Bite Me? Bite You!

Yo, Pims!

What up?

Ok,

so,

I watched Herzog's "Nosferatu" over the last few days. My feelings are a bit mixed. In a way the only thing that was a weak point for me was the Vampire...

I don't know if it is the make up or the performance or the dialogue, but I suspect it is all three.



In the commentary Herzog goes on about how Kinski humanized this role as opposed to Schreck (sp?) in the original silent film who played the beast "like an insect".

In my opinion Kinski just seems kind of silly through a lot of the scenes he is in. When he is alone he may be chanelling the spirit of the late, great film and he is quite compelling. And although his final scene with Lucy is wonderful, his first encounter with her in her bedroom is actually kind of funny - with Lucy rebuking his request for her love and the vile creature pouting away like a school boy. Why doesn't he just bite the hell out of her?

That said, the look of the film, the story, the use of non-actors and documentary footage still add up to the kind of magic one expects from good ol'Werner.

I will be out fishing early tomorrow, wish me luck.


Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Book 'em

Pims Yo!

What up everybody?

Just a quick note while I have a second.

I am right in the middle of another Cassavetes book. This one is entitled "Where Does It Happen?: Cassavetes and Cinema at the Breaking Point".

It is one of the better books about the man's work that I have read. It rightly puts Ray Carney's work in perspective - pointing out Carney as the only logical starting point for Cassavetes scholarship and also as a critic who is perhaps a little to close to his subject to see the contradictions in his own work.

Good stuff if you are a film geek or just a Cassavetes maniac.



That's all for now. Keep on rockin'in the free world.

Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Friendly Ghosts, Got the Mosts

Ok, so...

Been writing a bunch of art stuff etc. so I have been trying to get back to the old blogitty blog...

BTW, please leave a comment every now and again people. I get all this random word on the street from folks who are keeping up with this ridiculousness, but it's always such a great suprise to find comments on the page. If you know me you know I love suprises! If you don't, perhaps I just surprised YOU!

Ok,

so...

Had a pretty fun weekend. Pat D and I had many beers at PM and a fascinating discussion about mortality, babies, Wee Feaster, the films of James Clower, bad jobs, good jobs, Bert the art star and manly gravitas.

After running in to answer the call of nature, who comes sliding off the bar in my general direction but the DC kid himself - Clay Steakley. Him and E are in town for a bit and seeing him was like seeing a ghost, but a friendly ghost like Casper or Slimer...



So anyway keep your eyes open for a new publication that my friend Emily Davidson organized. It's called "Radically Shifted" and it's a new little zine that we are distributing at a few places around this great still-free nation. Locally we've been picked up by Davis Kidd. Check out the magazine rackety rack.

So anyway...rock on and all...

Jerry and I have been able to record the legendary JP Lilliston through the magic of the internet without having to actually even bring him down from Chicago to cut some tracks on my 3rd CD. It's really coming along great and he has done some good stuff so far.

If you have not checked my other recordings please help yourself to a bunch of free stuff here.

Here is a sample of my old line-up with JP!

Enjoy!


Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Where There is a Will...

I watched the excellent Herzog film "Invincible" the other night. Although this movie is sometimes criticized for being too "Hollywood" and lacking the elements that mark Herzog's best work, this film is actually a masterful fable, the best film about the Jewish experience in WWII Europe I have ever seen and great cinema, despite the fact that its simple beauty is mistaken for superficiality by the insensitive and arrogant.

Saw Pat D's show at Z'geist and dug it a lot. Missed the opening because of Jordan's wedding. Although I have always liked Pat's 2D stuff the most (and it is the highlight of this show), half the exhibit consists of 3D work. Although many of the elements play off of earlier pieces (skulls, cut grass, chairs etc.), a sculpture that uses a "dead bird" - a new image for P.D.- is killer...no pun intended...

Jordan's wedding was a blast! A woderful groom, a beautiful bride, a banquet table covered with Brazillian/Southern American inspired delicacies and the hands-down best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. Mix and pour into the middle of a Southern vineyard on a breezy summer night and you are happy.

The only dark spot on the evening was hearing about the death of my friend Will. Will was an artist who, at his best, combined his humor, intense mind and a provocative ferocity into work that examined his own ideas and assumptions (Wittgenstein's Banana) and affected his audience with the visceral physicality of his work (The History of Logic).



Will was also a friend of mine who I worked with on various art installations in Nashville. He was a good man. A hard worker. We would come up with so many ridiculous things to keep ourselves occupied. Here is a loose transcript of a "skit" we came up with.

(Man pitching a movie in Hollywood. Speaking with a "Scarface", Cuban accent)

"To make this movie, all I need is: A room, a monkey, a tarp, 3 thousand dollars and a dish of water"

(Movie producer behind the desk, patiently listening, smoking a fat stogie...)

"That is so interesting! You know Ron Howard was just in here and he made the exact same pitch. Let me tell you what I told him...

(Yelling!)

"NO ROOM! NO MONKEY! NO TARP! NO 3 THOUSAND DOLLARS! AND NO DISH OF WATER! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

The End

Maybe you had to be there.

I am glad I was.


Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Scanner Starkly

Pims Yo!

OK,

so,

I am working on some late night writing, and I have decided to take a break and write this instead.

It has been awhile since I added to the blog and I appreciate those of you who continue to pay attention to my all-to-erratic rambles.

Watched Magnolia tonight. So Killer.

Anyway, let's get caught up:

The soldiers in Iraq will never come home. The agenda is a permanent presence. The Mexican border will be disappeared sooner than later. Through NAFTA and the rest of it their has been no attempt to raise the bar for Mexico. The bar is being lowered - and drastically - and quickly - in America. Globalism means Feudalism here in our country. All art is martial art, the historicity of Jesus has little to do with Christianity and the best popsicles at Las Paletas are the Lime one's.

Ok,

so,

Dig This.


Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan