Day by Day

Remember the DMV incident that sparked a nationwide overhaul of identification applications? Or how about the Klown Klux Klan? And who can forget the smash hit "Bum Rock"? Well, the classy guys from DaybyDay who brought you Teenagers from Marz and Teenagers from Uranus now bring you THE BEST OF THE BEST! The last 3 years have been busy for the Richmond collaboration, working on new material for Stupidface and now bringing you the creme de la creme of their efforts. Richmonders, if you love laughter, gratuitous gross out comedy, or collar-pulling antics, don't miss the premiere at Empire (corner of Laurel and Broad) this Friday for FREE. Don't miss what will be the most hilarious event in the city since the premiere of Teenagers from Uranus at Alley Katz!

Heroine

To all those who loved Helvetica, I have every confidence that you will also appreciate Heroine, set to release September 15, 2009. FountainType brings you another feature length film exploring the oft-ignored but ever-prevalent world of type and how it permeates everything in the world around us. Only a true design lover can appreciate the nuances and enjoy an hour and a half discussion of the history of type- count me in!

Heroine is a typeface inspired by the typeface Windsor, which is most recognized as the font in Woody Allen movie titles (obviously!) Designed by Göran Söderström, this modern take includes alternate letters and a variety of differentiations that keep the eye enthused and the design clean with a throwback to the early 1900's. Enjoy this preview of it, which promises to be just another step to bringing the importance and interest of clean type to the public eye!

Bicycle Film Festival comes to Richmond!

Bike enthusiasts unite! This weekend (starting tomorrow) the Bicycle Film Fest makes its way to Richmond, VA, where I'm sure it will be met with rabid enthusiasm from the bikefans of River City. Hosted by Gallery5, the festival consists of 2 shorts and 1 full length film, each $10 or $23 for all 3 with 2 showings of each. Here's a note from the founding director about the fest:
The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle.

We are into all styles of bikes and biking. If you can name it-Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Critical Mass, Bike Polo, Cycling to Recumbents- we've probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance? We bring together all aspects of bicycling together to advocate its ability to transport us in many ways.

Ultimately the Fest is about having a good time.

We have been fortunate enough to include works of established artists such as Jorgen Leth, Mike Mills, Jonas Mekas, Blonde Redhead, Swoon and Michel Gondry among others as part of our programming.

Many of the artists who have participated in the Bike Film Fest such as the Neistat Brothers and Lucas Brunelle are gaining more and more recognition for their work.

Sign up for the email list or just come out and enjoy our 9th Annual Bicycle Film Festival.

Thanks.
Brendt Barbur, Founding Director

P.S. bikes rule

Check out this great trailer for the event, and be sure to check out the RVAMag article about it here. OF COURSE when it comes to San Diego I won't be here, but that event is August 8. Sign up to be a volunteer and get info at their site BFF.

Mike Shine

Stacy Peralta (pioneer skateboarder now award-winning filmmaker) has released the trailer for his new film "Raw Meat on the Doorstep" about the life and art of Mike Shine. His work is widely recognized and has shown at White Walls, Mollusk Surf Shop, and the Museum of Craft and Folk Art to name a few. Check out the trailer!

Raw Meat on the Doorstep from Eddie Ringer on Vimeo.

I stumbled across this typography website yesterday, and there's nothing that I can even really write about it. It just speaks for itself. Any description I could possibly come up with would be significantly less interesting than just going to the site and peeking around. The real kicker is the About iLT section and reading the John D Boardley's description of himself and why he enjoys type.

"...like many men, I sometimes look at girls’ bottoms, I probably spend more time looking at type."

I wouldn't bother looking if you aren't a "type-head" though. Fonts are either incredibly interesting or wildly boring, depending on the person. I myself find them fascinating. Obviously I'd recommend the movie Helvetica to anyone in the free world who has an interest in type design and hasn't already seen it. I was wayyy behind on seeing it.

Be sure to check out John's other blog juststuffifind.com. The Pixel Dog post is particularly amusing.

planet of the apes

i wish i didn't know the ending to "planet of the apes" with charlton heston before i watched it. the movie kind of folded itself out to me. oh well. was still sweet, and still relevant today. probably more so, sadly.

Juno and my opinions on the American public in regards to cinema and beyond

Here's my first movie review. ever. For no other reason besides I got the soundtrack for my birthday over a month ago and I'm listening to it for the first time right now. The first thing that comes to mind is GILMORE FUCKING GIRLS.

I HATE THAT SHOW. With every fiber in my body. In all truth, it's definitely not the WORST show out there (see Surreal Life, Deal or no Deal, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and most anything on the WB). But the dialogue in Juno reminds me a lot of that show. I guess it's just replicating that trademark quick quip way of speaking.

I'm sure a lot of people out there are big fans of not being able to follow such an unnatural way of speech that makes your head spin and threatens to make your brain explode with frustration overload, but I'm not one of them. It's weird and creepy. Anyway, the point is, Juno isn't QUITE as bad as that shit storm of a show, but it's definitely toeing the line. It was funny but a little "too" quirky for me. Accidental teenage pregnancy is always a barrel of laughs, and Ellen Page is pretty cool. I liked her in "Hard Candy" (which I also had high hopes for that were sort of dashed), but she did a good job and I hope to see her in more things. She has a cute face that I would like to see more of in movies to come.

I hate the Hollywood idea of cashing in on a good idea by shoving it down our throats again and again as fast as they can until the public decides that they're tired of seeing Will Ferrell or that weird fat guy who became the "Magic Man" in sports comedies with a rotating supporting cast, or now the new Michael Cera or that other fat guy with the curly hair duo. The American public in general depresses the crap out of me in terms of accepting and embracing such obvious uncreativity and trash. Everything has to be quick, easy, microwaveable and flashing neon to become a part of society. Whatever happened to anything from honest and simple stories or even unbelievable fictions of such imagination trips, just stories that were concocted with honesty from the heart and mind? Revelations of true life beyond the McDonaldization of the world or exploration of the human psyche?

I suppose the argument that "everything has already been done" has some validation, but then why would anyone even still try to accomplish anything in a creative realm? It's going back to Eastern religious philosophies of achieving Nirvana, or even Western ideas of Christianity. Just because the "answers" are not attainable in life doesn't mean you shouldn't STRIVE for them regardless. I suppose we're all guilty of being lazy and leaving the responsibility of presenting ideas to the world to someone else.

Back to Juno. It wasn't a bad movie. I liked it. I laughed at some parts. And for the most part, I'm enjoying the soundtrack. It's very easy listening, and I like the director's notes in the CD booklet. He describes it as "a patchwork of homemade sounds made by teenagers whose senses of humor and honesty rang through the crappy tape recorder they used to capture their chicken-scratch lyrics." I think that's a pretty appropriate description for this very heavy Kimya Dawson (of the Moldy Peaches) CD, along with Sonic Youth, Buddy Holly, the Velvet Underground, etc. Also it definitely makes me want to fulfill my dream of getting a keyboard and starting a surf-themed vampire band called Fang Loose.

One day it will happen. Until then, I'll leave the patchwork teenage music to someone else.