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Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:37:38 GMT

Valerie MacCarthy: Four Elements

Valerie MacCarthy Jewelry designer Valerie MacCarthy has just launched her debut collection based on The Four Elements (Fire, Water, Earth and Wind). Paris-based, the American/Parisian designer is interestingly a professional opera singer whose bohemian life traveling inspired a number of the pieces in the collection - which explains the mixed materials that she has opted to work with. My favorite pieces are the Fire-inspired ones which are made with wood and accentuate the curved lines of flames (available at Debut New York in New York City). Also in wood are the Earth pieces, while the Water pieces feature concentric circles and blue stones and the Wind pieces feature curving and intertwining lines accented with diamonds. How gorgeous would these look with this Halston Heritage dress!? Posted by: Ms. Jewel Snob      Read more     Source

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:03:17 GMT

To Gilliam on His 70th Birthday

by Vadim Rizov



Terry Gilliam crossed into his septuagenarian years yesterday against the backdrop of the usual questioning whether or not his filmmaking career is eternally doomed. Gilliam has maintained a three-features-a-decade pace since the "80s: not because of Malickian working habits or lack of ambition (he has more failed projects than most) but a combination of financing trouble and/or acts of God. Even a generous philanthropist (or investor looking for tax loopholes) would have trouble ponying up for his projects, which defy conventional synopsis without being cheap, even before inviting disaster.

Though his reputation as a prolific waster of money is overblown-both The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (listen to our podcast with Gilliam) and The Brothers Grimm more than recouped their budgets worldwide despite their disastrous reputations-he"s far from a sure thing. Terrible, oft-inexplicable things happen to his productions on a regular basis: aside the disintegration of his Don Quixote film documented in Lost In La Mancha and Heath Ledger"s death during Parnassus" production. He may be the only auteur in history to have two separate books devoted solely to different films" disintegrations (The Battle of Brazil and Losing the Light: Terry Gilliam and the Munchausen Saga). Posted by: ahillis      Read more     Source

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:00:37 GMT

Fox Point Community Garden

Here are a few more pictures of Fox Point Community Garden. You can see it’s a pretty funky little garden. This is a picture of the “garden shed”–a misnomer that conjures up images of small wooden shacks–when this is actually a big concrete building with plenty of storage space.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many tomato cages in one place.

This next one is a long view of the garden from towards the north end. My plot is towards the back near the chain link fence.

Below is one of the two watering spigots–decked out with watering cans, it reminded me of a Christmas tree.

Last but not least is my favorite picture–it’s of the terrace at the very north end of the garden and our fox mascot. To the left of the fox–the brown bin with the white lid–is the bee box. The sign over it says, Bees–Do Not Disturb. No worries there. I’m glad my plot’s on the south end of the garden! Posted by: Caroline Brown      Read more     Source

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:32:39 GMT

More Than Old Folks Being Adorable

by Vadim Rizov



The arthouse isn"t immune from peddling glorified YouTube cutesiness: earlier this year, Babies offered up viral‐adorable burbles on 35mm. (Cuteness on demand is nicely spoofed in Godard"s new Film Socialisme, going from full-screen kitteh close‐up to the woman watching it; she meows, which is considerably less cute.) Similarly, the masses apparently love to watch sassy old folks being stylish and adorable, without any troublesome bodily failures getting in the way. Mid‐August Lunch, full of snippy old ladies and food porn, seemingly offers up more undemanding fare, and let"s be clear: there"s nothing inherently wrong with that. But Gianni di Gregorio"s directorial debut is remarkably tough‐minded. His most notable credit previously was for co‐writing Gomorrah (director Matteo Garrone personally financed this project in turn), a juxtaposition hard to reconcile, though it"s really not that far off: everyone"s dying pointlessly, with no visible relief in sight. Posted by: ahillis      Read more     Source

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:10:40 GMT

Thin Red Line

by Ryland Walker Knight

Any time filmmaker Terrence Malick releases a work of art it becomes an event--at least for his devoted "cult" following--given how rare an occasion that is. The allure of rallying around a lavish DVD edition of one of his features, such as this week"s release of The Thin Red Line by the Criterion Collection, for die-hards, is that you can now foist a superior presentation of the film on a family member or friend; and if you"re a curious spectator, you can heed the rapture of a loud Malick fan like me. Just as importantly, no matter your allegiance, you don"t have to wait for that perpetually pending release date of Malick"s next film The Tree of Life to be reminded of his import.

The Thin Red Line, pitched as and in spurts understood as a war film, is hardly anything so simple. However, neither is it simply a poem. In his astute essay that accompanies this new Criterion edition, David Sterritt argues with credence for the film as a true action picture despite the poetry and the philosophy. True: there is war within it; there are deaths, largely ignoble, inflicted and suffered. Yet: there blooms a forest, too, up hills and at the edge of waters. The "natural world" looms even larger than the war. If Malick"s The New World uses a river, and how it meets land, as its structural metaphor, The Thin Red Line no doubt find trees and grass-things that rise from the earth-as a defining framework; both branch, but rivers tumble and vegetation grows. Posted by: cphillips      Read more     Source

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:57:45 GMT

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

Continuing with the "Plant Biodiversity of China" series, here is a species we grow in UBC Botanical Garden. The first photograph is from 2002 or 2003, while the second was taken in January 2005 (I"ve added it for those of us currently experiencing summer conditions). The write-up for today"s entry is again courtesy of one of the students from Dr. David Brownstein"s "Research in Environmental Geography" course, Eva Lillquist. A thank you to Eva for the work. Eva writes:

Metasequoia glyptostroboides (common name dawn redwood) is an ancient tree species that once existed in abundance worldwide. Due to glaciation, almost all Metasequoia were killed, with the exception of a few populations in a restricted area of central China. First discovered in the early 1940s, scientists Dr. Wanchun Cheng and Dr. Hsenhsu Hu later uncovered plants growing in several sites in the Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan regions of central China. Prior to the discovery of living trees, Metasequoia was thought to be extinct, as it had only ever been encountered in fossilized form. As it was once nominated to be China"s national tree, Metasequoia glyptostroboides holds significance to the national identity of China.

In 1980, the Chinese Government deemed the Metasequoia glyptostroboides to be critically endangered in the wild (although the species has been cultivated in roughly 50 countries). Estimates suggest there are currently only 5,400 trees still living in central China.

Efforts for conservation have been concentrated within Hubei, where the largest number of dawn redwoods reside. Conservation efforts, however, face challenges: due to population growth and an increased need for land development, habitat loss is a significant threat (particularly from rice cultivation). Another hurdle for conservation is the considerable debate about why Metasequoia glyptostroboides is endangered. While conservationists argue that the species has reached near extinction due to human disturbance, others, particularly those employed in the logging and wood harvesting industries, argue that numbers of trees are declining due to natural causes, creating a rationale that does not support the future conservation of the species.

Currently, the Chinese government has made significant efforts to address immediate conservation problems through policy work and the creation of protected wilderness areas. However, due to conflicting views about the use of land, and the use of Metasequoia wood for construction, the government must now focus on gathering greater support from different parties, including non-governmental organizations, stakeholders, and the public to generate awareness about threats to the species, the tree"s significance to science, biodiversity, and national identity, and how these issues link with local industrial practices. Posted by: Daniel Mosquin      Read more     Source

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:11:08 GMT

Millennium Auteur

by John Lichman

Satoshi Kon died on a Tuesday and came back virally when Makiko Itoh translated a posthumous blog post from the Japanese anime filmmaker; retweets inevitably followed. The stream-of-consciousness missive ran through his fears and acceptance of the situation to the brutal send-off Itoh clarified: "So, he is essentially saying to the reader, "I have to go now, I"m leaving this world before you.""

It"s always heartbreaking when we lose a great artist, but the 46-year-old"s online farewell was in line with his career: beating back death through the Internet"s celebration of his work (if you need documented proof of this acclaim, look no further than The Daily Notebook"s round-up). Simply put, Satoshi Kon"s themes and ideas teach us how to cope with his loss. Posted by: ahillis      Read more     Source

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:56 GMT

They're All Dog Days

by Vadim Rizov



As summer ends with The Expendables effectively rendering the competition (sorry) expendable, it"s worth eulogizing, just briefly, the much-derided Worst Summer Ever. With a slate of rehashes, sequels, 3D quickies and some outright fiascos, little was expected from the season where Americans of all ages, locations and proclivities convene to watch especially expensive things converge and explode, loudly. The big movies that actually generated some excitement were Iron Man 2 (assuming you really, really like Robert Downey Jr.), Toy Story 3, Inception and The Expendables. (If demographically appropriate, add Twilight: Eclipse.) As for everything else, it"s doubtful that people will really remember Shrek Forever After existing, or spend future years reminiscing over the rebooted Karate Kid. Posted by: ahillis      Read more     Source

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:40:23 GMT

Hopeful signs

It would have been hard to overlook this on our last trip to the woods. It was parked in the meadow we must cross to get to our entrance.

The dam and the road at Roundrock have needed some love for a long time. (The dam is in danger of being breached.) Back in December (or was it November?) I spoke to the man who had originally built them and invited him out to our woods to reconnoiter the mess and suggest a plan of attack. He looked it all over with me, nodded his head and stroked his chin, and then came up with a number. It was a number that was far less than the number that came up for putting a cabin on the land, but it was still a substantial number. Fortunately, we had sold the remaining half of Fallen Timbers and were able to meet the number.

Then it became a waiting game. The man was building a house for someone, and that would keep him away from our job for a while. Then the spring rains came. To repair the dam, the man must get his dozer down in the wet acre below it. He feared he would bog down if the ground was saturated. Finally, we had a stretch of comparatively dry weather, and he made the delivery you see above.

Unfortunately, he told me that it had rained the day he brought the big machine in. And of course you recall that it rained most of the weekend Libby and I stayed at the cabin. And it has rained a number of times since then.

Nonetheless, I hope that with such a large tool from his toolbox out at my woods, he’ll consider my work to be a priority and get to it sooner rather than later.

Change is coming to Roundrock. I’m ready for it!

Missouri calendar:

• Carpenter bees lay their eggs in wood.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:26:17 GMT

Liriodendron chinense

Liriodendron has just two species Liriodendron tulipifera, native to eastern North America and today"s featured plant Liriodendron chinense, native to China and northern Vietnam. Although the species have been geographically separated for more than 10 million years they are still interfertile. They differ very little in form, the leaves of the American species being slightly larger and the Asian species lacking the orange colour found in the flowers of Liriodendron tulipifera. Liriodendron chinense is rare and endangered in its native habitat. It is grown for timber and as an ornamental tree. The leaf shape of Liriodendron is quite distinct and the similarity of its outline to the shape of a tulip flower gives rise to the common name, tulip tree, which refers to either species.

I enjoyed photographing the leaves of this species back lit by evening sun--some lit--some shaded dark. They are in all stages of development turning each direction. A display to rival the flowers. Happy BC Day to everyone. Posted by: Eric La Fountaine      Read more     Source