I’ve been trying to learn Japanese this year. I’m making progress but it’s definitely slow. While I took Spanish in high school, my brain didn’t shift the way it is now. As I started to write and learn these brand new characters, I started noticing all the things I take for granted, […]

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Richard DeDomenici is an artist, seems to have a lot of fun traveling and making shows for BBC. I’m jealous!
Richard DeMomenici’s Power of Art (a BBC promotion supporting Simon Schama’s show).

Visit his sites:
Richard DeDomenici’s Art site and
Non-art site

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This is an excellent show, with beautiful cinematography and a very smart, passionate look at the people behind some of the greatest art in history. Episodes look at the lives of Van Gogh, Picasso, Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, Turner and Rothko.
More on the Power of Art site.
It’s airing on PBS now (schedule is on the […]

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Each scene rolls on quietly with poetic light and ambient sounds, with the few words spoken coming from the Iraqi people themselves. Each of the three parts of the film focus on one person, and simply shows what they see and hear, as their voices sparsely speak about their lives. The first person […]

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Tears of the Black Tiger combines the early Clint Eastwood Western with Hong Kong and Thai films of the 1950’s and 60’s. Though it sticks to plot and acting that retain high melodrama and graphic violence, it has fun with all of the genres that inspired it, with many hysterical scenes that border on […]

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I used to flip through the Artist’s Market when I was in middle school. Back then, the prices paid for illustrations from books and magazines seemed extravagant. I didn’t understand until later how little artists get paid for their time and skill.
How about $.69 per hour?
Mechanical Turk is an Amazon project […]

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Some of the best funk and psychedelic music ever written was created for Italian B-movies in the 1960s and 70s. This music was compiled and released by Plastic Records in Italy. I discovered them through Tower Records (of all places) who carried a single album from their catalogue - Vroommm: Funk Cinematique. […]

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After I wrote the post about Young Frankenstein yesterday, I ran into this post - Are Blogs Making The Time-Honored Preview Obsolete?
It’s common practice for the press to refrain from reviewing shows when they are in previews. If you do a search on Technorati or Google for “Young Frankenstein musical”, however, you’ll see that […]

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The Producers and Hairspray both began as movies, became musicals, and then turned into movie musicals. I have little doubt the new musical Young Frankenstein will follow the same footsteps.
It’s still in previews and has its flaws, but mostly it’s a lot of fun. From some really funny moments to a giant Frankenstein […]

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International art collectors are warming up to a new breed of daring Japanese artists that are no longer beholden to Western styles.
Mentioned in the article is a Contemporary Arts Fund. I’m not sure how well known this is, but there are funds (like mutual funds) created by financial organizations that own artwork instead of […]

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