Chung Hing sam lam (1994)

Two melancholy Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant he frequents.

A masterpiece of urban melancholy stories of love forlorn, wonderfully photographed and masterfully directedwith style reminiscent of Jean-Luc Godard.

Halliwell**: "A mood of nostalgia-tinged melancholy pervades this enjoyable movie of young, urban workers caught in a web of disappointment and desire, but still hopelessly optimstic."

Maltin**1/2: "Light, funny, and offbeat, though the second tale goes on far too long. Quentin Taratino's Rolling Thunder company acquired this for U.S. release, and many critics applauded its postmodern approach and stylistics."

Who's That Girl?

Art: Eberhard Kieser

Bio:

http://www.dodedans.com/Eholbein-kieser.htm

Signe Belfiore

ph: Eric Broms

Rarely Heard: The Holy Modal Rounders - The I.W.W. Song

The Holy Modal Rounders "were almost the very definition of a cult act. This isn't a case of a group that would be described by such clichés as "if only they got more exposure, they would certainly reach a much wider audience." Their audience was small because their music was too strange, idiosyncratic, and at times downright dissonant for mainstream listeners to abide." (Allmusic.com) The group were mainly Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber with a varying number of guest musicians (Sam Shephard was their drummer for a time in the 60s). They were obviously highly comptenet musicisnd and their music was clearly folk music, but alway twisted, often dissonant, funny and the edge of offending. No wonder I came across them, when I was into the Fugs. The Holy Modal Rounders existed from the mid 60s till just recently off and on, and there's still a chance they may reunite again some day.

Robin Hölzken

Window faces

Regensburg, November 2014

Jennifer Jason Leigh

A day in the life, Nov 20

A day in the life, Nov 20, standing outside looking inside

Lisa Burestad

ph: Ninja Hanna

From my vaults: Frederic Dannay

See bio via:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen

Monica Bellucci

New York

Monika Jagaciak

ph: Patrick Demarchelier

First Lines: Frank Zappa - The Real Frank Zappa Book

This book exists on the premise that somebody, somewhere, is interested in who I am, how I got that way, and what the fuck I'm talking about.

Alissa Geraghty

Rarely Heard: Gustav - Ifall

Gustav is the nom de plume of the Austrian composer and singer Eva Jantschitsch who as achieved considerable recognition and a number of awards in her home country. Besides performing as Gustav she also regularly composes music for theater and movies. Her songs are a quite unique mixtureof pop music with electronics and the lyrics are intelligently ironic and quirky comments on social and political issues. "Gustav’s humor lends a lightness to the seriousness of her music: her creative imagination combines with a nonchalant effortlessness that takes your breath away. Musical carousel rides cavort through all kinds of possible and impossible genres, from experimental laptop sounds to folksy oompah music, pop hits, and Sicilian mandolines". (mqw.at) Most of her songs are in German, I picked Ifall as one of the rares she sings in English.

Rosie Vela

A day in the life, Nov 19

A day in the life, Nov 19, objet trouvé

Patti Hansen

New Stuff: The New Yorker

(art: Richard McGuire)

Giulia Manini

New Stuff: Der Plan

A gift from my pal Ralf. I've been wanting to get their albums for decades...

Louise Brooks

New Stuff: Nature

Who's That Girl?

Art: Stephanie Lostimolo

Find more at:

http://www.nethersphere.com

Audrė Marija Gradeckaitė

R.I.P. Mike Nichols

Eulogy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/movies/mike-nichols-celebrated-director-dies-at-83.html?_r=0

Noa Vermeer

A day in the life, Nov 18

A day in the life, Nov 18, standing outside looking inside

Natalia Vodianova

From my vaults: Alexandra Danilova

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Danilova

Kasia Kurtyka

ph: Daniel Korzewa

New York

Mariacarla Boscono

First Lines: Suetonius - Lives of the Caesars

In the course of his sixteenth year, he lost his father.

Marta Berzkalna

Rarely Heard: The Flying Lizards - Summertime Blues

"The Flying Liazrds are remembered by most listeners as new wave one-hit wonders thanks to their deliberately eccentric cover of Barrett Strong's "Money," which became a surprise chart success in 1979. But The Flying Liazrds were in fact the brainchild of David Cunningham, a well-respected avant-garde composer, producer, and visual artist, and it became one of the first salvos in a long and fascinating career." (allmusic.com)  So the band was merely a side project, in which Cunningham took popular songs apart and put them together again as deliberately harsh and minimal versions. I was especially fascinated by their very first single, Summertime Blues; their version of James Brown's Get Up (Sex Machine) is similarly intriguing.

Alexina Graham

A day in the life, Nov 17

A day in the life, Nov 17, window display

Kylie Minogue

Le Marginal (1983)

A police detective arrives in Marseille to combat drug trafficking activities in his own unique way.

A policier clearly inspired by the Dirty Harry series: mainly a vehicle for its star with lots of action and not much of a coherent plot.

Halliwell*: "Fast-moving low-life thriller, with a maverick hero patterned after Dirty Harry, but much dirtier." 

 

Who's That Girl?

Photographer: Sylvia Plachy

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plachy

Franziska Frank

ph: Jean Francois Campos

A day in the life, Nov 16

A day in the life, Nov 16, on the way to work

Kate Moss irrégulière

From my vaults: William H. Daniels

(William H. Daniels on the set of Love (1927), directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.)

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Daniels

Sanne de Vries

ph: Ismar Basic

New York

Sasha Grey