My Version of Espresso

Random thought on complaining about hipsters

2010-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hipsters have become a big internet meme, just like zombies and pictures of cats. I was listening to an archive of a really old episode of The Best Show on WFMU from 2000. One of the guests started complaining about hipsters and Williamsburg. So, effectively this has been going on for at least ten years.

I've been identified as a hipster before and it doesn't bother me, but I'm not personally championing it as a movement, if you can even call it that. It's just dumb and old and I'm tired of it. So to everyone:

Conservatives - Who cares if they dress funny and support the gays/are gay? They are perfectly compatible with capitalism, which works out a lot better for you than actual hippies.

Liberals - You can have a poser fight with them all day if you want. Who cares if someone supports an issue just because it's cool? At least you are getting some support for your cause. If you think they are silly or annoying, just ignore them.

To the internet/everyone else - Vice magazine does the best job of both creating hipsters and making fun of them, so just leave it to the experts. We can still enjoy making fun of people at Walmart, because that will never ever get old.

Setting the record straight on Marx

2010-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

During the debate on health care reform Karl Marx's name has been drug through the mud time and again. Being a dedicated Marx scholar, it pains me to see how he has been grossly misrepresented for petty political gain. I'd like to set the record straight.

Karl Max - A Condensed History for the People
by Wes Beltz

Karl Marx was the inventor of Communism and Socialism. He moved to Germany in the early 1930's and became good pals with Adolph Hitler. Hitler loved Marx's Socialism idea so much that he ran with it and formed the Nazi party. Towards the end of the war things were looking hairy, and Josef Mengele who had just made extraordinary breakthroughs in artificial insemination suggested that high ranking Nazi officials and other people of great import donate sperm samples to be kept for a future Nazi uprising. Hitler volunteered Karl Marx for the experiment and his sperm was kept in cold storage. Somewhere along the way several of the samples were handed off to the Japanese. Due to Allied attacks on supply ship convoys these samples were thought to have been lost not too far off the coast of Hawaii...

Karl Marx himself fled Germany and lived for many years in the seclusion of Siberia. As the Cold War continued to gain momentum in the 1960's he was called back to the Soviet Union where he served as a valuable adviser on Communism and Socialism(obviously). Tragically, he was killed on the eve of his 80th birthday as part of the Berlin Wall literally fell on top of him.

Perfect

2009-04-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

photo by me

I'm probably not going to subject myself to the Hell of trying to get a Japanese driver's license, but with the possibility of a longer commute looming I've been daydreaming about picking up a Honda Super Cub.

Wikipedia agrees, it's one of the best motorcycles ever made.

Here you go

2009-04-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason I haven't had the initiative to write about anything outside of some posts on my Twitter account.

I went through the process of getting all of my film work onto my Flickr account instead of creating an artist's site like I told myself I was going to do.

Anyway.

Please just stop

2009-02-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

Like Dragon Ball Z, Godzilla, and many other Japanese pop culture icons, America totally fucks it up again.

What you can find in those awesome sidebar ads on Facebook.

2009-02-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

G-Tox
Streetwear Fashion with Passion! Worn by extreme urban athletes in USA, UK, France, Germany, and Japan! Check it out!

Please tell me this is just some advertising major's class project and not a place that actually sells clothes.

2008-12-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

Some truly excruciating t-shirt designs.

'Quality' denotes high quality

2008-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

2008-11-01T05:35:00.001-07:00

In Japan every bike is a fixed-gear bike.

Fujifilm

2008-10-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

I found out that I live close to a Fujifilm-owned processing center. They actually develop slide film. Also they had an easier time understanding that I didn't want any prints better than anyone that I've ever dealt with in an American Walgreen's.

Work

2008-09-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

From a rainy day last week.

A Crime Against Humanity

2008-09-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

So, Im finally here in Japan typing on a keyboard where I am unable to discern the apostrophe key. In my apartment I have a security camera at my front door, a remote control for my lights, and another remote control for my air conditioning unit. Ive inquired about getting internet installed in my apartment and Ive been told it will take two months. If someone can give me a good answer as to why this is, Id really like to know.

Lately the big three or four beer breweries have been attempting to entice the 20-30 female demographic with various canned cocktail beverages. Last night I sampled what may be the most bizarre of the bunch, Calpis Sour. Calpis is an extremely sweet yogurt-esque drink with a natural not quite citrus flavor. Now combine that with vodka. I think I would rather have a Smirnoff Ice.

I was messing around with Photoshop the other day and made something that I actually like. I forgot my thumbdrive so Ill have to post it next time.

Before I left for Japan I was compiling a batch of some of my favorite photographs of the last twelve months. Ill probably post that too. And figure out how to use the apostrophe key on a Japanese keyboard.

News

2008-07-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

So, I am going to be moving to Japan which will probably contribute significantly to the content of this blog.

I have Youtube video of an old performance piece posted by my friend Talena.

Also here is a music video that is a summation of my feelings at the moment.

And here is a video describing my feelings about moving to Japan in a month.

2008-04-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Two musical moments

Caboladies

Eyes and Arms of Smoke

Mr. by Mr.

2008-04-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

I was having difficulty figuring out what my first entry should be. I realize I'm not really in the know enough to write about a lot of awesome/currently happening things.

Given the title of this blog, I thought it would be worth mentioning it's source. Mr. by Mr. is published by Kaikai Kiki and gives an overview of the artist's work. Some may be surprised to know that in addition to semi-creepy paintings of underage anime characters, Mr. has also done various public performances usually in the guise of ninjas or anime personalities. Additionally it includes excerpts from his personal diaries and other writings which don't particularly offer that much insight into his art-making, but are interesting as a backdrop to the pieces in the book.

Due to the limited availability and limited content of the book itself, it is probably only of real interest to people who are especially interested in Mr. himself or Kaikai Kiki. I was able to buy it a couple of years ago from the Giant Robot online store, which seems to always have some really great out of print books. If you happen to see it floating around somewhere you might want to snatch it up.

Why am I so interested in Mr. to begin with? I'm not sure. When I first became acquainted with Mr.'s work in early 2002 I was a bit shocked to see him openly projecting his pedophilia fantasies through his artwork. Now in 2008 when lolicon has become almost a household name and the accompanying trappings of moe warrant items such as this he seems like some kind of prophet.

It's no surprise that Mr. is the senior most protege of Takashi Murakami. As Murakami has stated himself, he is a failed otaku who caters his art to otaku sensibilities. For all intents and purposes, Mr. is an otaku attempting to project himself as an artist. To the casual viewer Mr. easily appears as a less-skilled Murakami copycat. His earlier works, those primarily featured in the book this entry is all about are simplistic and have little in common with the lushly illustrated doujinshi and CG games depicting lolicon type characters. Although his characters sometimes display genitalia, there is an innocence about them that might be compared to the character design of the classic 70's anime series Heidi: Girl of the Alps.

I recently found this video that features a Mr. exhibition from 2007.

Here the increased complexity of the compositions themselves and the detail of the individual characters becomes immediately apparent. They have much more in common with their doujinshi counterparts that have been festering in the bowels of Akiba. Being a senior employee at Kaikai Kiki, I have to assume that Mr. is now using the same stable of tireless assistants as Murakami has to execute his work. Obviously the sculptural pieces were not executed by his own hand. It's rather difficult to find details on any Kaikai Kiki artist besides Murakami (at least in English). If anyone can point me to any info or further reading that would be great.

It looks like I'm off to a great start. Long-winded and without a point.

P.S. I really like Japan.

2008-04-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

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