when i was in junior high school i won the soundtrack to liquid sky(on vinyl). i hadn't even seen the film at that point, but had seen bits of it. when i finally i saw it i think i had mixed feelings about it. but it's one of those movies i tend to come back to and think about. not about it's content, but about seeing again(i've forgotten most of the content of the film aside from some line about a woman talking about how she was raised to marry a lawyer and how boring that would be). the problem with living in taiwan is i can't just go to the local video store and rent something like this, if i want to see it i have to buy it. but is it worth buying? i think it probably is based on some of the comments deriding it on this site devoted to the film.(picture from this site).

jean mentioned on his blog this essay by momus about blogging. it's an interesting read, especially his call for more photoblogs. i've been wanting to do a related blog to robot action boy that will be just of the various photos i've used on robot action boy, or snapshots i've taken that i just never got around to using on robot action boy. my concern is that the images are located on a server that will shut down if more than ten people view the images at the same time. of course, this begs the question will there ever be more than ten people viewing those images when i finally get around to setting up that photoblog? probably not, but i like to consider these things before getting started.

but to get back to the momus essay, while reading it, it reminded me that there was a time when i would see people and think to myself s/he should be my friend. it was just a feeling i got from certain people. but these days i rarely register such a thought. i'm not sure if that is just because i am older, or i just can't be bothered with other people as much or just a case of living in taiwan. the last time i even slightly thought this was maybe a year ago(or longer) when i saw these guys on the mrt(subway) carrying some yo la tango vinyl. i've never been a big fan of yo la tango, but seeing people with vinyl always brings a smile to my face. i didn't talk to them, but it was nice to see people that didn't appear to be quite as homogenous as everyone else.

yesterday i got a postcard in the mail from the foreign affairs police station reminding me that my arc(alien resident certificate) and visa will be expiring next month. of course i already knew this and went in for my health test last week. i got the results back today and am happy to report i do not have leprosy, aids, or syphilis. the woman at my school who is processing my visa renewal has not done it before. this will be her first time doing it, so i hope it all gets done on time and quickly so i don't have to get an emergency extension on my visa or worse yet, leave the country! i'm sure it'll all work out in the end, but i'll be happier once i have the new visa and won't have paranoid thoughts whispering around in the back of my head.

yesterday peter and i went to this aborigine village in wulai. people like to go there and have picnics down by the little river, or to go to hot springs or to hike up to this water fall there. i was hoping it would be a little more special than it was. the food on sale didn't seem to be anything that you couldn't get elsewhere in taiwan, and there wasn't much true aborigine culture there that i could see. these statues were the closest i saw to aborigine culture, the top picture is one of a series of fence posts we saw. i've read that somwhere in wulai you can see aboriginal dances, but we must of missed it somehow. still, nice to get out of the city.

a man comitted suicide because he thought his wife might have sars. in the end she didn't have the disease, but the husbund is dead. are people just paranoid or stupid? my vote is with stupid.

i've also heard that people are threatening to move out of areas where sars patients are to be treated. it's not like if you get sars you will die. it is a possibility, but you could die from the flu just as well. so why all this panic? is it the media that is causing people to be so ridiculous? i don't know if they are causing it but the media here does have a lot to answer for. often times it's hard to tell the difference between legitimate press and a tabloid. though i think the government is responsible for some of this. i've been told that the police will often use or threaten to sick the press on certain suspects if they don't confess to certain crimes. when there is some sort of accident here(plane crash, auto collision) the press are often there blocking the way for medics to get in and treat the injured. freedom of the press is one thing, but delaying medical staff is not a good thing.

speaking of medical staff, i thought medical staff were there to help people, then how can they complain about being quarantined, you work in a hospital but never knew you might run the risk of being exposed to something? or of being quarantined so now you call it unfair when it happens? granted, there are definately things that should of been handled better, but the attitude of some of these nurses makes me wonder why they became nurses to begin with.

if no one is being allowed to leave the hospital how is it that the mayor can inspect the hospital and be allowed to leave? shouldn't he be quarantined as well? i suppose he was using protective gear while these others were not. but still it seems a bit inconsistent.

the 25 all-time greatest covers of american comic books, but of course i prefer the covers they chose for their 12 dumbest covers of american comic books we could find. i guess i'm destined to appreciate what falls through the cracks more than what is hearalded as the best. via die puny humans.

if i ever have to be quarantined i hope i get quarantined in one of these so i can live that sci-fi future i've always dreamed about. via sublimate.

they've quarantined a whole hospital here due to sars. i wonder if this will end up putting taiwan back on the WHO list of places to avoid? it's been all over the news with some people rather angry at being quarantined. i've heard that some people had just been in the hospital for ten minutes(visiting someone) and are now stuck there. it sounds like maybe the way they closed the hospital wasn't the best way. i mean if they knew they were going to close it or might be why did they allow people to still come in? but still everyone should know by this time that you may have to be quarantined at some point. still it sounds like they are handling the situation here much better than the situation in toronto. up until this latest outbreak, it seemed like people here were just living their lives like normal, and most people aren't wearing masks(though the wearing of masks seems questionable anyway, as i've been told by students that most of the masks sold will not really protect you).

the desktop theremin! create your own eerie and not so eerie soundscapes. via sublimate.

april 27th will be world pinhole day. only a few more days to get those pinhole cameras out and participate. the gallery from past world pinhole days is quite inspiring. if i had access to a dark room i'd be building my own for sure. i may still try to modify a disposable camera one day. via indigo blog.

students protest a rather scary piece of proposed legislation. i especially found this bit frightening:

Under the proposed revisions, those who reproduce, sell or rent pirated products will face a maximum prison sentence of five years and a hefty fine up to NT$8 million.

For example, people who copy CDs for friends, or purchase books from abroad for friends, or students who save information downloaded from the Internet on the their computers, will be prosecuted even if no complaint or lawsuit is filed, the group said, adding that the new law would only serve to "incriminate everybody in the country."

hopefully the legislation will die or not be introduced at all, but considering how the government here likes to bend over to please washington i'm not holding out much hope. whether it will be enforceable at all is another thing. i've been told by quite a few of my students if you can't copy it, it won't be popular in taiwan. and when experts often can't be certain something is fake how can the general public be expected to know? well, if i suddenly stop blogging you can assume i've been arrested for breaking part(or most) of this proposed law.

delicado has blogged that dorothy ashby's afro harping album has been reissued on cd by verve in a mini-vinyl cardboard sleeve. i love this sort of packaging, and i'll be hitting the shops in search of that for sure.

i'm planning on putting in an order for some dvds, i know for sure i want captain scarlet and mad monster party. but i sort of want to get a cheapo b-movie. anyone out there have any suggestions? scrubbles mentioned(on his blog) that it was recently charlotte rae's birthday. this is funny as i was just checking if hello down there had been released on dvd yet. sadly, it hasn't. but i'm still hoping that one day...

somone recently asked me about the chinese singer wong faye. i haven't listened to her in a long time. so today i put on one of her cds and to my surprise i'm liking it much more than i remember. some of it even reminds me a little of portishead. maybe i'll have to hunt down more of her cds i'm missing.

this last weekend has been a movie weekend, or more accurately a dvd weekend. i picked up blue velvet as it's finally been released here in taiwan on dvd. it's been a long time since i've seen this film, but it still has the ability to freak me out. dennis hopper is so psycho in it, how can you not love it? unfortunately, the disc had a problem, so towards the end of the movie it became literally unwatchable. so we had to return it. the boss seemed to think all the discs of the first run may have this problem. i'm going to buy it somewhere else and see if i have better luck.

on top of picking up blue velvet i hit a discount store and picked up more dvds. they have dvds for 69 nt(about 2 u.s. dollars). most of these are of dubious quality, most being full frame and often dubbed from videotape. however, i don't think they are illegal bootlegs but fall into the public domain here. i picked up the mouse that roared, laura, the ghost and mrs. muir, and sayonara.

so far i've watched the mouse that roared and the ghost and mrs. muir. the mouse that roared is a peter sellers comedy in which he plays multiple roles. i can't imagine a film like this being made today that made fun of americans in this way or even with the anti-nuclear/war message of the film. especially considering how paranoid hollywood is of any film that might have an opinion on politics these days. of course a british produciton can probably get away with these things easier.

the ghost and mrs. muir is what i think of as a rainy day film. it's the kind of film i like to lay on the couch and watch on dreary rainy day. some days there is nothing more satisfying than laying on the couch and taking in a film from before you were born. and after all, don't we all wish to live in a cottage on the seashore with a ghost?

sayonara i picked up because this is where that song comes from and also miyoshi umeki is in it. she was a japanese lounge singer in the 50s, but she's probably most well known in the west for her role as the maid on the courtship of eddie's father.

oh my. the penis blog:

We bloggers spend so much time, energy, and emotional effort revealing the most intimate details of our lives on our websites ... and yet most of us balk at showing a few square inches of skin.

letting it all hang out is one thing, but is it braver to show your flaccid penis or your erect penis? you can see different shapes and sizes as you try to match the penis to the blogger. via idiote.

yesterday in the mail i received another set of copy left trading cards. pictured above are two favourites of mine from the set. with things like this i always find there are cards i like over the rest, and some i don't care for very much. i'm sure someone is looking at the cards i submitted and thinking what was he thinking? as well. so that is ok. along with the cards came an invite to submit artist trading cards for their next travelling show:

the next exhibition with a new concept (and different ATCs) is planned for summer 2003 in stuttgart, germany at the stuttgarter kunstverein.

we are planning to build a permanent ATC exhibition archive which will serve as a core/stock for further exhibition-performances. the Trading Session is still the main purpose of the "ATC - a cultural collaborative performance project" - shows are an 'extra', helping people to see the wide range of creativity involved in this project.

the ATCs we get from you for the archive will not be returned: they will become part of the ATC-archive (an ongoing project) and will be the core for further shows (the travelling archive). the idea is that whoever wants to exhibit ATCs can ask for the travelling archive and will get a proposal for a show from our side. the archive is an ongoing project (exhibition-performance in progress) so you can submit your ATCs whenever you want. the deadlines mentioned are always respectively/regarding the next upcoming event.


send in: up to 3 sheets (27 ATCs)

deadline for entries (for the stuttgart event ) may 31st 2003.


THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATC-ARCHIVE

1. ATCs sent in from all over the world
2. one complete set of ATC copy-left editions
3. one complete set of STC editions
4. other editions
5. documentation about events, catalogues etc.
6. medialog


THE TRADING SESSION

during each ATC exhibition-performance we or the organizers will hold at least one Trading Session. you can participate with 'blind dates' i.e. you can send in up to 18 ATCs (2 sheets) and we or the organizers of the exhibition will trade the cards for you and send the trades back to you.


i'm already working on cards to contribute to the archives as well as cards to be used as blind dates.

the city of tomorrow, and links to things that should accompany such a city. via boing boing.

late last night i went to family mart(convenience store) to buy some water. while i was in there they were listening to the radio. this in itself is not so unusual, but usually it is bad pop music, but this night they were playing when i fall in love. it was an old 50s or 60s version. like the ray conniff singers or the people that sung on some of the henry mancini releases. i was suprised that they were playing this at all, but to top it off after each line in the song, the dj would come in and translate the words into chinese. i'd be in heaven if they'd play more stuff like this when i'm shopping.

ever wanted to create your own superhero but lacked the talent or confidence? thanks to the hero machine, nothing need stop you. though after viewing my results(above), maybe someone should of stopped me. via j-walk.

woman cuts off penis. what is this a growing trend? twice in one week. i also seem to recall reading recently about a man who volunteered to be castrated to prove to his wife and her family that he wouldn't cheat on her anymore. i think a friend of the family did the procedure(on the kitchen table if i remember correctly - which i probably don't) and then was arrested for practicing medicine without a license once the story got out.

tv stars who insist on singing. a great site of mp3s of celebrities singing as well as other musical oddities. songs about chickens? stairway to heaven covers? fabio speaking? it's all here.

the miniature book library, an ongoing mail art project. you send in 5 books no bigger than your hand and you get 4 back. i've been wanting to participate for awhile but haven't gotten around to it. via speckled paint.

a few more of my latest monsterism toys. the shop i bought these at had them on special for half off so i bought the few they had left of this series. unfortunately, of the ones i bought, i had most of them already. i'll probably stick the rest up on ebay at some point.

apparently the recording industry thinks suing their customers will endear them to their customers. just because someone downloads a song or an album doesn't mean they would of bought that album. when i download an album there are usually two reasons for this. one is to hear what it sounds like and see if it is indeed worth buying or because it is out of print or never re-issued on cd to begin with and it's the only way to really get it. so far i've been able to avoid buying any copy protected cds, and here's another horror story about someone buying what is called a cd but won't play in a cd player(or in this case an xbox) via j-walk.

recently i picked up a couple of cds by kojima mayumi. i've been meaning to pick up her releases that were released in taiwan(as opposed to the expensive japanese versions) for awhile, and i'm finally getting around to it. with her release adieu, la saison de cecile came these two postcards. the print says:

KOJIMA MAYUMI is more than just a singer - she is a way of life. a way of life that has captured the imagination of the nation's teenagers, and made her one of the most sought after alter singers in beatdom.

for KOJIMA MAYUMI has her fingers on the pulse of the basic premise of "pop" music success - that is public buys sound, and the sound is what she gives you with this her first record; a raw, exciting basic approach to rhythym and blues which, blended with her own explosive character.

she has emerged as intelligent talent, who will journey successfully far beyond the realms of pop music. and in this record there are six good reasons why.

of course the cd that these cards came with has more than six tracks...if pizzicato five had been more of a jazz band with a tendency to scat with a dash of altered images thrown in they may of sounded like this.

to continue with the sci-fi book theme from yesterday, a site devoted to cover illustrations for war of the worlds via coudal.

old sci-fi book cover illustrations. i'm amazed i haven't read more of these books considering how much sci-fi i read in jr. high. via quiddity.

a site devoted to bizarre record covers. but some of these are good records. arthur lyman, ken nordine, ...but a record teaching you how to fly? well, yes, i'd call that bizarre. via speckled paint.

no, it's not me. but it sure feels like it could be. this picture comes from this great site of found photos(via shitfit). the site is easier to check out if you use their quick navigation link. i wonder if the lost slide foundation people know about this?

speaking of lost things, last week i got a notice in the mail that i had a package at the post office. when i got to the post office there was a box sitting there from my friend paul, that had been sitting there since december! they asked me if this was the first notice i'd gotten for the package and i told them it was. usually the taiwan post office is really good, but how could something sit there for so long and no one notice it? well, the important thing is i finally got it. the box was full of christmas presents. among the goodies paul sent were a bunch of postcards from the 1939 new york world's fair:

one thing i love about these cards aside from the wonderful illustrations and colours is what people have written on the back of the cards. the top card says:

hello folks,
we are up here but could not stay at the same place but across on the corner.
elsa

and the bottom card says simply:

having a nice time

and then a name i can't read. for more world's fair postcard pictures, check out paul's page on the 1939 world's fair.

today is tomb sweeping day so i didn't have to work. since i didn't have to work i decided to go to the museum of contemporary art. they are having a show of australian aborigine art. this was the first time i'd been to this museum, and i only discovered its existence recently. the show was really nice, and the museum wasn't crowded and no screaming kids(which is a regular occurance at the taipei fine arts museum unfortunately).

construction signs in taipei.

today i went to the second-run theater across the street from where i live to see the new zhang yimou film hero. i'm still not sure what i think of it. the general consensus among the people i know that have seen it here is that it is mediocre. i think it was ok, but not great. and at the beginning i was thinking it was going to think it was mediocre too, but it got better. there are scenes that are nice visually, but some of the fight scenes seem to pale if you compare them to the hey day of hk chop socky. i've heard they've changed history quite a bit for the film, and i've also heard that zhang yimou needs money and he did this movie more for money than anything else. not sure how much of that is true. some of the scenes in the film are really loud(most noticeably the arrow scenes) mainly due to the sound efffects. the soundtrack was really nice and i will probably hunt it down one of these days.

hk actor and canto-pop star leslie cheung has jumped to his death. somehow i'm more suprised by this than when kurt kobain died. of all the hk pop stars to turn actor(and there are a lot of them) leslie was by far one of the most(if not the most) talented.

from the the wonder world of k. gordon murray:

THE KING OF CULT FILM
The term "Cult Film" has become as meaningless a term as "Outsider Art," watered down to the point of impotence. Cult Film can imply anything now from films with occult overtones, to any film that stinks, to any film that has a following of fans. Just as the term "Independent Film" now means nothing more than any product coming out of a major studio that didn't cost more than $20 million, Cult Film is a term that has lost its meaning.

We like to think of a "Cult Film" thusly:

1/ any film that has taken on a life of its own, long after its intended purpose (i.e. original release) has expired, that is, any film that becomes more interesting as it ages.

2/ any film that is so unusual, unique or bizarre that it compels one to watch, often against good judgement and popular opinion.

3/ any film that, as opposed to the "art by committee" groupthink that describes all Hollywood product, reflects the particular aesthetic vision of its maker(s), and this vision, however warped or botched, is clearly visible in the finished product.

As every film in his large output meets these criteria, we nominate K. Gordon Murray as "the King of Cult Film"! Murray's films are unbelievable, hilarious, pathetic, terrible, in many cases hard to describe and almost impossible to believe.


i like this definition of cult film, and i was thinking how i'd love to see some of the films he was involved with, when i realized i had one. my parents gave me a collection of dvds called tales of europe last christmas and among them was the golden goose. it doesn't seem as nearly surreal and strange as some of his other films are described as though. i think i'd really like to see one of his santa claus films but i don't think they are available on dvd.