The 2009 Sarasota Film Festival starts tomorrow, March 27 and runs through Sunday, April 5. Here are the films and shorts I’m going to watch in the order I plan to see them:
 | Shorts 1 (for “I Am So Proud of You”) : A lonely stick-figure, Bill, experiences life at its most bittersweet, humiliating, glorious, and sad. Directed by Don Hertzfeld, creator of “Everything is Going to Be OK”, “The Meaning of Life”, and “Rejected”. (reviews) |
| Tokyo Sonata : The story of a family on the ropes; when Ryuhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) discovers his job has been outsourced to China, he begins an elaborate charade to keep up familial appearances. But he's not the only one with a secret; his young son Kenji (Kai Inowaki) wants to become a classical pianist. How can the family find peace and still keep all of their dreams alive? Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. | |
| We Live in Public : Internet pioneer Josh Harris, founder of Pseudo.com, one of the first online media companies, never saw himself as a dot-com tycoon. Instead, Harris used his growing fortune to explore the artistic implications of emerging technology, creating two prescient projects that would come to shape the future of the Internet forever. Directed by Ondi Timoner. | |
| Shorts 5 (for “Treevenge”) : Fans of B horror films rejoice: the trees are angry, and they want revenge! Directed by Jason Eisener. | |
| Examined Life : How can philosophy answer the ethical concerns that dominate our times? Interviewing some of the most profound thinkers of our times, director Astra Taylor explores a wide range of issues, from the ethics of consumption and ecology to the questioning of the limitations of the physical body in determining our identities. Interviewees: Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Žižek, and Judith Butler. | |
 | Treeless Mountain : Jin, a carefree elementary school student in Seoul, South Korea, is the older sister of Bin, a precocious toddler who follows her sister’s every cue and direction. When they and their mother are evicted from the family apartment, the girls are left with their reluctant aunt, a small town hustler whose resentment of the girls is matched only by her negligence. Directed by So Yong Kim. |
 | Trust Us, This is All Made Up : Hailing from Chicago and the famous Second City comedy theater, TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi create absolutely hilarious hour-long improvisational pieces that are almost too polished to believe. The film features one of their wild and hysterical New York performances from beginning to end, and they promise, it’s improv, so it’s all made up. Directed by Alex Karpovsky. (review) (site) |
Two weeks from now Square One will be hosting another fashion/art/performance event called "Virgin 2.0" at The Ritz in Ybor City, similar to their "GO!" show held back in June.
Coming up September 20th another mind-scrambling custom Munny exhibition at Überbot in Winter Park/Orlando: MUNNYOCALYPSE! If you feel so bold you can pick up a blank Munny here, here, or here. Get your entry in by September 15 to be in the show.
Check out some previous Munny Show galleries by scrolling to the bottom of the page cha.
Yesterday it was announced that Barack Obama would be in St. Petersburg this Friday, and today it was made official. He'll be holding a town hall meeting at Gibbs High School on 34th St. S. (US-19), tickets will be available at the St. Pete Obama campaign office on Central Avenue today only! Here are all of the details:
On July 5 Pale Horse Graphic Design Studio in downtown St. Petersburg will host The Energy Show '08: The Elements of Skill featuring graffiti artists from around the world. The opening reception goes from 8pm until 11pm. It's a small gallery space so I assume it'll be packed. Here's the blurb:
The Energy Show is a large group of international graffiti artists who have each obtained a mastery of their own style. They have each gained respect and admiration in the underground world of graffiti. Now they have joined together to bring their flavor to the more mainstream world of gallery art. Spectators will view paintings based on the technical and colorful letter styles of artists such as Waf from Aalst Belgium, Cern from Brooklyn New York, Center from St. Pete Florida, and Akut from Berlin Germany. There will be paintings from over 30 international graffiti artist on display. The Energy Show warns attendants to be prepared to witness massive skill and unique forms on display. In 2007 The Energy Show was created to organize elite graffiti artists and give them an international stage to present their artwork. The outcome was tremendous. The Energy Show visited galleries in St. Pete Florida, Naples Florida, Brussels Belgium, and Antwerp Belgium. It was even featured as a part of The Meeting of Styles the world’s largest organized graffiti events group. Each turnout was amazing and the fan base grew quickly. This has allowed the Energy Show to flourish, creating its own little niche in the world of gallery art. The Energy Show is fully prepared to make this year an even more memorable experience. The creators have searched the globe for the most original, cutting edge, hardest hitting graffiti artists around. They have hooked up with some of the coolest galleries available. They have linked with some awesome sponsors. They are prepared to make history again in 2008.
Last Saturday there were so many conflicting events going on in the Tampa Bay area it was maddening. These two art/fashion/music shows were happening at exactly the same time, one in St. Petersburg and one in Tampa. I managed to attend both.
Warriors: Come Out And Play
Warriors was held at Vitale Studio in Pinellas Park (north St. Pete). The show was loosely tied to the upcoming anniversary of the 1979 film of the same name. Vitale is a print and design shop, so the show area was a bit small but when I got there about an hour in the crowd was big and people were still streaming in. The DJ (I don't know which one of the three scheduled) was cutting up some very cool hip-hop and people were milling around the stage, bar, and art pieces and spilling out into the parking lot. I didn't stay long enough for the fashion show or take any photos but Alexis Ziritt of Calavera Comics has a photoset over at Flickr, looks pretty wild.
GO! A Square One Art, Fashion and Music Showcase
I spent most of the rest of the night at GO! held at The Ritz Ybor (previously The Masquerade) and hosted by Square One, an artist collective (I think). The Ritz has held art shows like this a couple of times over the past few months and each time they've grown in size. This one was huge, taking up every square inch of wall space with local and regional artists. The place was packed, and I came in around the middle of the second fashion show with its spectrum of colors strobing over sexy models in tight-fitting clothes. There was also a stage for bands to rock out, tables of hors d'oeuvres and several bars to lubricate the socialites.
Obama was preceded on stage by Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Representatives Robert Wexler and Cathy Castor. The crowd went lovingly insane when he finally took the stage. We stood cheering so long he had to remind us we could sit if we wanted.
He hit an amazing number of platform points, circling the podium to make sure to face everyone and rarely having to refer to his notes. I have never seen a more affable and well prepared person in all my life.
Obama systematically picked apart Sen. John McCain's arguments against direct talks with heads of state like Iranian leader Ahmadinejad and other foreign policy disagreements, then pushed ahead into domestic issues. Some of the promises he made included providing a thousand-dollar tax credit to families paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, investing $150 billion over ten years in alternative energy, giving tax breaks to corporations that decide against outsourcing, withdrawing from Iraq in 2009 while finishing the job in Afghanistan, properly providing for our soldiers and veterans, and ensuring universal healthcare by the end of his first administration. Read up on his positions on an array of issues here and then rub them in the face of anyone who tells you he is a man of no substance. Yes you can.
View more of my photos from the rally here.
The whole show was incredible, everybody put on really cool performances. The Crowbar, which used to be located in a smaller place near The Orpheum moved into a larger space across the street from GameWorks and Centro Ybor a while ago. It's a really cool venue even though the standing room is limited.
Positive Response and DJ Mega were spinning music out in the courtyard with some really good funk and hip-hop stuff, keeping people entertained between sets.
The main stage started off with Kush Wonder (pic) doing his ambient trip-hop stuff, mixing between laptop samples and turntable scratches. Low Top LEE (pic) a friend of my buddy Joey came up for part of his set to do a bit of wordsmithing. He had some fairly complex rhymes, sounded good.
Next up was eFFeX, a really prolific local beatboxer. He did put together vocal beats, cuts and scratches for what felt like a full twenty minutes, nonstop. To get the full effect he had to keep the mic right up to his mouth, and my friends joked that if he needed to lip-sync he coule probably get away with it. When he was finished he just grabbed his drink and coat and left the stage. Just think, the only equipment you need as a beatboxer is liquid and maybe a mic/PA system. Travel light!
After eFFeX was Blac Soap (pic), a local hip-hop duo. At first their production didn't sound that great, but then they pulled out a six minute tribute to doing a girl raw and we lost it. My friend grabbed a promo just to get that song. I wish I could remember some of those rhymes.
DJ Jester looking EVIL!
Kid Koala transitioned in after DJ Jester delving deep into his twitchy turntable madness right off the line. His real name is Eric San, and if you've never seen or heard him before prepare for your jaw to drop, fall off, tumble down the stairs roll out the door and into the street. I've heard he's been mixing since he was a kid, and when I talked to him before the show he said he started off with just one turntable and a tape deck. (That's also when I got him to sign the picture of Gizmo up there, thanks Eric!)
Along with 17,500 people I got to see Radiohead last Tuesday at the Ford Amphitheatre. Luckily they managed to get the place built before I got there. Even standing in the cheapo area on the lawn the show was incredible to watch. This was the second US show this tour, and they were generous enough to do not one but two encores. Here's the setlist:
Set: All I Need, There There, Lucky, Bangers and Mash, 15 Step, Nude, Pyramid Song, Optimistic, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, National Anthem, Idioteque, You and Whose Army?, Reckoner, Everything in Its Right Place, Airbag, Bodysnatchers, Videotape(thanks Coventry!)
Encore 1: The Gloaming, The Tourist, Just, Faust Arp, Exit Music (For A Film)
Encore 2: The Bends, House Of Cards
I went to see a question and answer session with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted by St. Petersburg College and WEDU at the Palladium in downtown St. Petersburg last night. Dr. Tyson hosts the show NOVA ScienceNow and he's been featured on talk shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report several times. Very funny guy, his focus is on quantum physics and astronomy.
Two best parts of the program: Someone asked Dr. Tyson about his thoughts on UFOs and extraterrestrials and he started talking about the way the mind looks for patterns and tries to associate the unknown with the known. Optical illusions are the best example of this, but he said they should really call them "brain failures." Reminded me of Fail Dogs for some reason, some... completely unrelated reason.
In closing he spoke about genetic differences and the chance that there is life on other planets. The top four elements that make up our bodies (oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon) are some of the most abundant elements in the universe. Combine that with the way life formed by heat and water, the number of stars and planets and the likelihood of aliens seems inevitable. The problem as he described it is that they could be so much more intelligent than us they would never want to talk to us.
Think about the slight genetic difference between apes and humans. Apes throw their shit, eat bugs off of each other and at most can use sign language. We dominate the earth and send unbelievably complex satellites into space. Now that's only with a 2% difference in genetic code. Think if there was just a 2% difference between humans and aliens, the aliens would be so much more advanced than us we would probably have trouble even comprehending their presence. He mocked a meeting between humans and aliens, "the aliens would look at our advancements and say 'Oh, quantum physics, how quaint!'"
Reminds me of the South Park episode "Cancelled".
