The illusionist.

Remember the Triplets of Belleville? The same guy did this. It will be released in New York and LA this Christmas and everywhere else sometime after. Sometimes I wish I lived in one of those two places or that Salt Lake would be included in the initial release. New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City. Why not?

Impressionable.

I got into this show down in Salt Lake that the Saltgrass Printmakers are putting on at U of U. I was hesitant to tell anyone about it until I saw the show, just in case it blew, but I just got the postcard for it and I saw my teacher, Kathy Puzey's work on it too. I guess that gives me a green light to announce it. Being in the same show as her makes me feel so grown up.

Also, for the few of you who I did tell before, note that the opening reception date changed.

Living quarters.

Someday I want a house filled with stuff like this. And secret passageways. Is that too much to ask?

Avatars.

One thing you probably don't know about me: I'm a sucker for making avatars. It really should come as no surprise to you since I'm such a narcissist. As you can tell from the picture below, I like to make my avatars extremely life-like. While I appreciate everyone that makes these "avatar generators" and believe me I understand the work that goes into them, but I have a couple issues with most of them. Those issues are glasses and curly hair. I realize having them is this bifecta that puts me in a minority, but there have to be enough people out there in the same predicament as me for the creators to address the issue.

First, glasses come in many shapes and sizes. Don't just draw John Lennon's perfectly round glasses and check that item off your list. At least give me 2 or 3 options so I can relive a few of those precious seconds from Lenscrafters.

Second, curly hair can be tricky, I know, but I'm pretty sure nobody would draw my hair as one of those perfect 70's afros (yeah, I'm talking to you xbox 360). Just like straight hair there is more than one way to style curly hair. Curly hair also comes in a variety of lengths. So please, more than one option there too.

My regards to the Scott Pilgrim website for making a pretty unique feeling "avatar generator" (is there a real term for that?). Also is anyone else excited-but-worried-it-won't-live-up-to-the-hype about this movie?

Moving mcallister.

Do you remember that one time you were watching that stupid movie Moving McAllister? You watched the entire thing, weren't entirely satisfied with how you just spent a few hours of your life, but then came the credits and that one last scene and you saw someone that looked somewhat familiar, but you couldn't figure out who it was. Let me help you out. It was me. I was taking the Bar Exam.

Record club.

No, this isn't a post about Columbia House or BMG. Have you heard about Beck's Record Club? Probably. I'm usually the last one to hear about things like this. One of the advantages to having a new computer is that I now own a computer that has a fast-enough processor/graphics card (or whatever) that I can actually watch video on the internet. I recently found out about this series of videos that Beck has been releasing on his website and on Vimeo that is called Record Club. In his words:

Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. The songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to 'add to' the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens.

Who are the musicians involved, you ask? Well, there's St. Vincent, Feist, MGMT, Wilco and Wolfmother along with a bunch that I am less-familiar with but are probably your favorite band.

My only wish? That they would actually release the albums. My favorite is Kick by INXS.

Frolf.

This is a message for all you in- or out-of-the-closet frisbee golfers here in Logan. Have you heard that they took down the frisbee golf course? That's just one more strike against living in Logan. In fact, I'll bet if Emily had known that before moving back it would have been a dealbreaker.

If you're in the neighborhood.

Dear friends,

Somehow I got into the Springville Museum of Art's Spring Salon. It will be up until July 3rd.

Respectfully,


Me

Die gestalten verlag.

Those jerks at Gestalten did it again. Don't they realize that I don't make enough money to buy all their books? They just keep churning out book after book only to very quickly be added to my already expansive Amazon Wish List. The latest two to make it to the top of my wish list are Impressive and Beyond the Street. Impressive's subheading reads: "Printmaking, Letterpress and Graphic Design." Wait, Printmaking and Graphic Design? Aren't those the two things I emphasized in getting my bfa? Now if it only covered Arrested Development, curly hair, sporadic video game playing and my wife I could get all my passions between two covers.

Beyond the Street promises to be an exciting volume to add to your library. It contains interviews with "the 100 leading figures in Urban Art," including my favorite, Herakut. The one big surprise I had was that Banksy is not included in the list of leading figures. Beyond that I can see little disappointment with this book. It's 400 pages, so it'll be heavy, and with Gestalten's reputation for putting out very well crafted books I can see I'm going to have to do some quick calculations to figure out when I'll be able to get this one off the wish list and on to my shelf.

Quote unquote fantastic.

Fantastic Mr. Fox came out on video yesterday. Needless to say I picked it up on my lunchbreak and we watched it again last night. I had forgotten just how much I love that movie. It quickly made its way into my "Top 5." What else is on my "Top 5" you ask? Well, at the moment all I can remember is Groundhog's Day and Stranger Than Fiction. I really like the Brothers Bloom but I'm not sure it can replace the two movies I can't remember right now. It might be number 6. And there are great movies like Son of Rambow and (500) Days of Summer, but I don't think they quite make the cut either. Turns out I might not have a physical list of 5 films that I hold closer to my heart than any other. It might just be a euphemism for saying, "I really, really like these movies" where the ones that don't make the cut I only really like (only one "really"). Then there are those movies that I hold in whatever body part is the opposite of the heart, like Eragon and Jumper, that I wish I could go back in time to convince myself to schedule a dentist appointment for the showtime of the movie instead of subjecting myself to sit through it. Even the painfully bad Riding the Bus with My Sister doesn't quite make that cut.

I wish I could find good bandit hats like these.