierega manages to pull a neat trick with keeping the balance and changing right amount of elements while leaving song relatively recognizable but fundamentally different in the same time. On a surface "Fly Away Lyrics" is barely differs from "Fly Away". But the more it goes - more wrong it feels and more bizarre and off-putting it gets.

Changes in music are subtle. Instead of richly detailed sonic tapestry of the verses Cicierega took more straightforward breaks and put chunks of lyrics on top of it. Beat subtly stumbles time after time and the repetitive nature of arrangement plays up the surreal feel.

Lyrics are the main subject of changes. Technically what Neil Cicireiga did is a cut-up. Words are reconfingured into a mishmash that builds increasingly surreal narrative of Lenny wanting to fly away just like a dragonfly and having certain kind of complicated feelings towards Milky Way chocolate bars while longing to consume the sun. Lenny Kravitz' seductive delivery gives it additional layer of oddness.

MFT: Frank Miller - The Chase

Here's a little rarity for your delight. I've found this story while gazing through selections of Pilote and Charlie on a comics-related blog.

"The Chase" is a shortstory by Frank Miller. It was published in great french magazine Pilote (home of Valerian and Laureline) in 1988. It means that this story is one of the earliest glimpses of Frank Miller's post Batman stylistic shift that culminated in the early nineties with Sin City. The lines are getting more erratic and in the same time static, contrast is amped up to eleven. Narrative is minimized and told mostly through action. The way panels are matched is snappy and clearly punctuated. Stylistically it is firmly in a hard boiled noir vein with thick shadows of hard-edged expressionism coupled with wordless novels of the 1930s.  

Google Translate Oddity 1: Mongolian to Russian / Ukrainian

I have mixed feeling for Google Translate as a translation tool. I don't like it. Very much. To be honest - i hate it. It is uncapable of adequate translation. I'd rather surf the dictionary than copypaste the text in this wastebin and get some distorted monstrocity that will make things needlessly awkward and strained.

But on the other hand - it is actually very useful for creative activities. You can use it to write poetry with rather twisted spin on language. You can take one word and look up what it means on various language. And then jump onto synonym translation from another language. And the whole thing will transform into vacuous monstrocity with glimpses of unexpected beauty. 

My Favorite Things: Judge Dredd Megazine PSA

There are so many great things you can find in Judge Dredd Megazine. Good stories, even better art, some additional feature, astounding dumbfounding adverts, perilous layouts, superflous content, manic kneejerks, effervescent tearjerkers, questionable design choices, sinister pacing shifts which make you feel like a ball in a pinball machine. It is so diverse and so exciting as overall experience even such trifles as public service announcement seem to be sublime. 

Here is one public service announcement series about throwing gum around:

BSPH: Moby - Face It

"Face It" is a song by Moby. It was released in 1996 on an album "Animal Rights". Nobody cares about this song. It is strange - this is the album Moby himself is proud of and yet it is so obscure. It came from a difficult time when Moby was battling personal problems and going through family issues. This comes through every song on the record. In some way "Face It" is a vertical slice showcase of "Animal Rights" - it combines brutal thrashing and haunting calm, pushes you through the thick fog of hopelessness and despair pierced by vicious screams.

"Face It" is long and somewhat meandering song that goes places and hits hard when comes around. It is very visceral sonically unusual and raw emotional song from a man who built his career on melodramatic and sentimental tunes. It is a highlight of "Animal Rights". Structurally "Face It" consists of five parts. It is a rollercoaster song. It begins with quiet guitar strumming where Moby declares the initial state of things. It may seem pretentious at first sight but the way it is delivered is genuinely sincere. Lyrics are about a burn-out described in a form of creepy abusive relationship. You can't go on as if nothing happened without breaking yourself and so you need to face the facts, get over it and move on - slowly but surely.

Then things explode with heavily distorted, monotonous solid rocking bone crushing thundering dutch angle stomp. The beat is so crushing it is more like the waves crashing on the wall than regular 4x4. Moby screams the hell out of himself - just as Tears for Fears prescribed. Then things take a little U-Turn with a tender tickling fuzz solo backed by dreamy pads - it feels like a breath of fresh air. But then we back to the ugly part which pummels into submission once again. This evolves into another solo. This time it is fuzzed to the treble sizzling hiss and is more in style of Joe Satriani if he was part of Faith No More. It is goes down - descends into the parts murky. It is really effective in telling the songs story - desperate, long and winding process of "getting through" or "facing it". This bit easily fits right after piano coda of "Epic". However in the end it just goes nowhere. After bludgioning ears with sipping noise - the song just halts and phases out of an arrangement leaving the drums to go on for some time before stopping. After that we get another gulp of ambient feedback noises and that's it.

It is obvious that on "Face It" Moby tried to pull off the "Fugazi maneuver" of making tight knot seem to be loose knit. But for some reason he purposefully missed the mark and went into bizarro-version of Weezer "Pinkerton" instead. Which is in turn performed with a tenacity of a Weird Al Yankovic style parody. And all this happens with a relatively straight face. It is too much. And that is why "Face It" works. While other songs on "Animal Rights" suffer from various stages of underwriting and lack of polish - "Face It" strikes a perfect balance between jam-like wandering and raw "anything goes" blow-off.

BSPH: Paz Lenchantin perfroms Venus in Furs

There are things that can fascinate no matter how many times you get back to them. They never get old. For me - it is this performance of "Venus in Furs" by Paz Lenchantin. You may know her from a stint in A Perfect Circle (she was famously putting her hair in a bun in a video for "Judith") and recent Pixies reunion among other things. Those who dig deeper may know her as a vital part of great The Entrance Band where she is truly a standout performer. But she is also very capable as a solo artist. What makes her special is that she doesn't mess around - she is just doing it -  in a particularly Laurie Anderson no-bullshit manner.

Velvet Underground's evergreen "Venus in Furs" is part of Paz Lenchantin repertoire. This particular performance was recorded on November (to dismember) 9th 2014 at McCabe's during "Tropic of Cancer Tribute". Paz Lenchantin does it completely on her own. It is fascinating to watch how Paz Lenchantin methodically builds the song from ground up. She plays every instrument - bit by bit. Puts pieces into the sampler and constructs arrangement as it goes. She starts with layering violin drones, then adds a bassline, then adds a little violin solo before strumming songs chords and adding John Cale's signature violin slide swipes. Then she turns the violin backwards sits down and starts pounding on it in a Maureen Tucker way - adding a stomping beat. After that the song instrumentation is full and she starts to perform the song with her funny tambourine. After initial pair of verses she goes into frantic and chaotic violin solo. Then goes back to the verse-chorus part and breaks down into another solo bout.

The way Paz Lenchantin performs "Venus in Furs" puts it in a different perspective. Instead of being a readymade brick thrown into the ear - the song brews, gradually grows and evolves and strays here and there. Something that is usually lacking from polished studio recordings or rehearsed live concerts.

MFT: Marvin Minsky's Useless Machine (includes Duel)

"Useless Machine" is a term for a mechanism that has certain function but is lacking any kind of purpose. Aside from driving metal thrashing mad by its utter unmitigated pointlessness that is basically an encounter with the null and void in its purest form and waste of shame in the same time. Deep inside "Useless Machine" seems to be proud of being wholly useless. Because "reasons". Sometimes it happens that way. "Useless machines" exist because "why not" is actual legitimate cause for action with rather impressive track record. And that is what makes it great.

The most infamous design of "Useless machine" was created by one and only Marvin Minsky. He was a man with a particular set of skills who had a taste in conceptual jokes of strange and fertile kind. While working at Bell Labs in the 50s he hanged out with another legend - Claude Shannon. Together they thought of all sorts of fantastic gadgets - all while constantly trying to one up each other with more out-there concepts. One day Minsky came up with the ultimate fantastic gadget - "most stupid machine of them all". For a while it was just a description but then Claude Shannon made one and it was a highlight of his desk. It was freaking out and irritating people as nothing else.

Marvin Minsky's "Useless Machine" is mindbogglingly simple and brilliant thing. It is just a little box with a switch. When you flip the switch on - hand comes out of the box and turns the switch off. Upon doing that the hand goes back into the box. You can turn it on again and it will repeat the same pattern. The way it functions is charming. As if it was saying "Nope!". You may think it messes with you and transmits "Take That!" of sorts - but it is just bluntly doing what it is designed to do. Best kind of toy for your kitten - you know what it mean. 

Technically "Useless Machine" is an example of so-called Zen Engineering AKA engineer trolling. It is built on paradox - it follows the command which is merely refusing to function at all. It is a showcase of transcendental possibilities of particularly pointless process. Basically - koan by design. It happens and that is it. It provokes sacramental "great doubt" and makes you think about it. It takes times. It involves. But since there is nothing really to think about - after brief feeling of being lost in the sea of nil you start to think about anything else. "Useless Machine" is like a physical manifestation of hitting a roadblock and getting a hard reboot. You can't beat it. But you can take it easy and enjoy slightly. For example you can turn it on until the battery runs out and record the sound of this dubious process - that's will be hell of a lowercase record. Or you can elaborate further.

Here's a video of Useless Machines Dueling each other. It is beautiful. It shows actual clash of the mechanisms who only want to turn themselves off. Truly pointless but ultimately astoundingly entertaining. Machines are placed back to back and fixed. There is a latch set on both switches. Once turned on machines start to switch themselves off but they also move the latch and so machines are turning each other on once again and so they try to turn themselves off on and on and on - until one of the machines kicks the latch of the switch and stops the whole thing.

Watching it makes you feel like a child - it is a trifle but it makes life a little bit brighter.

BSPH: The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Canonize Philip K Dick, OK?

By the way - "Blade Runner 2049" is no good. It looks nice, got some chops here and there - but it is much like "Terminator: Salvation" - completely unncecessary film that would've fared much better if treated like a thing of its own. Why don't you just adapt the novel properly? As it is - "Blade Runner 2049" is an extra episode of "Total Recall 2070". And this is the nicest thing i can say about it. Anyway...



"Canonize Philip K. Dick, OK?" is a song by Brooklyn circus punk cabaret outfit The World/Inferno Friendship Society. It was released in 2011 on an album titled "The Anarchy and The Ecstasy". It is a simple and relatively straightforward song that serves as a primer on some of the central ideas of seminal american science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick packed with an infectious hook and intriguing interludes.

For some mysterious reason it is not widely talked about even though it is one of the highlights of The World/Inferno Friendship Society repertoire. It is short and snappy song that radiates with joyful "to hell with it" attitude and gives no damn whether you care about it or not.

Seriously Strange: Boxzum Accidental Pixel Calligraphy

I have a soft spot for old games from my childhood. Games like - StarCraft (best game ever, no contest), Undying, Total Annihilation, Diablo, Hexen-Heretic, Crusader, Moto Racer X, Little Big Adventure, Fallout, Karmageddon... They all appeared in a right time when i was really looking for some intense experiences. I still feel the influence of those games in my own stuff - they shaped the way i perceive things and understand the inner workings of certain elements. For example, level designer from Moto Racer X really helped me to understand the importance of intuitive level design the hard way. Or Doom Total Conversion packs showed that you can use the fundamental mechanics and take them into very different direction. Back in the day - there was this outlaw Frontier feel to game design - something that is now polished and adjusted and stinks like WWE. Also - nostalgia of some sorts. That's why i'm using ClassicReload to tame my thirst for the old stuff.

Today I was trying to find Warcraft 2. Because the gameplay music makes you play harder. Love that feeling. And my search was erratic for some reason. I guess it was all because i was using a different browser with VPN - search engine results were giving me creeps.

And then i stumbled upon BOXZUM. And it was rude kind of glorious.

Boxzum is a Snake-like game for DOS. As far as i can understand - you need to fight against two other snakes. Initial sessions were complete failure or triumph of hilarity. I had no idea what the player needed to do in order to make progress. I was stumbling in first seconds of every bout. Quick search gave me zero information on the subject. But i've grown without manuals - so i wasn't running scared - i've continued to play it while being completely out of context - because that's what real gamers do (bahahahaha).

Soon i've found out that BOXZUM makes rather curious patterns. And so i decided to make more of those patterns - instead of actually trying to beat the game. Sometimes it happens that way. Because you take more than the game gives.

This resulted in a series of patterns that you can view below. Some of them are simplistic, other seem to be peculiar, there are also some that remind me of some cryptic asemic writing. Anyway - it was fun to do.

BSPH: Moby - Thousand

Listening to Moby may be really encouraging. When not sentimental - he's sparkling with great ideas and goes way beyond reason. "Thousand" is one such things. It is a very special track from Moby. Its gimmick is that it is a composition with the fastest tempo in beats-per-minute - aforementioned 1000. In some way it is rather sly adaptation of certain ideas from JG Ballard's "Crash". The whole thing seems to be moving on the highway - trying to break the fabric of reality and break on through to the other side.

"Thousand" is very simple and effective composition. It starts off with a menacing dark ambient procedural two-tone melody. It dark and hot. There is distinct ecstatic howl piecing through the thick heat. Then enters the beat. It is relatively slow but steady and intimidating. Tempo amps up and the whole thing starts to turn around faster and faster and faster and faster before losing any recognizable features and turning into a drab streak blazing through space. The beat of "Thousand" is grinding, crunching, thrashing. chatterton lawnmower shuffle. It is accompanied with sampled ecstatic vocalize. The howl phases in and out. As the beat intensifies - so does the howl. It circles around the beat. Then the whole thing stops. As if the beat went off the cliff full speed. Another howl goes off hanging in the middle of nowhere. The beat comes back limping and battered. It slows down a bit and drags, almost falls apart. Then it gets itself together, hulks up and once again goes faster, faster, faster, faster. Sampled howls are chopped and flanged into a siren-like lash. It is disorienting and can go on forever. Then music smashes against the padded cell wall and sticks to the surface while the sampled howl break off and flies away so far and fast it burn out succumbing to the null of conclusion. 

"Thousand" is one of the earliest examples of glorious genre called Extratone. What it is? This term is used to describe music that is played so fast that the beat blends into one indistinguishable tone thus the title "Extratone". Stylistically it is natural evolution of digital hardcore and grindcore. Empirically is like getting a shot of tornado. Everything whirls and swishes. No matter how hard you try - it is always fun to listen to extratone. You always get the feeling that the events around you are happening so fast you are unable to catch any glimpse and instead just keep getting very abstract nauseating roundabout. 

There is also another way to listen "Thousand" - backwards. That transforms it into a Wagnerian vacuum cleaner massacre in a manner of Lovecraftian Gainax dies irae / wrath of god. It sucks everything in with a swagger of a black hole and leaves tintinabulation of the void tickling far side of the clapper. It is truly terrifying that way.

MFT: Poetry Threats - NSA Magnet Words Poems

Poetry Threats was a site where you could make some fancy poems out of strange and terrible and probably dangerous keywords previously courtesy of NSA. It was programmed by Tim Grover, true patriot of his country with some elaborate swagger and definitely some mousse moose style. The story goes like that: following the fallout of "that Snowden thing" Department of Homeland Security (who seemed like legit Men in Black at that point) was forced to release a list of so-called "Threat words" keywords that they were using in monitoring of social media activity. 

The said list was long and winding and unintentionally rather awkwardly poetic - not by design but because of lack of context. You need to understand the significance of the event. Giving up your set of keywords is one of the harshest things to do if you are in SEO-SMM business - it is like shooting yourself in the foot. But down is the new up - they feel much better now. And we have their old list of keywords.

Tim Grover decided to make it work the other way around. Thus Poetry Threats was brought in this pitiful world of pain and misery. Grover repurposed that dank list of threatworks and incorporated it into a site where you can turn those sad and stubborn word structures into works of hapless poetry. Why? Because why not. Harry Crosby used Wall Street reports and Tom Lehrer was singing out periodic table. Keywords are no different. The question lies in the execution.

Poetry Threats was designed as a simple magnet word table. Because that makes the whole thing even more ridiculous. The whole concept of magnet word poetry is counterintuitive and incredibly addictive. The process of making a poem is very simple. You have random generated sequence from of the list of "threat words". You can drag the ones you like to the white board. There is set of supplementary words and symbols to make the text more coherent. You can overly parts of words with one another to make some modifications of plain gibberish. Number of words is extremely limited but that isn't much of the problem. Bizarre nature of words and its combinations are making up any vocabulary limits. You can't make "nice" poem out of Poetry Threats. You can make dank monstrocity that will die moments later simply because it is not really capable of existing. Kinda like transporter accident from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" just with words.

Here's a video demonstration of Poetry Threats in action by Tim Grover himself: 

One of the first things you realize while using Poetry Threats is that it is actually completely useless as a tool for composing poetry. There is just not enough space for plausible maneauvres. There are not enough words and you are unable to make slight changes to fit the sentences. Because of that you can only move into rather abstract and utterly inept realm where sense is usually banished just for fun. For some reason that actually manages to bring some truly apocalyptic imagery - "emergency! blizzard tsunami typhoon storm tornado outbreak", "earthquake mexico standoff", "brown out - black out - closure - burst - tremor". The more you try the funnier it gets.

I once managed to get this gem. It was actually managed to turn up in a major literary magazine:

Sadly Poetry Threats is gone and forgotten. The site is dead. But you can access fully functional archival copy of the site via Wayback Machine. 

Collaboration: Volodymyr Bilyk / Sam Roxas-Chua Onomatopoeia deathmatch

Earlier this day i've uploaded several new pieces to FB-Group "Vispo!". It was nothing really special scanographies made with some old typographic prints (dating back to 2014). Post was moderately succesful. But then one unexpected thing happened. It was because of description. I wrote: "how about some scanography romp-pom-pomp?" - this description sparked a little skirmish between me and Sam Roxas-Chua. Here is how it went:

Volodymyr Bilyk: romp-pom-pomp?
Sam Roxas-Chua: Pomp!
VB: Bomp!
SRC: Clomp!
VB: Plonk!
SRC: Flomp!
VB: Whomp
SRC: Weeeeeeeee-blomp!
VB: Whud ka-chooo
SRC: Ker-plonk!
VB: Vavoooom wah
SRC: Badomp-domp-ching!
VB: Chop zooom zap
SRC: Book-Bok-Bok!
VB: Ook! Ook, ook.
SRC: Paddy-Fat-Cat!
VB: Tofu sap pad
SRC: Choo-Loop-Flooky!
VB: Doo bop laffy taffy
SRC: This End Up!
VB: Non! Shah baa bae boo! Sha beh da bae boo! ... Ok.

I think it was fun.

MFT: Grim Fandango - Blue Casket Club Open Mic Poetry Slam

Believe it or not - poetry is not well represented in video games. I'm not talking about those throwaway "nothing special" "nice things" usually called poetry. I'm talking about those damn chunks of text that evoke something completely different - like "waiting" "rooms" and "ticket" "lines", saliva bullet suicides and Messianen' ocean tides and rash rolling cussing rye and those vavoom and vroooms and other forms boredom. There is no such thing in video games. Not even a bit. Sure, you can argue that english translations of japanese games are filled, even littered, with poetry ("All your base are belong to us", etc.) but that doesn't count. "LSD Dream Emulator" also doesn't count. Gimmick art game also don't count. Aside from neat references to the classic works of literature here and there - poetry is almost nowhere to be found in video games.

I guess it is fair to say that near non-existence of poetry in video games is justified. It is weird but you can understand why - you can't really implement it into the gameplay, it does not make much sense in terms of game mechanics in any coherent way. What function poetry will serve inside the game? Tip? Special feature? Easter egg? There is no real need to add poetry to the mix. And it is fine.

But there is one game that not only has some poetry in it - it also manages to incorporate it into narrative. Even more - it allows you to make your own.

I'm talking about one and only "Grim Fandango". (Thunderous applause ensues)

My Favorite Things: PetitTube / Underviewed

PetitTube is the best thing ever happened to YouTube since Filthy Frank. The same can be said about Underviewed. Seriously, i don't remember another occasion when i had a binge moment like that. What is PetitTube? As it says on the tin - it's the least interesting videos of YouTube carefully packaged to you at random. Underviewed is a bit different - it is all about videos with generic titles.
Because every video deserves to be viewed!

PetitTube algoritm is flatline simple - it searches for videos with minimal amount of views, collects them to the database and then plays at random through the PetitTube page. You can't do much on PetitTube site aside from watching videos. The only other options you have is to click whether you liked or disliked the video. And that's about it. You can refresh the page to eternity and then to oblivion and then to infinity and beyond and get another unseen video that will be either weird, boring or pointless - but will definitely provide you with favorite thought fodder - sacramental "why am i doing this?" (cue "Security of the first world").  

Underviewed uses different method - it searches for videos with generic default titles from cameras and mobile devices. All those "GOPR34534.MP4" and "IMG_3524.MOV" and of course "VID 10203406 211994". What are the contents of such videos? Mostly random stuff uploaded for a one-off purpose - to share a moment with your friend or record something that is important for the job.

Both PetitTube and Underviewed deliver on unexpected and unseen. But that's not all they've got.

PetitTube and Underviewed are not only extremely effective as morbid curiousity time terminator. It is also invaluable engine for inspiration. At least for me. As an artist i'm always looking for something different. PetitTube and Underviewed gave me an opportunity to get something completely unpredictable and completely alien for me. This is very inspiring in a variety of ways. 

Here's how it works. There is a narrative exercise i was taught in university - it is called apophenic sketching or as i like to call it "Kint Method". As you remember - "The Usual Suspects" is built around a "anything works" AKA "bullshit" story that was made on the fly by Verbal Kint. Apophenic Sketching is essentially this. You get whole lotta random material and need to tie it all together to a certain degree of cohesiveness in any form it works best - it can be a raw-meat collage or squeaky-mean rewrite. It needs to comprehensible though - that's the rule. This exercise really helps to get a grasp on improvisational creativity - understand the ways you can connect, explain or describe things and make sequences of seemingly unrelated things according to a specific logic. It prepares you for a moment when you need to do the thing right here right now and you have nothing to back you up and so you go berserk without such stupid things as inspiration or productive working environment (because who needs this shit anyway? It is useful because such things happen on permanent basis. 

PetitTube and Underviewed are perfectly designed for apophenic sketching. You can see so many different things for no particular reason - you will unintentionally start to see some kind of pattern. For example, I once wrote a joke outline for a short film in Ukrainian Poetic Cinema style using only PetitTube. I've sent it to my film director friend and he actually thought it was for real and wanted to produce it. Even though it was basically a non-sequitir cutaway bish-bosh mambo. I've spent more time convincing him it was a joke than i spent writing that thing. Happens. On other occasion i just recapped several videos i watched on underserved and edited it into a poem. It was very popular with editors (don't tell anybody).

Anyway - if you need a thing that will keep your mind cautious and meandering - watch PetitTube and Underviewed. Because any video can give you an idea for something. Especially when you have no idea what it is.

BSPH: Аквариум - Тибетское Танго

"Tibetan Tango" is a song by seminal russian rock band Aquarium. It was released in 1983 on the album "Radio Africa". Curiously it segues from the band most famous song "Rock And Roll is Dead" but it can't be more different. As for me - it is the best track of entire album (because i'm a smart-ass *ding). It was written by the great late Sergey Kuryokhin AKA russian equivalent of Frank Zappa. That's why it is unlike anything else you can hear on an album. 

Stylistically it is a combination of three things. First of all - it is fine showcase of Kuryokhin' composing method - which is basically "just do it". He mashes together dissonant elements into one cohesive composition effortlessly - just because. Then it is a neat throwback to the bands wilderness years of the 70's when they experimented with primitive recording technology (stuff like "Music of Public Toilets" in particular). And finally it is a warped variation of jazzy funky doo-wop dada cabaret composition styled after Talking Heads. 

The arrangement is relatively straightforward. The drums are doing solid four by four backbeat accompanied by snappy bass-line. It is extremely ambiguous. It is a little bit marching and then a little bit swinging. You can never say what it is at the moment. But it can go on forever (and would not be out of place on some Can record). 

Vocal parts are derived from tibetan chants as seen by DADAists circa Cabaret Voltaire. But there is also slight nod towards doo-wop styled vocalizes. It repeats short sound poem several times. Here's how it goes:

Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.

Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Fee

Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.

Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Fee

(and so on)

Another notable thing is how disengaged and stoic is the vocal part from the rest of a composition. It goes on its own barely regarding anything that goes on in the music as if it was taped onto instrumentals after the fact. But nevertheless it feels as natural part of the song. That's a sign of a mastery of the craft. 

After the first round of chants - nonchalant piano joins in and adds some cool. It has this drunken sway freewheeling "huzzah!" attitude. Kuryokhin plays around the bass riff but turns it upside down, makes a poker face and thousand yard stare and adds tongue-in-cheek stilted "duh" side melody. It starts to feel rather warped from that point. Apparently the melody is based on old Odessa outlaw folk song "На Дерибасовской открылася пивная" (A pub had opened on the Derybasovska).

And then Igor Butman' sax comes in and things jump into overkill mode. At first Butman simply overplays the piano melody but gradually he starts to dance around it and adds some turns and twists. Finally he double tracks himselft and delivers discordant hysteric performance that starts to push out of composition everything else. But it fades out right before things go completely out of control. 

"Tibetan Tango" is a testament of adventurous nature of underground soviet rock music of the 1980s. Aquarium was never afraid to go boldy where no one thought to go because it seemed to be  way too ridiculous. And they always managed to deliver something really special. Too bad they ran out of steam shortly afterwards. Anyway. Listen to this song and this song only and feel its off-kilter magic bounce.

BSPH: We Have Band - Watertight

"Watertight" is a song by Manchester new rave disco-rock-trio We Have Band. It was released in 2012 on their second album titled "Ternion". It is cautious and timid fast-moving, drama-filled song about faith and devotion that swells and tinges with its shadow. The narrative of "Watertight" is built like a arcade platformer. The arrangement of "Watertight" is akin to video-game sound design. Main building blocks of the song - guitar-bass-drums are littered with myriad of little sounds. That adds dynamics and progression to the song.

The male-led verses of "Watertight" are disorientingly repetitive as if the protagonist is in the hurry running towards something trying to stay focused all while avoiding edges and traps. But he reaches the breaking point which accentuated by the breakneck pace of the song - he can't go on like that for too long. Then comes female-led chorus which brings some sort of a balance. All the while the sounds around are pass-by in a kaleidoscopic manner - barely scratching the surface. And then comes a short pause and the song shifts into another gear. It sweeps away everything - back to the starting point - as if the protagonist was caught in the trap and respawned with a reversal of all the progress already made. The songs starts all over again but with acknowledgement of this failure. The tone is a bit more somber than previously. Ending chorus is presented like a distant dream - impossible to reach. The song ends with prolonged reverberation that evokes emptiness felt by the protagonist.

It's hard to talk about the bands like We Have Band because it is something you need to hear first - you will recognize the parts but overall impression will be thoroughly unique. You need to experience that first-hand in order to understand the significance of the band. We Have Band combines DIY-aesthetic with strict and crisp electro / disco rhythms packaged around tender, sensual songs. It's like disco-days Arthur Russell with a fair share of Fischerspooner and The Rapture peppered here and there. The songs and arrangement seems to be dissonant to one another - something like putting souls into the body (pardon for clumsy analogy).

But flashy arrangements are not all that We Have Band have to offer. Their songs can without them. Here's an acoustic version of "Watertight". It is stripped down but delivers the same exact emotional punch:

One of the defining features of We Have Band is focus. Structure-wise their songs don't mess around, there are no spare or repeated bits. Every verse and every chorus brings new colors and shades. And they tend to put a twist into song that puts turns it inside out or upside down. They try to do something different with every song and this results in very unusual ways of arrangement and song structure. You can listen to their songs purely to explore entanglements of arrangement.

However - despite being actually very good - We Have Band still verge in-between underground and mainstream with minimal attention from music press. I guess because "we don't need no unique music". It is unfair - because the band presents unique style that is worth exploring. We Have Band seem to take off where Fischerspooner and The Rapture once left off and over time they evolved way beyond boundaries of style. They transcended into something of their own.

Zur-En-Arrh Transmission: That yellow bastard

You know sometimes it just comes to you. I've found these yellows a couple of minutes ago and thought it would be a good idea to put them right here. After - nobody gives a fuck about this blog and this is for my vanity anyway.

Twenty three snaps of yellow. Kinda like Rothko. Only rubbish.

BSPH: Claude Channes - Mao Mao (La Chinoise)

"Mao Mao" is a song by Claude Channes recorded in 1967 and prominently featured in Jean-Luc Godard elaborately warped condemnation of political naivety titled "La Chinoise". The film is about a group of radical left students who live in a fancy apartment in Paris and prepare to do "da rhevolyuscheaun, bebe!" (earrape pun intended) because the world needs an inciting incident for changes to kick in. Over the course of the film - all they do is explain their complex reasoning to one another in increasingly bizarre ways. The points make no sense whatsoever but it is damn entertaining. As watching monkeys plays with fecalia. The whole affair ends with a whimper as they attempt to do a terrorist attack but it goes south and they retire from revolutionary activity because "nah!" and "shit!". 

Song "Mao Mao" is conveniently placed in the middle of the film as a sort of interlude. It is built around incredibly catchy hook "Ma-Oh, Ma-Oh" and is accompanied by congnitive dissonance inducing montage of red zealots hang around with other "Little Red Books". But it is not about singing praise to that infamous chinese chairman (even if you read a wiki article about him - you will think he was kinda fucking bloodlusty moron). In fact "Mao Mao"-hook got more in common with general french chanson tradition to drop some onomatopoeia to round things up. Which is a neat and affectionate punch into Mao's fuckface. Take that, bitch - you're demoted into a onomatopoeia hook! Cry now!

Musically it is overcaffeinated polka. It tries to be menacing but ends up being cute. It charges endless one-two beat amped by synchronized guitar strum while sixties "beebee" organ is stomping in the background. Channes' spitting scenery-chewing phrasing is accompanied by sax-flute combo. It tries to add scope but makes it circus-like. Middle section with "little red book that makes everything move" is styled as a lullaby. It sounds ridiculous and this is the point.   

The lyrics itself are equally scathing. It is so much tongue-in-cheek it seems like the tongues is going to protrude through the cheek. Claude Channes namedrops all sorts of bad things happening in the world all primarily concerning "military involvement of USA in Vietnam". It is built around thoughteliminating cliched noisy nothing-phrases that rounded by the hook which makes one thing clear. All that young and dashing political activists are actually doing is simply attention grabbing charging of that stupid power mantra "Ma-Oh, Ma-Oh". Because in their minds - it actually is doing something to change the state of things. Via Mysterious Ways, apparently.

"La Chinoise" studies the phenomenon of useful idiots who make right optics and some noise in the right frequency for those who are interested in spreading the infectious ideas of "reasonable alternative" further into spoiled minds of slackers. Useful idiots don't want to know the full story - they're pissed at "the system" that seemingly "abuses" them to do stuff like going to work and paying taxes. Because of that ire they are enamoured with what propaganda has to offer. And why not? It is so good - it is not like this "fucking shit" where you need to something on your own - with it you feel the care of the system and so on and so forth. Useful idiots perceive propaganda as a secret knowledge no one really understands. Sometimes they can be stupid enough to something stupid and turn their lives into living hell all while the cold, unemotive propaganda will draw them as martyrs of sorts. Russians do it all the time.

"La Chinoise" is considered to be a twisted adaptation of Fyodor Dostoesky's "The Possessed". It takes basics but everything else is Godard's own ideas. He seems to be sympathetic albeit ambiguous towards the characters. He does not show them explicitly as useful idiots - but the tone of the film tells the opposite. They are fucking stupid spoiled kids. Down with it. 

Below is another version of the song sung in italian by Gian Pieretti. The arrangement is more laidback and relaxed than original. It lacks the bite but replaces it with sincere delivery. As if it was performed by a student on a protest rally. Take a listen:

MFT: They Live - Roddy Piper vs Keith David Overlong Alley Fight Out of Context is like Harmony Korine's Fight Harm

You all know this film. "They Live" needs no introduction. It is classic 1988 action-packed speculative science fiction consumerist satire directed by one and only John Carpenter and starring Roddy Piper with Keith David as blue collars who accidentally uncover alien invasion conspiracy and attempt to expose it with ensuing rampage. Its broad stroke tongue-in-cheek critique of Reagan-era "maximum consumerism" is packaged with charismatic leads, memorable one liners and inventive action scenes. It is much-loved without another raving and drooling write-up. But i'm here for a different reason.

There is one scene in "They Live" that is always pointed out. It is five minute brawl between two leads. It is purposefully drawn out to the extreme and it serves as a turning point in the narrative. In the context of the film - it is a showcase of a breaking away from conditioning and slowly and painfully realizing the reality of the situation. Keith David's character Frank is on the same side as Roddy Piper's Nada but he's not ready to stand against the system, he wants to stay out of trouble. He doesn't want to accept rather lunatic claim that the aliens are in charge and this must be stopped. But since Frank is Nada's only friend and the only man he can trust - there are no two ways about it. Nada insists and that's why he tries to force Frank to put on the glasses, wake up from conditioning and see the real picture for himself. It's the movie's message in a nutshell.

But what if we take this scene out of context - as it is. What this scene will turn into?

Without context - it is just very long and winding street fight without much of a point. It starts on a false pretense of putting the sunglasses on. Decline ignites the conflict. Characters pummel each other excessively. They let their steam off. It is raw and sloppy. The scene intentionally avoids action film cliches - there are no theatrics, no editing magick. Camera just captures what is going on. It is a gag gone too far. It surpasses its breaking point and transcends into absurd story of vain struggle for the null and void. It starts out as a funny whoop, then turns into slightly uncomfortable mess, then it becomes tedious because of length and then disengages completely and becomes even funnier - as a gag in a silent films of Keaton and Lloyd. It starts and stops all the time, it never gains the momentum, you think it is over but then it goes another round. Ribcages are pounded, groins are kicked, heads are busted. But you catch the guys smiling on few occasions. It was a much needed relief of sorts.

This reminds me of one of the Harmony Korine's unfinished projects - "Fight Harm". And what a project it was! Back in the late 90's Harmony Korine hit an overdrive. He broke through in 1995 with the screenplay for Larry Clarke's seminal "Kids" (script for "Ken Park" was written around the same time but it got produced a little bit later - in 2002). In 1997 he released his first full-length directorial effort "Gummo" and then in 1999 he released "Julien Donkey Boy" (co-starring Werner Herzog) which was part of Dogma 95 project. Every Harmony Korine's project up to that point was tour de force - in formal and narrative ways - Korine was all about going as far as it takes just to see what will happen. But his follow-up for "Julien Donkey Boy" was envisioned to push artistry to the logical extremes.

In its core - "Fight Harm" was about Harmony Korine getting himself into the fights and getting legitimately beaten badly - because reasons. Something like "Jackass". His friend - street magician David Blaine served as a cinematographer. The idea was to blur the line between fiction and reality - reappropriate the gist of real confrontations for sake of warped comedy. Conceptually "Fight Harm" strayed from the silent film gag stunts of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton and its genuine feel of danger. "Fight Harm" took that and ingested a bit of reality in it. Harmony Korine made a set of "rules": 1. the provoked assailant must be physically bigger; 2. the provoked must strike first; 3. cameraman don't interrupt the fight unless there's life endangering situation for the lead. 

Needless to say - it ended up badly rather fast. It turned out that real fight are no athletic contests and are visually unimpressive. In addition to that - Harmony Korine got roughen up by the bouncer. With a legit concussion and broken ankle Korine abandoned the project and started to get his life together. Now "Fight Harm" is nothing more than a fun footnote in his body work. One hell of a stupid idea that served as a nadir and the starting point of his reinvention.

But the fact of non-existence makes "Fight Harm" even more fascinating. It is a fun concept to think about. Nature of its appropriation welcomes creativity. You can make your own "Fight Harm" out of anything. For example - other films. The fight scene from "They Live" can be reapproapriated. From the top of my head - short and sloppy fight scene between Brian and Roman in "2 fast 2 furious" also fits the bill.


But there can be more. Much more...

BSPH: Elvis Presley - Let Yourself Go

"Let Yourself Go" is a song performed by Elvis Presley and written by Joy Byers. It was released in 1968 on the soundtrack for film "Speedway" (his team-up with Nancy Sinatra, also home of the eternal "Your Groovy Self"). Late sixties were hard time for The King. Due to his questionable career choices (films, gospel records, etc) he became irrelevant relic of the past. It was only in 1969 when he did a Comeback Special he returned to public consciousness as The King. So when "Let Yourself Go" was released as a single it predictably but unfairly flopped. However, it was later used in Comeback Special in a truncated galloping form to great success.

"Let Yourself Go" is one of the best Elvis' songs even though today it is barely talked about (a line or two in general context doesn't count). I guess one of the reasons is that it is male-dominant love song about emotional submission - kinda unfashionable today but it's Elvis so just don't think too hard about it, ok? Listen to it - it drips with cool. It has this old-school Rhythm'n'Blues vibe in it as if Elvis was trying to do "Motown sound as seen by Elvis". Unlike many other Elvis' recordings of that period - there is no sonic overkill - saccharine overproduction - its arrangement is stripped to the bone and thus effective.

Backbone of "Let Yourself Go" is in pulsing brass fills and vamp piano stomping in the background. Elvis croons in his signature cocky confident manner but is somewhat more vicious and sleazy. He's in ironic mode due to unmistakingly predatory lyrics. How else you can deliver lines like "I'm gonna teach you what love's all about..." or "...don't be afraid just relax and take it real slow" without tongue firmly in cheek? The drums roll around and then march on the choruses. Guitar is adding some twangs here and there but really comes to the forth in the middle section before going into jangy passionate solo. Harmonica and doo-wop backing vocals join on second verse. The song keeps the tension building and then just ends as if it was never meaning to do anything. Lack of closure gives weird feeling.

But who cares - the song is great. (also check out Danzig rendition. It is also cool).

Bil Sabab Power Hour: Zoe Poledouris - I have not been to Paradise

Uh-hmmm. Remember Paul Verhoeven's seminal kinda anti-war kinda pro-militarism kinda whatever-you-want epic sci-fi "Starship Troopers"? The one which combined going apeshit with batshit crazy surrounding it. Ok, then.

There was a prom scene. In it our propaganda conditioned cookie-cutter paper-cut-out hero gets dumped by his love interest and so he decides to enlist because there is nothing else to do but turn into exquisite cannon fodder. So - during that scene - you can hear a David Bowie song in the background. From then-recent album OUTSIDE no less. But it is not original version. It is a cover by Zoe Poledouris, daughter of Basil Poledouris who did the score for the film (she also did another song for the film titled "Into It").

"I have not been to Paradise" follows closely the original but with a little but critical twist - two words (and thus the whole meaning) were changed: instead of "Oxford Town" there's "Paradise". Because anti-war satire can't be subtle. But it can be neat. The original dealed with being framed with a murder. But here the focus is changed to "inaction is crime" in a context of ongoing conflict with "bugs". This little thing adds a nice stroke to a bigger picture of the world which had gone mad with absurdly distorted concepts of honor, dignity and common sense.

MFT: David Twohy - The Arrival (1996)

"The Arrival" is 1996 science-fiction conspiracy thriller written and directed by David Twohy and starring Charlie Sheen. The film is about low-level radio astronomer Zane Zaminsky who accidentally gets a recording of signal that is probably an evidence of existence of alien life. But instead of getting praised for his discovery - obviously nobody believes him and soon he's out of job due to "spurting nonsense". But that doesn't stop, he tries hard to prove his point while alienating everybody. Curiously, everyone he tries cooperate with wind up dead. Finally it turns out that there is in fact a conspiracy. Alien are already invading Earth and recent climate changes are due to alien atmosphere adapting technology. Zane collects the evidence but gets busted by the aliens. After a confrontation he narrowly escapes and uncovers the conspiracy. But tomorrow never knows.

MFT: Artifact in Raul Bueno' "Poesia Hispano-Americano De Vanguardia

You never know what you can find while surfing on the mighty web. But it always takes you by the surprise - some words that fall into your eye, onomatopeia, found poems, exciting images or just weird depictions of the page in the midst of loading. It pinches you and you get it - this is it. I like this possibility of unknown unknown. It really creates tension inside of me. I know there is something i will find but i have no idea what it is and where and when and how i will find it. 

This is a page found in the scan of Raul Bueno' seminal monography on Spanish-American Avantgarde Poetry. It is fascinating study of the phenomenon made by one of its direct participants. Consider this to be refined insiders look - balanced by time and colored by academic studies. But this page has nothing to do with the book. It is just an artifact that was made on the copy of the book that was scanned. But it is so fascinating as an art object. 

It is a vertical line, probably a scratch made either by thick pencil or greasy pen. Or it can be a thread fallen from somewhere and stuck on page. It is unclear. It might neither of mentioned. It reminds me of Lucio Fontana' Spatiale series with its strategically placed and framed cuts on the canvases. While directly unrelated it also call back to Piero Manzoni' Achrome series with its crumples of the cloth on the canvas. 

Look at this page? What do you see? What do you think it is? Tell me.

MFT: Lightning Fast Talking Motormouth John Moschitta Jr.

Lightning fast motormouth speech is something that fascinates me. For some reason I just like how something relatively familiar and quite boring at times can transcend into semi-comprehensible realm simply by amping up the speed of delivery. Sometimes it can go so far that your instinct to recognize speech suddenly switches off and you listen to that weird sound wave. You know that there is some message inside - but your mind is far more interested with that sound wave. It sounds so different and your mind starts to actively apply his "pareidolia toys" on it. The words, entire sentences that are not there, leftfield meanings, ghost melodies and so on.

MFT: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" is a CGI-animated philosophical science fiction film released by Square Pictures a film branch of  the developer of the series Square Enix and co-directed by the series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. It is considered to be one of the first attempts at making photorealistic animated film. One of its gimmicks was meticulously designed digital actors who could potentially appear in other pictures. Sadly, this never happened as film received rather frosty reception primarily focused on uncanny valley effects for human characters and overall weirdly conventional narrative. This resulted in a films crushing commercial dissapointment. Studio gambled on its cutting edge technology as the main selling point and that didn't payed off. Although you can see legacy of "The Spirits Within" in modern video games and blockbusters in a slightly bowdlerized form - Andy Serkis made a career out of motion capture performance, etc. Now it is regarded as a daring experiment that came out too soon. Which is not right.

BSPH: The Kinks - I'm not Like Everybody Else

All right now! Time to write about something that is not so obscure as usual. How about the song that follows me throughout life as a manifesto of sorts?

 

"I'm Not Like Everybody Else" is a song written by the great Ray Davies and performed by seminal The Kinks. You know the story. It was first released as a B-side for a hit single "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966 and later proved to be a staple in the band repertoire due to its affectionate theme and singalong chorus. It is one of those unbreakable song you can't really do bad (check out how Chocolate Watchband does the chorus). While original version is perfectly serviceable i always preferred live version that was released in 1994/1996 album "To the Bone". Because this song is like wine - it got really better with age. I will get to that a bit later.

Basically "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" is Ray Davies' version of Sinatra's "My Way". It is about standing on you own and not giving up for casual commodities. But instead of somber sentimental tone we get ripping-roaring defiance - "middle finger treatment". It is an explication of sacramental "nope". This is a guts-song - it gets you deep - and you know it's true. I first heard it in 2005 when i was only starting to get myself together and it really helped me to get through uncaring and hostile environment. It played in my head every time i've stumbled upon some obstacles (which were plenty) and it was one of the things that keeped me from giving up. But down with sentiments.

Unlike the squeaky boom-boom original - "To The Bone" version got this mature disparate edge best described as "beaten but not defeated". It feels big but there is no abundance. The song moves on in an intimidating pace creating sense of menace. Drum beat is unhurried but relentless - it goes on no matter what, barely noticing anything around it. That's the song attitude. Because of that arrangement creates some kind of notion of unease.

Verses are more contemplative louring seesaw but then comes the chorus which shrugs it off and stomps it to the ground. It tears through the thick air. Davies' voice is worn and weary - its raspiness tells a story of its own - some kind of "its about how many hits you can get and still be on your feet". There is vast but unknowable background behind his words. Lots of emotion whirling in containment: some sadness, pain, vanity, gumption - but zero regret.

Guitar solo tells a parallel narrative - it provides you with an abstract backstory. Final rave-up is transcending - the song goes away. Many pointless battles behind and still no reason to prove anything to anybody - because you don't anything to anybody.

MFT: Once upon a time in trigun

Mash-up culture is one of the most fascinating things that Internet helped to nourish. It's has been around since the dawn of time - because that's how we do things. But it was never really in the spotlight until personal computers and Internet came along. Lots of people started to try their hand at most improbable combinations of things they love or hate or something else with varying degree of success. But even at its most lame - mash-ups are always a showcase of ability to take various elements and merge them into something of its own. Something that can potentially inspire for something completely different.

"Once Upon a Time in Trigun" is one of my favorite mash-up trailers. It was made by Matt Page in 2002-2003 as a love letter to his favorite anime series "Trigun". As it is "Once Upon a Time in Trigun" is an extremely smart mash-up trailer that seamlessly combines "Trigun" and Robert Rodriguez underwhelming conclusion to his informal Mariachi Trilogy titled "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". It isn't all that elaborate in its techniques. What Matt Page did was simple. He took the sound track of the trailer for "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" and matched it with the footage from "Trigun". The result was action-packed trailer for non-existent film that can will come soon "in your head". What Page haven't planned is the effect his little video achieved. More on that later.

I first saw it on one of the CDs for video game magazine back in early 2003. I loved it. Because I knew "Trigun" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". But for reason - for me "Once Upon a Time in Trigun" was something of its own. I was eerily fascinated how naturally it merged together two different things into something else. It felt different.

"Trigun" was critically acclaimed adaptation of beloved manga series by Yasuhiro Nightow that managed to elevate and deepen cult status of the property by not trying to reinvent the wheel and just telling the stories in a different medium. It was amped up to eleven and filled with lots and lots of over the top scenes involving over the top characters. The main character - Vash the Stampede is known as human typhoon but in reality he is a bad case of a man caught in a wrong place and a wrong time while his counterpart Wolfwood is looking for trouble and finally gets it. But underneath it was nuanced relationship drama that tackled subjects of loneliness, rejection, honor, self-sacrifice, etc. 

As for "Once Upon a time in Mexico" - it is a tragedy of  good intentions. Robert Rodriguez tried and failed to do a Sergio Leone-sized gambit with grand and in the same time personal multiple narratives. But instead of sprawling story of conspiracy, guilt and revenge it turned out into meandering mishmash of elaborate scenes tied together with a shoelace instead of proper narrative structure. "Once Upon a time in Mexico" badly suffered from its overstuffed and overcompressed narrative. It was filled with colorful characters and high-tension scenes. But there was not much space in-between - so that characters could breathe and develop gradually and viewers could follow through and think about what is going on in the film. It seemed too much at once. And it damaged the film. On the other hand - trailer actually delivered on the promise of the film. It was telling streamlined version of the story free from excessive baggage. It was perfect teaser showcase.

Combined in "Once Upon a Time in Trigun" they cleaned one another from its original context and presented a thing that was not exactly just another reappropriated mash-up trailer. It was something bigger and better. It was a piece for imagination. You are given the basics and then you are free to develop it in your head in any way you want. This makes the most exciting film. Watching this trailer makes you play with it - you fill the gaps of the plot, develop them into fully-fledged narrative threads and turn it in any way you want. That's what real art manages to do. Even if its unforseen consequence.

In some way "Once Upon a Time in Trigun" is a harbinger of things to come. It is a monument of honest and unregulated influx of creativity that became possible because of Internet.

MFT: Arthur Penn, Warren Beatty - Mickey One

"Mickey One" is a film that doesn't give a fuck. It is directed by Athur Penn and starring Warren Beatty. It was released in 1965 to little fanfare and still remains an obscurity in the filmographies of both Penn and Beatty. It is footnote that lies deep in the shadows of next Penn / Beatty collaboration - game changing mighty-mighty "Bonnie and Clyde". Groundbreaking success of the latter led to diminishment of "Mickey One". It was written off as anything but a try-out, a test before the real deal. It doesn't seem to be fair but that's the reality. But that doesn't mean "Mickey One" is unworthy or outright bad. Quite the opposite. It is refreshingly weird beast of a film that dazzles by the mere fact of its existence.

Plot of "Mickey One" is relatively simple. Nameless club comedian gets into the trouble with mafia. He then flees and assumes the identity of Mickey One. He tries to lay low but it seems to be quite uncomfortable. Mickey One was born to stand-up and so after a while he returns to performing although he almost immediately starts to feel anxious about entire affair. Eventually he tries to sort things out with the mobsters only to get beaten. After that he says "screw this" and performs his act anyway consequences be damned.

"Mickey One" is a strange case of a Holywood film which is nothing like Holywood film and extremely proud of it. Things were complicated at the time when "Mickey One" was released. Theaters were filled with megalomaniac sword-and-sandals, po-faced costume dramas and senseless fluff of a comedies. Even Hitchcock passed his prime. New Holywood only started to emerge and was quite far from any kind of domination. Future masters like Peckinpah, Altman and Coppola already tried their hands at craft but their glory will come much later. Sure, there was also John Cassavetes who already released his mission statement film "Shadows" but he was thrusted into Holywood system and forced to play by the rules. Things were about to change but not yet.

In the meantime - there was a cinematic revolution going on in full swing Europe. French Nouvelle Vauge caught the world on fire and works of Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Eric Romer, Francois Truffaut and Claude Chabrol were bending the rules of filmmaking, challenging limits of cinematic forms and covering new and risque topics. These guys made cinema great again. They made it new and exciting - just like it was in the old days before corporates in the business suits took over. 

Arthur Penn and Warren Beatty were superbad fans of Nouvelle Vague and thought it would be a great idea to do no holds barred Nouvelle Vague film in US. And they could pull it off. Arthur Penn was already and established stage and film director. He was trusted, reliable man who could take responsibility and deliver satisfying results while not messing around. Warren Beatty was an up and coming white hot actor coming off 5 year long streak of commercial and critical hits. In his late 20s he was already a formiddable draw. It was easy to convince anybody to greenlit any project with such people involved. They knew the drill and played on it.

In its core - "Mickey One" is an endless supply of middle fingers and cussing to every conceivable cinematic convention especially those favored by Holywood system. There's some plot, there are so definitions of characters, there is some action. But it is delivered in a fundamentally different way. It ignores the Holywood rules of narrative.

Instead "Mickey One" just says "What's that shit? Fuck that shit!" and does something else. "Mickey One" dares to be different. And yet somehow remains relatively easy to follow even though it tries really hard to avoid any kind of convention. The plot "comedian gets into the trouble and tries to get away - poorly" serves as a starting point for showcase of cinematic equilibrism. It's a film of many things. It's a film that uses its own plot to show some stuff just because it looks kinda cool. It's a film about Warren Beatty doing a Jean-Paul Belmondo impression with shades of James Dean spliced with Orson Welles. It's a film where Arthur Penn throws every trick in the book just because why not and then makes up a couple of more on the fly that's what art is for. It's film that tries to up its cool jazz soundtrack by Stan Getz.

MFT: Getting on with James Urbaniak

"Getting on with James Urbaniak (a fictional podcast)" is a podcast series produced and starring one and only James Urbaniak. You know him. He is known for his stage work (including magnetic performance in "Thom Pain"), voicework in "The Venture Bros." and pitch-perfect portrayal Robert Crumb in "American Splendor". He even was in "Terminator" TV series. You might've seen him recently on "Difficult People" and "Review" where he delivers his signature believable neurotic but not over the top kind of character.

But for me - he always will be Simon Grim from "Henry Fool" and its subsequent sequels "Fay Grim" and "Ned Rifle". The evolution of Simon Grim - from a garbageman to a poet and beyond is staggering and painfully rings true in so many ways. Watching Simon's Quest really helped me to cope with many things going on with my life at that time. For that he holds a special place in my heart (there is also Parker Posey but that's another story).

"Getting on with James Urbaniak (a fictional podcast)" is essentially a neverending series of pieces written by various writers and unified by all-mighty voice of James Urbaniak. The idea is that the podcast is all about James Urbaniak and the world around him - but not really because that would be self-indulgent and ultimately annoying. Instead - James Urbaniak plays slightly exaggerated version of himself who essentially reads pieces written by other people presented as an excursions into his mind.

Basically James Urbaniak acts as a flytrap for various pieces. He catches them and they fit into the bigger picture. Which doesn't make any sense - but it makes some funny afterthoughts. He makes the texts his own - fills them with his character, colors them with his mannerisms. Urbaniak knows how to make you listen. It is a master-class of quietly dramatic delivery of astounding variety. There are pieces about ketchup, lack of sleep, feeling sorry, smelling something wrong, musings on first world problems and many others. Together all these pieces make a fascinating patchwork of a character study.

Do yourself a favor - listen to "Getting on with James Urbaniak (a fictional podcast)" .