Spinal display

Never throw out your old books, especially if they are leather bound! Just remove the dust jacket (if there is any), assemble them in assorted sizes and colours depending in the length and design of your shelves. Then grab some cheap acrylic paint and any brush, paint a motif of your choice (never hurts to doodle the idea before starting to paint) on the spines and if you wish even on the covers of the outer books. Make sure to have the line up held tight and steady for the continuity. Just like that you’ve remade some of your old and unwanted pieces of literature (is there even such thing?) into classy looking and uniquely designed decorative pieces for your household! And if you don’t read (shame on you!) and still want it to look as if you have put that head of yours to some serious intellectual use, there are always old neighbours or vintage book markets to turn to for some cheap but beautiful bricks.

Mad Men me!

I really wanted to be a Mad Man and today I’ve become one! Well, …almost!lol Thanks to http://madmenyourself.com. By the way, if you think I kinda look like being up to no good its because I’ve found myself alone with my lovely female colleagues! hehe, …art imitating life!lol

An Iranian Fable?

I told you about “Garshasp” the other day and it seems like more games are on their way! Another Iranian game is in the making and something which seems to be a beta gameplay clip has surfaced online (watch). “Afsaaneye Ruzbeh” looks like to be an RPG (Role Playing Game) with Co-op (Cooperative), heavily inspired by the game series “Fable“!

Note: thanks to Peyman

Some swing for your summer soirées?

Just in time for the summer the Swedish avantgarde duo KOOP have released their 1997-2007 best of compilation. “Coup de Grâce” is just like all their previous offerings released as a rather neat digipak. If you need ambient and uplifting music for your summer soirées then this should definitely be on your play-list! Bossa Nova-swinging, Jazz-sampling Electro-elevator jam performed by eights vocalists through the years, here is the song that got them big back in 2002.

All checkered and good to go!

You know that your sartorial skills have improved a notch when you can pull off juxtaposing argyle and plaid patterns in two pieces of clothing seamlessly!

Dan belives the Hype

One of the hottest videos right now is Dan Balan’s “Chica Bomb”. The legendary video director Hype Williams, who a decade ago introduced the fish-eye lens to the world of videos through numerous Hip Hop videos, has in this video not only picked some of the hottest dancers out there but he has once again proved that his ability to visualize music transcends genres. Just check the man’s technical skills in the editing, there are several remixes of this song available and for each Hype has edited a video. Though basically same footage has been used for all clips the editing of each is so impeccable that it’s as if each frame is custom-shot for that particular version. Making each video unique with an own twist, just like its remix! I’ve picked one of my favorite clips which I’ll post right after the original clip (preceded by a behind the scenes interview). I’ve picked this one just because it boils down things to pure hotness by excluding Dan Balan completely!lol hehehe, enjoy!

by the way this is my favorite remix of the song!

How can one live in a place like this and not be creative every single second of life?!

Garshasp the game

You might recall my post about the Iran-based digital artist Soheil Danesh. Soheil has in recent years been working on a game called “Garshasp“, a game that is as the title suggests built around the Iranian character by the same name and the Persian mythology. The game looks aesthetically decent and even though it wont meet much of the current standards of the Western game industry it is nonetheless a brave attempt by a small Iranian company with limited capital and resources.

However what is interesting is that while Iranians are always ready to rip the throat of any Westerner who has the nerve to somehow adopt the Iranian history or Persian mythology with even the slightest alteration, let alone discrepancies (I have been waiting a couple of years now for the massive mob that the Prince of Persia movie premier will raise by the end of this month!lol) have themselves completely neglected these elements and essences in the game about Garshasp! Garshasp and his world do not look and feel Iranian, instead everything about it looks and feels like a low quality copy of a game the westerners might base on their re-imagined Iranian mythology.

Garshasp looks even less Iranian than the Prince of Persia, for God’s sake!lol Its a hodgepodge mix of elements from various fantasy sagas such as Lord of the Rings and the World of Warcraft games. Anything but references to our own visualizations which exist as miniatures and the traditional tea-house murals (this video is a perfect example of an adequate modern adaptation of such artistic heritage). Meaning that in their attempt to take this concept back to where it belongs they have taken it yet a step further away from home! Ironically. And what is funny and very typical for the Iranian mentality is that this game will probably not raise a single eyebrow (except for my thick ones), let alone provoke and mobilize masses like “300″ did (the wrath which had Frank Miller almost suffering the nationalistic equivalent to a Fatwah!lol).

Metropia, an Orwellian dystopia!

Swedes have a more humble sense of national pride compared to some other nations (*hint*hint*lol), they regard themselves as tigers but merely modest ones! The same goes for their cinema, its not often you see swedes toot their own horns even though they’ve certainly have had many reasons to do that. Recently another one of these modest tigers has found its way to the international scene, an animated feature called “Metropia“. In a visually unique style and stunning expression the Swedish-Egyptian graffiti artist gone television debater and director Tarik Saleh has managed to create an Orwellian dystopia charged with a Kafka-esque paranoia.

As you can see in the trailer Metropia does not only represent something of a signature style in terms of animation (which looks marvellous on Blu-ray) but it is also something of a maverick in the full-length film context, taking the short film formula and expanding it to fit the mainstream format. It features voice-over by Juliette Lewis, Vincent Gallo and the Skarsgårds (father and son). However despite its technical impeccability it tends to come a bit short in terms of dramaturgy and suspense that sustains all the way through. Nevertheless this is an achievement not only for Tarik Saleh as a director but also a milestone for the international cinema. Sadly, due to its modesty, it will remain an unappreciated one!

An image that is always on my inspiration board!

Stormsneakers

If you are a Star Wars geek like yours-truly then these original ADIDAS Stormtrooper sneakers are a must! My pair are on their way, from the galaxy far far away … aka eBay!lol

The origin

Do you still doubt your Darwinian origin?

Cuz I sure don’t!lol hehe

Gone alone to meet Gainsbourg

A couple of days ago I tried something different! Something my fellow movie lovers have done in years, but somehow I have never. ‘Till now, that is! Namely to go to the cinemas all solo! For the first time in my life I went to watch a movie without a company, and let me tell you that it felt kinda strange but also cool! Hehe, as much as I love a good company when enjoying a movie I have always been fascinated by those who go all alone and are able to enjoy something all by themselves. Some might consider such sight sad, I rather see it as strength! So yesterday I gave it a shot and it worked rather fine, I must say. Even though for the first time I came to understand why all these years my friends kept nagging about people chatting or making sounds around them, while I had never picked up on such things when accompanied by someone. Yesterday even a whisper bugged the hell out of me!lol And the fact that such trivialities did irritate me irritated me even more!lol So that minor disturbance was the only downside of the experience, I think. Also I chose a foreign movie for this historic occasion, in a secluded cinema with only 100 seats (of which about 80 were vacant!lol). I think its harder to watch a blockbuster on your own in a standard size cinema, its like going to a stadium and watch a high profile concert all alone! In such events the more is the merrier, in my opinion. However foreign arthouse films more or less demand your undivided attention. Its like going to a cozy joint or jazz bar, which for me works even better (in many ways, hehe) when I go alone.

Anyways, now to the movie “Gainsbourg” which I was dying to watch and grabbed the opportunity when it against all odds is being shown in selected cinemas here in Sweden. It should be mentioned that this is not a biopic as much as it is a psychological portrait. In the sense that it is based more on fantasy than actual facts, even in terms of presentation and narration. You’ll meet Serge’s alter ego, in a way you would have never imagined! As a result the film is a series of loosely connected songs and scenes from Serge’s life and career, without any conventional continuity or coherence. Much like the style and disposition of the graphic novels of its director. Meaning that if you are unfamiliar with the popular icon and his cultural significance you wont be able to connect the dots that this film offers you. In other words you wont be able to appreciate Gainsbourg if you don’t know Gainsbourg! Ultimately this is Serge Gainsbourg as “imagined” by the illustrator gone director Sfar, but done so rather delicately if not romantically. Despite the fragmented dramaturgy the cinematography is beautiful and the fact that Elmosnino looks like Gainsbourg’s clone does a great deal to give this film’s depiction enough credibility to sell it’s fables to you as facts! Finally the tragic suicide of the young and beautiful actress Lucy Gordon whose performance in the leading role was meant to be her big break in the world of cinema has come to cast a shadow of sadness over “Gainsbourg”. The fact that she hung herself weeks after the film was finished and never got to watch it!

Pixels sprinkles

We have seen what kind of magic amateur directors are creating at home nowadays, remember Fede Alvarez and his epic short film? Patrick Jean’s PIXELS is another perfect example, its pure eye candy especially for us gamers of the 80’s!

Like a wet dream

In case you haven’t noticed I happen to have a thing for the fusion of wood and water. Both in terms of organic union and color combination. Dsquared2 has taken my aesthetic preferences which Gucci Pour Homme II had realized to yet another level with their latest He and She Wood series!

Talk about postmodern design, its juxtaposition of retro and contemporary styles is a wet dream for a design fetishist like yours-truly! Even their rock and wood edition is an eye-candy.

Finding an old friend

This is my dear old friend (and in a way also once my mentor) Salam, paying full attention to a debate without being aware of the scribbling me capturing his profile! hehe. This was done on the back of a script, during an evening seminar on the Middle East back in January 1996. I said my old friend, since I’ve known him a relatively long time, but also since back then he seemed old to the younger me. Even though he was about the same age that I happen to be today!lol Funny thing is that I never showed him this sketch back then, that evening I was so exhausted that as soon as the seminar ended I put away this along with everything else handed out that day in a folder that somehow got lost in time. However recently it surfaced from somewhere and when I finally showed it to him he was literally stunned and struck by all the details of resemblance that I’d manged to capture and put in this rather tiny portrait (the version above is three times bigger than the actual size)!

All the boys love Amber Heard!

The latest horror movie princess Amber Heard is probably one of the sexiest and sultriest creatures ever gracing the frames of the genre. Just look at her lustful look! One loses mind and control by the mere look in those hungry bedroom eyes. And that slender and bendy body of hers makes her look like a fragile gazelle, lurking and tempting the lion to hunt her down! Only to realize, when it’s too late, who the actual prey is in this hunt! Much like her role in “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane”. Amber Heard … what a creature!