Post archive

texaco children's art competition 2013

was flicking through & saw this! good lord, what a talent! i am just astounded...



michael nesmith



magnetic south & loose salute (2008 paired album reissue)
head (1968) dir by bob rafelson
repo man (1984) (executive producer)

the flamin' groovies

pickpocket & fists in the pcoket

dir by robert bresson 1959

dir by marco bellocchio 1965


the harder they come movie & soundtrack

dir by perry henzell 1972



been reading...

mesmerised by bill fay

albums>>>

rock stars and their parents

some great photos from LIFE magazine 1971



Bob Rafelson

the king of marvin gardens (1972)
five easy pieces (1970)


the earrings of madame de... & trouble in paradise

dir by max ophuls (1953)
dir by ernst lubitsch (1932)


shigeru mizuki

harry allard & james marshall animation...



days of heaven & the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford

dir by terence malick (1978)
dir by andrew dominik (2007)


is that all there is? joost swarte

la commare secca & high & low

dir by bernardo bertolucci (1962)
dir by akira kurosawa (1963)




l'enfance nue & ratcatcher

dir by maurice pialat (1968)

dir by lynne ramsay (1999)


who is harry nilsson (and why is everybody talking' about him)


tommies in the trench

i've no idea who gothicknight2 is, but i love this painting on his flickr site>



DARK...

... & amazing

the honeymoon killers (1970), written & dir by leonard kastle. it seems to me that EVERY decision they made in this movie, from casting to what the camera actually shows, was just perfect

vengeance is mine (1979), dir by shohei imamura is unlike anything i've ever seen before. thanks to my buddy rob for tipping me off, must look into more of his movies


wizz jones

i know it's only tuesday...

... but these are my favourite albums of the week>>>



will eisner is a genius...

been working on a map of the bronx that will be released soon, more about that later. & so i did some very enjoyable research; read go tell it to the mountain (1953) by james baldwin & the contract with god trilogy (reissued 2001) by will eisner





fav albums of the week>>>

hal ashby ~ michelangelo antonioni

2 movies the criterion collection should pick up- the last detail (1973) & blowup (1966)



bruno bozzetto - allegro non troppo

the death of a nobody

read jules romains' 1914 novel earlier this year, it's one of those books that keeps popping into your mind all the time, especially when i traveled across the country this summer on the train or in the car. great cover by milton glaser. 



Thérèse Desqueyroux

just finished reading thérèse desqueyroux (1927) by françois mauriac last week, the edward gorey illustrations caught my eye on the bookshelf. i thought i'd have a look at the 1962 movie as it's directed by georges franju. philippe noiret (a new favourite of mine) is well cast as bernard desqueyroux, emmanuelle riva is good but not at all how i pictured thérèse in my mind; i scoffed a little when her mother-in-law says "you can't say therese is pretty, but it doesn't seem to matter. her charm always comes through."



mike leigh

movies

two movies i watched this week to recommend: marcel carné's port of shadows (1938) & rome, open city (1945) by roberto rossellini


the genius of paul julian

julian's (1914-1995) illustrations for philippe halsman's piccoli (1953)



some background art from 1949 warner bros short bad ol' putty tat below. i read also that he is responsible for the "beep-beep" noise that road runner makes! he directed the hangman & was designer & colour artist on the tell-tale heart. WATCH THEM NOW!


the 13 clocks

written by james thurber, illustrated by marc simont
i LOVE this book
if i were an animator...


april's albums

this is a bit lazy, just condensing it all into one post, but anyway...



as i have a tea break...

was chatting with my studio mate about tea (bet you wish you were there!), as we meet so often by the kettle in the kitchen, & she showed me this marvellous teacraft book with illustrations by win ng. 





let's start here with the kinks, but there are so many amazing quotes about tea:

there is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea ~ bernard-paul heroux (a philosopher, i think)

all true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes ~ george orwell

if a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth & beauty ~ japanese proverb

you can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me ~ c.s. lewis

& finally...

never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on ~ billy connolly

heebie jeebies

watched fritz lang's das testament des dr. mabuse (1933) & les yeux sans visage (1960) directed by georges franju & had crazy dreams!



some other highly recommended movies i've been watching recently too... been on a bit of an alain delon kick- jean-pierre melville's le samourai (1967) & le cercle rouge (1970), mario monicelli's hilarious & clever big deal on madonna street (1958) & louis malle's elevator to the gallows (1958) with a score by miles davis.




new york's photo league, 1936-1951

went to the jewish museum to see the radical camera exhibition last weekend. two of my favourties below- in the shadow of the capitol, 1948, by marion palfi & chalk games, 1950, by arthur leipzig 



recommended movies/books




some excellent movies i've watched recently. in order: ariel (1988) dir by aki kaurismäki, mccabe & mrs miller (1971) dir by robert altman, come back, africa (1959) dir by lionel rogosin. if you're interested in the last one you should definitely see on the bowery (1957), also by rogosin, & the bicycle thief (1948) by vittorio de sica.




books to recommend too. in order: henry miller's black spring (1936), patricia highsmith's the talented mr. ripley (1955) & saul bellow's mr. sammler's planet (1970).  oh... forgot to include der amerikanische freund (1977) dir by wim wenders  in the movie paragraph- the very reason i started to read patricia highsmith. 

matchbox zoo

lotus the hippopotamus

henri-georges clouzot

saw the wages of fear (1953) on the big screen last month- it blew me away. the mystery of picasso (1956) is a must see documentary too. watched takashi nomura's a colt is my passport (1967), amazing.

jim flora

if you're in new york, go see this exhibition in dorian grey gallery





laurent de brunhoff

1. watercolour study. " a magnificent plane"
2. final watercolour. " a magnificent plane"

3. watercolour study. "babar & arthur reunite"
4. final watercolour. "babar & arthur reunite"




movie catch up

watched some amazing movies over the 4 day thanksgiving break. in order: stolen kisses (1968), band of outsiders (1964 (link to great dance scene)), murmur of the heart (1971), sullivan's travels (1941), harold & maude (1971(fantastic cat stevens soundtrack you should get)) 



valériane avec l'alligator au zoo

bought this gorgeous, pocket sized (5" x 5.5") hardback online a few weeks ago. the rather bonkers story is by madeleine grize & pictures by ariane chatel, first published in 1958. valériane is a doll who likes to travel. on this trip, she goes with alligator to the zoo. 



music



link to jams

books i can't afford

i read the invisible man by h.g. wells earlier this month, but not the beautiful copy you see below. this dell book was published in 1949 & comes with a delightful map at the rear of the book detailing the county of sussex & the village of iping therein. i have no idea who the illustrator is unfortunately.



just before that i read the songs of maldoror by comte de lautréamont, the pseudonym of isidore ducasse. once again, i had a poorly designed library copy & not this one (above) with illustrations by the belgian surrealist artist rené magritte. more books, with excellent covers, i can't afford below. e. lamotte's illustrations for jour de fête, based on the 1949 tati movie. & this is the first american edition (1957) of babar & the professor, another exquisite cover.  


violeta lopiz

not a music video



starting to upload songs i like to youtube. no reason in particular that i began with two instrumentals...
chuck berry- mad lad (bah! can't get this one to work, but it's elsewhere!)
steve young - the white trash song
ronnie lane & his slim chance band - snake
betty harris - there's a break in the road

this is easier, here's a link to my channel


read 'em, read 'em


read roland topor's the tenant & thomas bernhard's extinction last month, reading albert camus' the plague at the moment.

WATCH THESE MOVIES, if you want



pygmalion 1938
death of a cyclist 1955
le deuxieme souffle 1966

watched most of the above during our hurricane irene lock-in. they are all amazing. watched the movies listed below a while ago, all incredible too.
M 1931, nights of cabiria 1957, rififi 1955



favourite albums of aug



sir douglas quintet - at the crossroads
(charles 'packy' axton) l.h. & the memphis sounds - out of control
j.j. cale - crying eyes

christophe blain

i wish everything christophe blain did was translated into english. preposterous that it isn't, surely there is a huge audience. gus is my favourite, but really everything is great. i just read online that an isaac the pirate feature length movie is in production with a release date next year. really want to see joann sfar's le chat du rabbin but it's only showing in one cinema here in new york & it's located over an hour away!


favourite albums of july

bauhaus-künstler herbert bayer (1900-1985)

friday jams

delaney & bonnie & friends - lonesome & a long way from home

mcguinness flint - bodang buck



don't think i've ever seen a nice poster on a subway before?

not sure who designed this poster, i can't find anything online, but i take my hat off to them. it communicates well in a sort of hans schleger-kind-of-way. took this photo in the subway in the lower east side, it almost goes without saying that a huge rat scurried past as i paused with my camera. 




























watched these over the weekend>

townes van zandt

films



 
watched the passion of joan of arc (1928) starring the fantastic reneé jeanne flaconetti at home the other night. saw ealing studio's went the day well (1942) in the theatre last week & i'm almost certain that joel coen was sitting in the back row. 

fletcher/forbes/gill

found this treasure second hand on amazon for $4





kitty crowther (from scritch scratch dip clapote!)

garrett price, 1934

the animation of alexeïeff

beautiful books















read joseph conrad's heart of darkness last year & finally got around to reading lord jim. i loved it & couldn't resist buying a second copy i saw on the shelf. just finished albert camus' the stranger (cover art by leo lionni), just started how right you are, jeeves by p.g. wodehouse (cover art by tomi ungerer).

saul steinberg - reflections and shadows


two other uncles had started out as watchmakers, then little by little had expanded their business. one had also become a jeweler. there was an odor in his store that i can still smell with pleasure when- as seldom happens now-  i pass by a watchmaker's: the odor of watchmaker's oil. my uncle worked with a magnifying lens in his eye, putting all these tiny pieces in place with his tweezers. he didn't much like for me to stand there watching. i had to be careful not to get too close and to hold my breath- otherwise the little springs flew off. 

from reflections and shadows

a man's desk is his castle, or something...

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