monologue : 君、誰だかよく分からないけど面白いじゃないか。

ジェシー・ブラッドフォード：

日本に来ることができて非常に嬉しく思います。ずっと東京に来たいと思っていました。私は中学時代に2年間日本語を勉強しましたが、覚えているのは「メリーさんのひつじ」と「かわいいな」という言葉だけです(笑）。

東京国際映画祭、父親たちの星条旗のプレミアでの発言らしいです。お前さんの発言こそかわいいじゃないかｗｗｗ

film : eternal sunshine of spotless mind

This creative film Eternal sunshine of spotless mind is about Joel (Jim Carry) and Clementine (Kate Winslet), they split up and the impulsive Clementine went to a doctor to erase her memory of him (it's possible in this film, while you're sleeping doctors remove memories in the brain). And then he realized about that and he was about doing the same, but eventually, during the treatment (when he's sleeping), he starts thinking that he doesn't want to forget her after all. So he tries to escape from the treatment and keep all memories in his mind.

We can virtually see how his memories are removing. It's hard and sad to see how all the beautiful memories of lovers are disappearing. And the way to represent it in the film is wonderfully clever. The creators didn't resort to digital means and what we see looks like manufacturing.

It's very romantic in odd way, you may find it very artistic or very boring. That's the fact.

The screenwriter is Charlie Kaufman, who is definitely... bloody crazy.

And the director Michael Gondry did this scene so good.

fun : laughing fit

Yo me meo de la risa cada vez que veo este video, es buenísimo!

Have you ever lose control of the laugh? I'm sure you have. Look at the video, you don't have to understand Spanish.

I have a lot of times, and a laughing fit always comes in inconvenient situations, doesn't it? I remember the time a friend and I couldn't stop laughing in a class, which was very boring and the silent dominated above all things. The fact is that I don't remember why we started to laugh, the reason must be something silly, but I do remember how hard was it. We couldn't breathe and I thought we were dying! Then I realized the way we caught the teacher's attention and everybody's, and it was worse. I wish I could remember the reason of the laugh.

Anyway, they say laughter is the best medicine. For all.

fun : draw your face

This is a web site, Ultimate Flash Face, where you can create a drawing of different faces. There're a lot of parts of a face (hairstyles, eyes, mouths, etc) and you just choose one of them. I imagine police has something like that, right? I made one for me but it was quite hard. And it still doesn't look like me. Well it's true that there're a lot of useless hairstyles or nose there.

Now boys, you can draw a face of the girl you like and say "hey look at this, I made it for you" and impress her! And she'll say "oh!". Good luck!

Who the hell are you!
It's me. I've cut me hair, shaved my face (even the eyebrows) and put some glasses. Handsome.

film : junebug

Surreal and natural. Comedy and drama. Singularities (people) and gathering (family). That's Junebug. Some people may get bored of nothing-special-happens-here and say "please get to the point". But some people may enjoy thinking not-only-my-family-is-weird and say "what lovely characters they are", which is my case.

A marriage goes to North Carolina for business but also takes this opportunity to meet the husband's family. It's first time for the wife to meet his mother, father, brother and brother's pregnant wife. It seems like every member of this dysfunctional family is anxiously waiting for the baby who is supposed to fill the lost part of unity.

Whole film is skillful but the best is all actors in the film, specially Amy Adams, her character is crazy, and the best scene is when Alessandro Nivola's character sings a hymn at church social. Check it!

Mom: Where are you going?!
Dad: Bring the car upfront.
Mom: Don't just stand there go get the car!

Hilarious!

sound : the american analog set

It's autumn (nearly in Valencia too), time to feel nostalgic sounds!

A friend who knows good what music I listen sent me once the song The Postman by Texan band The American Analog Set. It was quite different arrange, but immediately I knew that they were the one to create strange feelings inside us. Like feeling the absolute emptiness to let us hear the whole music, very far from cheap indy rock.

disappearing : 02-albatross

Our grandchildren may never see albatrosses, does someone care?


Albatross in Japanese language is アホウドリ (Ahoudori) which means stupid birds. It seems like albatrosses are easily catchable in the land and they need to run first before flying. In China, albatrosses are sort of stupid as well, becuase it was common to think that the albatrosses ate fish that other seabirds let fall, thus Chinese imagined that albatross believed in fish rain!

Poor albatross, they are laughing stock of the all birds. So now they need to be more clever. But, it's maybe too late, albatross species face extinction unless urgent action. Now let's laugh more, just not to cry.

It is said that 100.000 albatrosses are being killed on hooks meant for fish each year, that is, by human. Easy solution to apply to every vessel: last year Japanese tuna boats fishing in New Zealand waters had to introduce measures to reduce their seabird by-catch. Deaths were cut from 4,000 to just 12. Will all apply? Other practical solutions include bird-scaring devices, weights and underwater setting tubes to keep lines beyond the reach of birds, dyeing bait an unappetising blue, and fishing at night.


But by-catch isn't the only problem. The albatrosses are threatened by pollution, by introduced species such as rats and feral cats that attack eggs, chicks and nesting adults. Well let's get to the point, it's all about caring, like everything. Specially when we're talking about vulnerable lives, like albatrosses. For a bird with an extremely slow rate of reproduction, one chick every two to three years, even relatively small losses to longlining could endanger its survival. I hate to be the one to say it, but we don't care about no-matter-where-multiple-reproducing-animal cockroaches, do we? I wonder if cockroaches come to an end someday. I don't think so. Hope albatross doesn't likewise.

fun : SpongeBob SquarePants

Well I watched this hilarious episode on TV and now I've found in the traffic mafioso Youtube. I couldn-t stop laughing and couldn't breathe while I was watching it. Actually it's the only episode of SpongeBob SquarePants I've ever seen. I'll try to watch others.

one shot : new mexico

The picture is called New Mexico and the photographer is the Jewish American Garry Winogrand (1928-1984). MoMa did his exhibition in its history. Once I found the picture below in a book and liked it. There's his quote which says

I don't have anything to say in any picture.

So I don't.

My only interest in photography is to see what something looks like as a photograph. I have no preconceptions.

Once a very artistic friend told me that black and white photographs are a kind of trick. Because everything looks beautiful in black and white. It's like easy job. And I think that way as well. So I don't like pictures and films unnecessarily black and white. But what I like I have to admit. And what I don't know is if he were able to take color pictures or not when he took New Mexico. I found just one color picture of him (left), I couldn't find the title. And it's fine, so I guess he's good.

sound : aco

She's ACO, a Japanese singer and I love her. Although she had little success in the end of 90's, she's not in the mainstream and she doesn't sell a lot nowadays. Well actually she doesn't release CDs as constant as before and it makes me sad!

My favorite song is this one, ４月のヒーロー(Shigatsuno Hero; the hero of April). I love the song, the lyrics and the video as well. Simple but enjoyable to see her with crazy look! And I like the painting in the back.

The (not very good) translation to the hook is like this:

Baby, now take the hand.
The time remaining today is sufficient, hey.
Baby, swear to this moment.
I don't care if I'm yours.

It's quite hard to translate Japanese into another language. So many differences in the sense of the words. "I don't care if I'm yours" should be like "I don't care if I'm me to you" or something like that but I don't know if that English is correct or not. Whatever...

In the beginning she sang soul and R&B and that kind of music. But later she started to play with dub music, ambient and electronic. Múm produced a song called Machi (Town) and it's precious indeed. That's in her great album Irony. Some people told that that was a wannabe-Björk album. Well it's obvious the influence of Icelandic electronic sound but she digested it to herself and that's all I care. Great album. And great collaboration with Taeji Sawai. His work is wonderful.

She change a lot every time she appear, and it does disappoint some listeners but I enjoy her music whatever the genre. And this is the last song of her, ya-yo!. From the darkness of Irony, to this poppy and non sense song (in good meaning, you know?). It's confusing and it's like, has she broken?! But I do love it. And she looks cute in this (cheep?) video.

♪it's so hard to write a simple song♪

Her next project is Golden Pink Arrow♂.