Takin’ It Back: Favorite Kicks

On this late edition of Takin’ It Back, old school shoes.

When I think about what I used to sport as a kid, I had some nice shoes back in the day. I wore a lot of what the modern day “street wear” heads all have now, like old Vans slip-ons, Nike Air Force…. I even had a pair of British Knights way back when. What I thought to be just average shoes turned out to be the most sought after variety of kicks today.

I went through many phases of shoe types too, starting out with your run of the mill sneakers, eventually turning to hiking boots (it was all about Hi-Tecs), then back to sneakers again. One of my favorite shoes were a pair of Nike Air Raid Peace basketball shoes, the first Airs I ever bought/owned. Most kids were into Jordans, little did they know I had one of the rarest models of Nike shoes on the street.

Sadly, those shoes met the fate of my older brother stealing them from me, and using them until they fell apart.

Tuesday music.

Ladies and gentlemen today I bring you The Ramones.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

 

If I say “The Blair Witch Project”, half of you will say “God, that boring mess just gave me motion sickness and wasn’t scary at all.” while the other half will say “Awesome flick. Very realistic and tense, with a superbly unsettling ending.” I’m of the latter opinion that the film was great and really understood that the imagination of the audience is much scarier than anything you could show them on the screen. Nevermind all the meta-marketing that went on. It was just a bold idea that paid off (I think).

While there have since been clones and imitators to the “is it real?” style used by Blair Witch, I haven’t seen anything that looks like it would skeeve me out to the same degree that the film “The Poughkeepsie Tapes” would. I’m not a fan at all of the realistic human suffering and gore that’s all rage with today’s torture porn that passes for horror cinema like the Saw or Hostel films so I don’t know if I could watch this, but “The Poughkeepsie Tapes” is a mockumentary based on the idea that investigators track a serial killer to his house and discover over 800 video tapes wherein he’s documented stalking, capturing, torturing and killing his prey. The film is split between interviews and footage from the seized tapes, including some of the killer’s most gruesome moments. It appears to have the standard screaming, helpless women that are required for any good horror film, but based on the unsettling clip below, it may appear to have a bit more substance.

Thankfully, the film makers aren’t trying to pass the film off as any document of real activity, but the film is getting good buzz on the indie film circuit and recently performed fairly well at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Trailer

Creepy Clip

“X” Marks the Spot

I like maps.

Their first purpose is obviously function, but I like them for more than that. I think they make good decoration; they’re almost like art. In a way, I guess they’re no more or less art than a photograph. Both are just direct representations of real life. But one problem with maps is that they are a flat representation of the spherical globe. That’s just not ever going to work out completely. Some maps try to keep latitude or longitude lines straight, some go for accuracy of country size, and some try to hit a sweet spot between all these.

Most of us in the states grew up with Mercator or more recently the Goode Homolosine map. It’s funny how constantly seeing a particular projection can warp your mind. Larger countries seem more important, as do countries at the top, and most of our maps over the years have helped feed our self-importance. Just think about it, when was the last time you saw a map that didn’t have the US in the middle or left-middle?

I recently purchased a Peters projection map. I intended to give it to a friend, but never got the chance. Now it’s just mine! I can’t wait to find a good place for it. I’ll hang it upside down, of course. (youtube 1 and 2)

I’m still looking for a good Seattle map, if anyone’s got any good ideas. And the first person who suggest I just buy a GPS gets a knuckle sandwich.

Tuesday music

I’m a big fan of metal and classical so the concept behind this intrigues me.

Takin’ It Back: Best Toys Evar (part 1)

Today we look at what I’ll call the first multi-part series of Takin’ It Back, covering popular toys of days past. In this week’s installment, we discuss some of the best toy action figures.

R.I.P. the Greatest Daredevil ever

That’s right, Evel Knievel, hero to millions of boys who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, died today at the age of 69.

Who will jump the Snake River Canyon now?

A Public Service Announcement for artists and art students

From Jason Sprinkle parking a truck in a public place with a “sculpture” on it and the word “bomb” somewhere on the truck in 1996, to the idiot who put a “sculpture” outside of the Royal Ontario Museum on Wednesday and called the museum to tell them “There is not a bomb by the entrance of the museum,” any number of so-called artists or art students have done public displays involving a “bomb”.

And you know something? None of them were clever, or smart, or creative, or artistic. They were douchebags.

I’m not saying authority overreaction like the Boston/Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident is alright, either. But if you put something up that says bomb, or you call up a public place and use the word “bomb” in your discussion, anyone with half a brain can expect a reaction and legal trouble when it is found out who was behind the scare.

So please, if you want to call yourself an artist, leave public not-bombing out of your portfolio. It isn’t art. It’s just stupid.

This public service announcement brought to you by Billy Ocean, Student Council Treasurer and the Association for the Prevention of Douchebaggery.

Conversations with Nick: All Hail The Dark Lord Uno

Will Tucker says:
I was playing online Uno last night.

Will Tucker says:
I’ve come to the conclusion that very little skill is involved.

     Nichak says:
     I would bet that very little fun is involved, too. I think Uno really needs to be sitting cross-legged on the floor.

     Nichak says:
     in a circle.

Will Tucker says:
with a Oujia board in the middle

     Nichak says:
     and a naked virgin.

Will Tucker says:
curvy knife

Will Tucker says:
the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian playing on the stero

Will Tucker says:
now THAT’S a game of fucking Uno.

     Nichak says:
     “Are you the Gatekeeper?”

Will Tucker says:
“No? Then you must draw 4 cards…AND THE NEW COLOR IS GREEN!”

Generally, I hate online quizzes…

…but I couldn’t pass up The Booze Test.

Can you beat my 95% score?