Taking a break

Taking a break for a while...

Photo of the Week

Ryan Malone - The Artist Lies.com

Red Nano

Is there a red nano? Oh right, sorry, a RED nano. I tried to avoid hearing about the Bono/Oprah thing but it's almost impossible. It would be interesting to watch though - someone who never finishes a sentence with someone who never lets anyone finish one.

Sooo.... the RED Campaign. I tried to get some Red converse shoes a few months back, spring I think, but they were only available in europe. I don't know why it took so long to get the Red campaign here, but the iPod is a fairly obvious choice to launch the stateside bonzo (or is it gonzo?) marketing campaign.

What is Red? Here's the short answer: Product (RED), founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage consumers and the private sector with its marketing prowess and funds in the fight against AIDS. Money raised from (RED) Products goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Here's Bono's (surprise) longer answer: Oh sorry, have to link to it, it's too long to put here. ;-)

People are still asking me, what's the white bracelet for? The bracelet is for the One campaign - see the diagonal banner to your right?

Here are the other campaigns Bono is involved in to fight poverty and disease in Africa:

One.org
The ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History was founded in 2005 and is now 2.3 million members strong representing Americans from all 50 states. The goal of this movement is to persuade the US government to spend an additional one percent of the federal budget on tackling AIDS and extreme poverty
Data.org
DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa) is an advocacy organization founded in 2002 by Bono, Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee "Drop the Debt" campaign to fight extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa. DATA's mission is to tackle the three issues that most adversely affect the African continent -- unpayable debts, the spread of AIDS and unfair trade policies – by raising public awareness and working with leaders in the U.S. and throughout the G8 to bring more resources to the region.
Edun.ie
EDUN, which has just produced a One Campaign t-shirt raising money for AIDS drugs in Lesotho, is an ethically-sourced high fashion clothing company that was created in 2005 by Ali Hewson, Bono and designer Rogan Gregory in an effort to increase trade opportunities and sustainable long-term employment in developing nations. With factories located in Africa, South America and India, EDUN believes in respect for and investment in the people and places where its clothing is made.

New vocabulary

Is it real? or Photoshop...

wireless, virtual pinwheel ipod


a car the color of a smurf, rolled in glitter

hydroplane car

Quotes of the Week

"When I get really pissed off, my inner white girl comes out." - Jamaal

"Target is like Disneyland to me... all the bright colors and everything." - Fran

"I really like it here- people have technology... and teeth." - Zoe

"Come say Howdy to Gaudi." - ad for trip to Barcelona

Favorite flicks in September

Suicide Kings
The Big White
Friends with Money


One of the worst movies ever:
The Protector

You may say he's a dreamer... (click here)

I love October. The weather gets better, the pollution lessens, it's my birthday, the Scottsdale Film Festival starts, (still the best one in the valley) and the movies start getting better. Because what a wasteland the past few months have been for flicks. I have not even bothered to list September favorites, it's almost a waste of time.

But last week Science of Sleep finally started and we went to see it last night. It is so much better than the trailer, better than I imagined. I loved Michael Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but this one is even more insightful, about dreams, about "love, friendship, relationships, all those ships"... and it's set in Paris, and stars Gael Garcia Bernal, has fabulous art direction and animation... it's a perfect film. Really, the only thing that could have improved it is if Mr. Bernal had come to the house personally with a bottle of wine, wearing that outfit he wears in the hallway scene, to present it.

There are a few flicks that try to capture the surreality and evanescence of dreams, Kurosawa's Dreams and Linklater's Waking Life are two of the better ones. But Gondry's pulls you in and makes you feel like you're IN the dream, and that maybe you're not sure when the dream ends, and you're not entirely comfortable either way. Gondry says, "I just wanted to see how I could make a movie about my dreams and still be entertaining. There's a lot of movies about dreams. If you just go in a dream and then you come out, those are some of the best movies; sometimes you're sleeping in the middle because you need to merge back, to come back to reality before you dive again. So I'm not saying I did better, but it was my goal to do a movie with dreams, how they interact and to work with real life."

The best part about it tho, is the art. Stephane, the dreamer, is an artist who is trying to get his original work published as a calendar, with each month highlighting a disaster that has lasted in the international psyche - he calls it Disasterology. And he invents things, like a time machine that only goes backward and forward one second. When he meets up with a fellow artist, who is also stuck in a menial job and almost scared of real people, you think you can predict the ending, but you can't. You can't even really predict what is real and what isn't.

There are several scenes that I know I will just play over and over but before it hits the shelves, I am going to have to see it again in the theater.

And this weekend - finally - the film festival. I just love October.

Photo of the Week

By Carolyn Ann-Ryan English, called Horsey.

For Sam's last week at Interactive Alchemy - we'll miss you, girl.