louise on the left (coast)

Those wacky, romantic French (Okay, European) filmmakers do it again -- in this very gripping short film, from Kamel Films Talk about on the edge of your seat...

And it's pretty great. Watch:

The "Firehouse 5 + 2"  Best Video Christmas Cards Ever! -- -- Thanks to the great website, Dangerous Minds for inspiring me to explore this subject further.   And more vintage Disney Christmas fun *Disclaimer*  There are several  non-PC "retro" ideas found in some of these videos. Try to rise above the past's inability to live in our current Obama-world and tap into the joy aspect of it. CHECK OUT BELOW LINK TO AMAZING VINTAGE MEDLEY  OF CHRISTMAS ANIMATION GEMS: And a link to one of the best Christmas, holiday themed Disney retro and vintage animated loops, ever .

Race To Nowhere: A documentary about schools and our children: Today's students are simply being pushed too hard, too far, too fast, too much. It's insane to expect HS students to pull off the amount of responsibility and productivity that schools expect of them, especially in junior year. I'm disgusted that year after year people say this, but nobody does anything about changing this problem! There are just too, too many kids out there who are completely stressed out, exhausted, overwhelmed, demoralized, defeated, depressed. And schools tell us it's the college's fault because colleges reward the kids with the "best grades." Well, what about schools -- ALL schools, high schools and colleges figuring out what education really is: A chance to learn, to absorb, to creatively problem solve. Not memorize and churn out senseless junk that has no emotional resonance with the youth of today. Frankly, I'm totally fed up with the school system righ

Newsflash: Two of my fav rock heroes, LCD Soundsytem's James Murphy and David Bowie, collaborate and come up with one very sexy, hypnotic, electrifying, meditation on the loss of love, in their music video not surprisingly called..."Love Is Lost." After watching, I'm thinking would could also be titled,  "This is your brain -- on love." -- Many thanks to that guy at Orange County Register for sending this to me.  (He knows me so well.) <3 "And this is your brain on loss of love..." Only these guys could make love-withdrawal seem as uber sexy and NWFW as they do, making me want to play it on a loop for the rest of the day.  Or night. For more insight into this collaboration read the Rolling Stone article, here. Music video by David Bowie performing Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA). (C) 2013 ISO Records, under exclusive license to Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment

LCD Soundsystem "Home" from FUNWUNCE on Vimeo . Tonight I jump in the car to pick up my kid from a play date. I flip on KCRW to catch what turned out to be the final song in Travis's dj set: "Home" by lcd soundsystem. HOME Home Home Home Home Home Home Take me home Just do it right Make it perfect and real Because it's everything No everything was never the deal So grab your things and stumble into the night So we can shut the door Oh, shut the door on terrible times Yeah, do it right And head again into space So you can carry on And carry on, and fall all over the place This is the trick, forget a terrible year That we can break the laws Until it gets weird And this is what you waited for But under lights, we're all unsure So tell me What would make you feel better? As night has such a local ring And love and rock are pick-up things And you know it Yeah, you know it Yeah, you know Take Forget your past

The first in a series of "Best Scenes from Holiday Movies" -- written by screenwriters who truly understand the meaning of Christmas... ...What? You thought I'd seriously make you watch Jimmy Stewart crying in the snow again? Well, all I have to say to that is... "...Not tonight, Berta. Not tonight."

Yes, if you're totally not into that tiresome Christian-thing and actually feel pretty dang bitter about having to tolerate one more redundant Merry-Whatever crap, have I got a song for you! (NSFW) Yes, meet another form of Scrooge, Cynthia Kaplan. And I actually feel I should preface the message of this post along with a bit of personal history that in fact Ms. Kaplan is not always the cranky-pants you might think she is from this video. (Lie. Sometimes she is.) Actually, I personally know and love this woman very much. And the fact that she endured my wedding as one of my bridesmaids means she's a pretty tolerant person, trust me. . However, she's also wickedly smart and extremely funny so when she has a hankering to make her creative side known, I just duck and cover and say, "Hey! Cy Kap's got a Christmas Song for ya!"  (NSFW) And so without any more holiday ado, here's the holiday comedy music video from the one and only Cynthia Kaplan:

Thank you Improve Everywhere .

If you ask me, this is the only kind of cliff-jumping I'd recommend and Lorde's got it down. This is who this amazing child is: Check it out:

Man, I knew there was a really good reason not to jump off cliffs. I think I'll continue to taking risks in ways which don't include gravity.

How do you define " an a$#h*@l "? I thought about it but nothing can better this musical definition by Dennis Leary's "I'm An As $#h*@le ." (I actually almost deleted this song but, once you get to about 1/3 of the way into it Leary's AWESOME.  I can't take it down.  It's too good to take down.) for more....click here

Rise and shine: the daily routines of history's most creative minds Oliver Burkeman The Guardian ,  Friday 4 October 2013 ) Benjamin Franklin spent his mornings naked. Patricia Highsmith ate only bacon and eggs. Marcel Proust breakfasted on opium and croissants. The path to greatness is paved with a thousand tiny rituals (and a fair bit of substance abuse) – but six key rules emerge Daily Rituals by Mason Currey  Click on image for full illustration. Illustration: Jean Julien for the Guardian One morning this summer, I got up at first light – I'd left the blinds open the night before – then drank a strong cup of coffee, sat near-naked by an open window for an hour, worked all morning, then had a martini with lunch. I took a long afternoon walk, and for the rest of the week experimented with never working for more than three hours at a stretch. Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

Advice I wish I'd been given a long, long time ago. Advice to pass along those who might be about to "give up" on their dream. Never say "die." Never! Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo .

Very beautiful Vimeo staff video pick about how creatures play such important, vitally needed roles in our lives. This holiday, this Christmas, won't you please consider adopting from an animal shelter, or the pound some kind, loving soul who will be so forever grateful for your friendship, your special companionship? Forget the pet store: Adopt those who need your love and gain an angel in your life. The love of the right pet will change your life forever. Where can you find an animal shelter near you? Click here to find your new pet to share your life with . Last Minutes with ODEN from Eliot Rausch on Vimeo .

Sometimes I write things on my blog that are sort-of messages posted to the future for my daughters to find, as a breadcrumb trail back to any lingering questions they may have about their mother. Certainly, not all my blog posts are meant to be digital "messages in a bottle," but some are.  A few are. It's just that in real life, if you stand too close to someone for too long, you can't see them as clearly.   Distance, time, and the addition of other voices, do help. So, while they may have figured it out from my bookshelf already, there are two artists on the planet I feel speak in an emotional shorthand my heart can relate to the quickest: They are Sally Mann and Ellen Gilchrist. Sally Mann   is a visual artist, and American photographer.  Some describe her as an American (Southern) photographer.  She's best known for her large black-and-white photographs—at first of her young children, then later of landscapes suggesting decay and death.  MORE ON SAL

Apparently this is the sound of crickets singing, but slowed down very, very slow. They apparently sing like a choir of angels. I have no idea if this is a hoax or not, but when I go, I sure hope it sounds like this on the other side.

Sun, air, water, light, child.

And Dave at work.

Published on Jul 22, 2013 Neil Hilborn, performing during Individual Finals at the 2013 Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam. Order his most recent book here: http://buttonpoetry.com/product/clatter/

It's true, the Florida college group do manage to sing like angels, however I kind-of find the goldfish thing a bit distracting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY , to my dad ,  Vermont's greatest Opera fan!  Happy Birthday To You -- The Opera! "Happy Birthday" Wagner-style And now, a random little 8 year old girl singing Mozart's Queen of the Night, just for you.  (Not really, she obviously has no idea who you are, nor we her, but this kid's facial expressions make up for everything missing in all the other videos below.)   Happy, happy, happy birthday to a swell guy who is 87 years young today! We love and miss you and would be fixing you a bourbon old fashioned right now as we speak, if 2000 miles of US of A were not parked between us right now. :( But, we love you and hope you enjoy your day! xo love you, Dad! Also --- If you can figure out how to work your computer you can watch the videos I found (borrowed) from fellow opera fans for your birthday enjoyment. A daughter's "Opera Jukebox Birthday Present" for her father! Pavarotti Last Performance "Nessun Dorma

I'm so glad I went into this film not expecting much-- For I left completely suprised to find I was utterly swept off my feet by this gripping, thrilling tale of kids and young adults fending for themselves in a struggle for survival. I was truly sorry to see the end credits roll as I sincerely wanted to see so much more about the characters by then, and their tale. I simply can't imagine why this movie didn't get more great publicity: It certainly deserved to. It is a thrilling, unexpected delight, assuming you find End Of World stories delightful. I hope it begins to gain a wider audience asap. " How I Live Now " got "iffy" reviews, mostly, I think, because it didn't try harder to explain itself. It was strong, captivating, interesting, unpredictable, compelling and has a kick ass soundtrack, too. What's not to like, for goodness sake? I found myself more on the edge of my seat than I ever was during the extremely predicatble, so-ca

Jack Wild, my 1rst heart-throb Mickey: my 2nd heart-throb.  It was the shrooms. When I was a kid I'd wake up, get my favorite cereal and watch shows like H. R. Pufnstuf , Scooby-Doo and as much (really old) Popeye and vintage Bugs Bunny as I could find while my parents slept.  The best Bugs Bunny was when he was in drag Yep, in DRAG see link below   i nfluenced by vaudeville acts while America was distracted by WWII .  The trick to finding the really naughty cartoons was to get up super early before the networks put on their newer shows.  Somehow, even back then, I knew how subversively un-PC and risque the animation from the 1940s could be = much more funny than what the kids were getting in the '60s. (Note:  I've already waxed nostalgic about H. R. Pufnstuf here .) Now, I get up on Saturday A.M., make a pot of coffee and check out the internet while the kids sleep: It works for me.  Sometimes it sort of feels the same.

promises, promises. I'll never understand why Aimee Mann is seen as the queen of dark-themed songs when her videos are so damn funny. People hear what they want to hear, I suppose. I know I do.

Animators Doug Bayne, Ben Baker and Trudy Cooper do something hilariously creative with what some of us think about this stuff, anyway. Enjoy!

22 year old young man turns himself into jail for a misdemeanor of pot possession, tells the jail about his his life-threatening food allergies, stated they had a medical file about his life-threatening health condition in their possession already and even asks prison guard about the ingredients of his food, then later begging for medical help - is abandoned and left for dead in his jail cell. This is how our country deals with food allergies in institutions?  They just walk away and let people die? Horrific and upsetting.  His mother is filing a lawsuit and I hope she wins every penny and raises awareness about how institutions disregard the severity of food allergies in all institutional settings. So heartbreaking.

Because she was weird, but profound. Shocking but uplifting.  Laughably out-of-tune, but catchy and kind.   Unlike anyone else. Because the clown is a visionary. Because her work is still strange, optimistic, jarring, relevant and most of all, it's brave. And nobody's brave anymore. They're just thieves of days gone by. Ono's is still a pioneer.  Young at heart when life should have made it old. Because she's a one-of-a kind kook with something to say that we very much need to hear. And that's just some of why John loved her so much. YOKO ONO with Ad Rock & Mike D, Ani Taj & Dance Cartel, Greg Saunier, Heems, Ira Glass, Josh Fox, Justin Vivian Bond, Questlove, Reggie Watts, Roberta Flack, Yuka Honda & Miho Hatori. BAD DANCER When your heart is dancing Your mind is bouncing Bounce bounce bounce bounce I'm a bad dancer A busy bouncer Never touch the ground Never make a sound I'm a tough lover A sweet pusher Writing my l

Sometimes I hear a T.V. theme song and wax nostalgic about parenthood in the '90s, or early 2000's...  But these videos are really weird.   You've been warned. Beatrix Potter classic "Mr. Jackson has serious issues   (the real magic begins at 2:38) Blues Clues "Good Thing I Have Shoe Stickers"

Caught an amazing interview on NPR tonight with yet another epic Wainwright. You should listen to her. She's great.

When I saw this trailer I was so excited! Then I learned I have to wait until MARCH 2014 to actually SEE the movie. Read LA Times Wes Anderson interview here . Not cool.

Yushichi - Nathaline Kerosene from Niklas Panthell on Vimeo .

...and apparently, I always will. Melancholy from Maciej Dvorak on Vimeo .

The title was a clue it should be in my blog. And that the music's by Phillip Glass. KEEP LEFT from Vitùc on Vimeo .

My money's always been on Jolene.

"DRIFTING" - FROM FILM, "GRAVITY" SOUNDTRACK - FROM FILM, "GRAVITY" The new film Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is a visual, auditory parable told in a way I can't remember ever having seen before. Yes, it is a "space" movie, and yes, it stars biggies like George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, however -- it is not what I expected. Watching this felt like something new and fresh and brought me back to what I think all theater or story-telling is for: It exists so that we learn something we need to know about ourselves. I have a hunch the success of this film is largely due to director Alfonso Cuarón. How else could we come away feeling like we've just seen an indie treasure and not mind the pinch of having just forked over good money to see another star-packed blockbuster. The direction, the casting, the writing, the acting -- the art direction in particular -- are understated, perfectly pitched notes. There are moments of cinem

STS - LOS ANGELES from Station to Station on Vimeo . -- Courtesy of STS collaborations

check out lonesome tears --- Setlist: “The Golden Age” “Lonesome Tears” “Wake Up” “One Foot in the Grave” “Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods” “Everlasting Nothing” “Free Me” “Where It’s At” “I used to come down to the train station when I was a kid and read books in the lounge until security kicked me out,” said  Beck Hansen  on Thursday, September 26, at the Los Angeles stop of  Station to Station , the roving train tour dreamed up by L.A.-based multimedia artist  Doug Aitken . Beck played at Union Station, the penultimate leg of the public art project that moved from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Coast over the past month. After starting the journey in Brooklyn, with stops in such cities as Pittsburgh, Chicago, Kansas City and Santa Fe, the train arrived at track 13 in L.A. where Aitken’s friends, including photographer Catherine Opie, boarded the parked railroad cars to see the living quarters of artists, writers, musicians

This was made this over the summer, I first posted it my blog back then.   At the time all I wrote was this, below -- We are all in constant motion. Toward home. Away from home. Toward new futures. Toward separations. Toward new narratives. Journeying roads known, to destinations unknown. But always, we have each other, and our memory of our journey. We have not been always understood, but still -- she and I.  And her sister and I and her sister. We all have each other.  Which.  Is not nothing. They have each in very different ways each have taught me what love really means.  As has their father.  And that is not an easy lesson to learn.  Not by a long shot.   I can only hope I have done the same for each them. I respect and love my kids so much it makes my heart hurt. I respect each, as very different, yet in harmony within this, our orbit,  each young women who are persons of unbelievable inner strength.  But, not in the entirely th