louise on the left (coast)

My dear acquaintance, it's so good to know you     (click to hear) For strength of your hand  That is loving and giving  And a happy new year  With love overflowing  With joy in our hearts  For the blessed new year  Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer  For us all who are gathered here  And a happy new year to all that is living  To all that is gentle, kind, and forgiving  Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer  My dear acquaintance, a happy new year  All of those who are hither and yonder  With love in our hearts  We grow fonder and fonder  Hail to those who we hold so dear  And hail to those who are gathered here  And a happy new year to all that is living  To all that is gentle, young, and forgiving  Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer  My dear acquaintance, a happy new year  Happy new year  --  by Regina Spektor Birthdays and New Years are not for us to celebrate, but to celebrate those who make our life worth livin

So, this morning, this, this thing , this sound, this song spilled out of my crappy car speakers (KCRW) and I immediately had to pull over into yet another nameless stripmall to just -- stop and listen to this one song. I got no videos, no lyrics, nothing but this link to the song "Falling Apart," by Emile Haynie. You're welcome.

grey afternoon Startled in bed

California Inspires Me: Jack Black (2014) from Nicolas Ménard on Vimeo . The California Sunday Magazine, in collaboration with Google Play, approached me to participate to their California Inspires Me project, a series of animated interviews on Californian artists. This time, Jack Black is covering growing up in Hermosa Beach, an early crush and Spicoli lifestyles.

小さな庭園 / Small Garden from Shunsuke Saito on Vimeo . 監督・アニメーション　斎藤俊介 音楽：岡本憲昭 音響・ミックス：染谷和孝 ２D背景美術：佐々木達也 ２Dアニメーション仕上げ：スズキハルカ ロゴデザイン：怡土希帆 Small Garden Director / Animator : Shunsuke Saito Music : Noriaki Okamoto Sound, Mixing : Kazutaka Someya 2D Background painting : Tatsuya Sasaki 2D Animation finishing : Haruka Suzuki Logo design : Kiho Ito 12 min. 22 sec. / 2014

Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow’s tense drama Zero Dark Thirty was one of the best films of 2012, if not the best film of that year and we’ve all been waiting to see what the director will tackle next. Bill Maher introduced last night on his show an important, vitally important film which Bigelow directed a harrowing short film about elephant poaching called Last Days :   The film addresses two major concerns about the act: species extinction and global terrorism , and, yes, they are intrinsically linked.  It’s a wonderful and appropriately disturbing piece of filmmaking, made all the more impressive by the fact that Bigelow is able to evoke such a visceral response in just three short minutes. Watch the short film Last Days after the jump, and please visit lastdaysofivory.com to learn more about this terrible act. Get involved.  Write letters.  Support grassroots causes that strive to keep this planet safe and sound. It takes a village.  Use your talents and passion to do somet