These are great!
"It was a bad year for the economy, the Republican party and gay rights. But 2008 was a banner year for technology-aided crime. Competition was tough, but after an exhaustive search, Threat Level has produced this authoritative list of the best capers of the year."
The Seven Best Capers of 2008 | Threat Level from Wired.com:
Palm downtown
Originally uploaded by dpbtwo
almost seems as if the palm is painted on the bldg
I've been looking for a print of this for years. Someone finally brought it to youtube...thanks!
I have a list of performers that I have to see before I/they move on to the next "gig". Last night we had the honor of seeing Stevie at the Hollywood Bowl. Such a great show and what a giving performer. The energy this man channels through an audience is an amazing sight to witness in person. Hands down one of the greatest shows I've ever experienced!
ZEIT ONLINE 2008-07-02T10:06:14.397520+00:00 [http://www.zeit.de/online/2008/27/metropolis-vorab-englisch]
Last Tuesday Paula Félix-Didier travelled on a secret mission to Berlin in order to meet with three film experts and editors from ZEITmagazin. The museum director from Buenos Aires had something special in her luggage: a copy of a long version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, including scenes believed lost for almost 80 years. After examining the film the three experts are certain: The find from Buenos Aires is a real treasure, a worldwide sensation. Metropolis, the most important silent film in German history, can from this day on be considered to have been rediscovered.
Fritz Lang presented the original version of Metropolis in Berlin in January 1927. The film is set in the futuristic city of Metropolis, ruled by Joh Fredersen, whose workers live underground. His son falls in love with a young woman from the worker’s underworld – the conflict takes its course. At the time it was the most expensive German film ever made. It was intended to be a major offensive against Hollywood. However the film flopped with critics and audiences alike. Representatives of the American firm Paramount considerably shortened and re-edited the film. They oversimplified the plot, even cutting key scenes. The original version could only be seen in Berlin until May 1927 – from then on it was considered to have been lost forever. Those recently viewing a restored version of the film first read the following insert: “More than a quarter of the film is believed to be lost forever.”
ZEITmagazin has now reconstructed the story of how the film nevertheless managed to survive. Adolfo Z. Wilson, a man from Buenos Aires and head of the Terra film distribution company, arranged for a copy of the long version of “Metropolis” to be sent to Argentina in 1928 to show it in cinemas there. Shortly afterwards a film critic called Manuel Peña Rodríguez came into possession of the reels and added them to his private collection. In the 1960s Peña Rodríguez sold the film reels to Argentina’s National Art Fund – clearly nobody had yet realised the value of the reels. A copy of these reels passed into the collection of the Museo del Cine (Cinema Museum) in Buenos Aires in 1992, the curatorship of which was taken over by Paula Félix-Didier in January this year. Her ex-husband, director of the film department of the Museum of Latin American Art, first entertained the decisive suspicion: He had heard from the manager of a cinema club, who years before had been surprised by how long a screening of this film had taken. Together, Paula Félix-Didier and her ex-husband took a look at the film in her archive – and discovered the missing scenes.
Paula Félix-Didier remembered having dinner with the German journalist Karen Naundorf and confided the secret to her. Félix-Didier wanted the news to be announced in Germany where Fritz Lang had worked – and she hoped that it would attract a greater level of attention in Germany than in Argentina. The author Karen Naundorf has worked for DIE ZEIT for five years - and let the editorial office of ZEITmagazin in on her knowledge.
Among the footage that has now been discovered, according to the unanimous opinion of the three experts that ZEITmagazin asked to appraise the pictures, there are several scenes which are essential in order to understand the film: The role played by the actor Fritz Rasp in the film for instance, can finally be understood. Other scenes, such as for instance the saving of the children from the worker’s underworld, are considerably more dramatic. In brief: “Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s most famous film, can be seen through new eyes.”, as stated by Rainer Rother, Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek Museum and head of the series of retrospectives at the Berlinale.
You can read more about this mystery from film history in ZEITmagazin, which comes out on Thursday
Helmut Possmann, director of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation, the holder of the rights to “Metropolis”, said to ZEITmagazin: “The material believed to be lost leads to a new understanding of the Fritz Lang masterpiece.” The Murnau Foundation now sees itself as “responsible, along with the archive in Buenos Aires and our partners for making the material available to the public.”
The rediscovered material is in need of restoration after 80 years; the pictures are scratched, but clearly recognizable. Martin Koerber, the restorer of the hitherto longest known version of “Metropolis”, who also examined the footage, said to ZEITmagazin: “No matter how bad the condition of the material may be, the original intention of the film, including all of its minor characters and subplots, is now once again tangible for the normal viewer. The rhythm of the film has been restored.”
And perhaps the scratches, which will probably remain even after restoration, will have an added advantage: The cinemagoer will be reminded of what an exciting history this great film has had.
youtube is def good for something...finding this great old tunes on video!
heard this song this morn for the first time in a while
it's beautiful
and the lyrics...so hauntingly honest.
mia, nora, ella, iona, kiara, hana, noah, aiden, luca, isaac, rhys, euan, cooper, shane, scarlett, phoebe, quinn
(it'll make sense in the weeks to come)
there are many comedians, a smaller group of truly funny ones, and a select group of those who profoundly leave a mark.
Xiazhi (夏至), solar term in East Asia.
Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant, in Seattle, USA.
Sanziana celebration of the Western Carpathian Mountains.
Midsummer holiday in various Western traditions.
St. John's Eve celebration of Ireland and Spain.
Saint Jonas' Festival of Lithuania.
Ivan Kupala Day celebration of parts of Russia and Ukraine.
NYC Midsummer, in New York, USA.
Team Lexington Solstice in San Francisco, USA.
Jāņi celebration of Latvia.
Chester Midsummer Watch Parade, in Chester, England.
Golowan Festival, in Cornwall, England.
Pagan Spirit Gathering, in Athens, USA.
Alban Hefin
our neighbor is going to call the dog catcher because she believes our little bundle of lungs above is traumatized. Neighborly lesson of the day...dogs used to be outdoor animals and they also bark/howl to communicate. If you don't like hearing the dog bark, just say so. Trauma is dressing your little hybrid K9 up in a dog sweater.
Pasadena Police car from the 60s
Originally uploaded by dpbtwo
We checked out the Pasadena Chalk Art fest this afternoon and there were a few sheet old classic cars on display
We went to see her Matchbox Shows last night at Redcat. ...very original and the work is both honest and imaginative. I don't know how often she performs these anymore (this was a special puppetry program) but if you ever have the chance make sure you catch her...very amazing!!!
here is a link to a great short from Laura:
