Sexual high and dry

Radiohead meets Marvin Gaye.

Ring my cell

S/FJ breaks down the history of the cell phone ring tone. Sounds like even mom's are hip to the groove, "A kid I met on the subway told me that his mother doesn’t like his new 50 Cent ringtone, “Candy Shop,” not because it features explicitly sexual rhymes but because it’s not as cool as “In Da Club,” a previous 50 Cent ringtone, which received Billboard’s first Ringtone of the Year award, in 2004." Personally, my phone doesn't go off often enough to justify spending tons of money on ring tones. Right now it mimics an old rotary phone ring.

Hong Kong Art Walk

For those in Hong Kong, tomorrow is the fifth annual ArtWalk, a charity event benefiting the HIV Education Centre at St John’s Cathedral, the Society of Community Organization (SoCO) and the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care. The entry ticket allows the bearer to partake of the wine served by each of the 40 participating galleries and 'finger food' provided by our sponsoring restaurants. If I were there I'd be going! Note that tickets last year sold out.

Identity works!

Ever wonder how to set the logo for the Home Office? Well wonder no more!

Art of the Japanese Postcard

I've missed this exhibit at Boston's MFA, unfortunately, but I bought the book. It's the Art of the Japanese Postcard. The show looked great. There's a wide assortment of cards on view on the site. And the book was one of the NYTimes notable art books from last year. Unfortunately it'll take 1-2 months for me to see my copy arrive from Amazon. :-( Happy New Year everyone! Incidentally, here's what the NYTimes had to say about the book: "Keats said that reading Chapman's translation of Homer felt like watching an unknown planet float into view. You might have a similar reaction to Art of the Japanese Postcard: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA Publications, paper, $29.95). Beginning in 1900, with the lifting of the government monopoly on the printing of postcards, many of Japan's leading artists tried their hand at designing in this exotic new medium borrowed from the West. It took a while for Japanese woodblock prints to be appreciated for the masterpieces they are, and the same could be said -- in fact, is said, by Anne Nishimura Morse and other sharp-eyed scholars writing in this exhibition catalog -- about the neglected genre of the postcard. In this spell-inducing volume, you'll find the encounter of East and West given a fresh treatment. A Japanese woman swings a tennis racket against a backdrop of blue morning glories. Some of the most arresting cards are aerial views: colorful parasols amid the shadows of their owners; Art Nouveau swimmers grasping a lifesaver; and three cavalrymen riding into battle in the Russo-Japanese War, exactly 100 years ago."

Skeletal systems

Ever wonder what your favorite cartoon character might look like under all that skin? Here is one man's interpretation.

Pina Bausch on NPR

On Morning Edition, NPR had a short piece on choreographer Pina Bausch. There's a short clip of a dance she choreographed that was showcased in the Almodovar film Talk to Her. On Sunday I get to see her group perform at BAM. I can't wait!

Transformers

David sent me a link to this commercial. Talk about Transformers: more than meets the eye. I'd hate to be in the driver's seat while that thing's getting down.

Hanzismatter

While surfing around I found this site, which breaks down the (mis)use of Chinese characters in various ads and tattoos. So far, my favorite mystery is that of Marcus Camby's tattoo. Courtesy of Angry Asian Man.

In alphabetical order

The NYT best 1000 movies ever made.

2046

Kit just pointed me to the 2046 website. I took a quick peek but I really don't want to know. I want to see it cold. Eric and I went to Chinatown the other day and found the 2046 dvd and vcd. Unfortunately, it's the version from China, dubbed into Mandarin and without English subtitles. Still, I was sorely tempted. But I'll wait for the HK DVD. And my new tv.

Wong Kar-Wai news

Kino's releasing a Wong Kar-Wai DVD box set, containing five of his earlier films (the only film that's missing is Ashes of Time. I've never seen the Kino prints, but they must be better than the Chinatown DVD versions I own and so now I'm sorely tempted to get this. They're also re-releasing Days of Being Wild to theaters with a new translation. I just wonder if it's a new print. For those in the New York area, it'll be playing at the Film Forum in November. Looks like it's gonna be a WKW fall . . .

Eminem lets his politics be known

Eminem's Mosh Music Video. See it here.

Sticker shock

Sasha Frere-Jones, Dave Tompkins, Hua Hsu, and Jeff Chang have just about launched their new audioblog, Sticker Shock. I was involved in the minimal design. It's gonna be big.

New photoblogs

My cousin Dan just started his first photoblog. It's called Un Object d'art.

THREE.2

THREE.2 is a new digifotoblog posting frequent images thus far in and around New York.

Kill Kitty

Chang Cheng-Yue is performing in New York and Boston on Sunday and Monday (and he's playing in LA Oct 23. He's a Chinese Rock star, and this marks the first time a Chinese Rock artist has toured the states. Click on the banner for more information.

I love eggs

And you might too after seeing this. Though maybe eating them 365 days a year would be bad for your health. . . . Thanks to Dennis for pointing it out.

Open House New York

"The Second Annual OHNY weekend is scheduled for Saturday & Sunday, October 9 & 10, 2004. 100 fascinating spaces and places in all five boroughs will be open for tours - free of charge. Each site will offer different experiences, including guided and self-guided tours, informal talks and conversations with the designers." I missed this last year so I'm definitely going out this year to check it out. Read about it on their site: www.openhousenewyork.org

Photo books

I'm ordering two books. Eric had recommended the VII agency's book War to me a few weeks ago. At AIGA's 50 books 50 covers I saw the book itself and spent a good portion of my time there flipping through it (you would think that their site would have at least thumbnails of the winners). The other book I'm buying is Michael Ackerman's End Time City, a collection of photographs he took while in Benares. I've been meaning to get that one for a wihle and am finally breaking down and doing it.