Insomnia has returned...

It is early in the morning and I need to be up and out of the house in approximately 10 hours... yet I've been lying in bed waiting for sleep for nearly an hour now. I just gave up trying to fall asleep, I blame one too many delicious homebaked cherry chocolate chip cookies consumed in the attempt to forestall post dinner coma. The weather has been really great in NYC (until yesterday that is) which has allowed me to slack in egregious ways. I've also recently rediscovered the joys of bittorrenting (found a really decent tracker site) and thus have upped my media consumption while at the same time spending more time walking and relaxing outdoors enjoying the sun. Walking around, I am reminded of the public sorts of intimacy that people in NYC experience. In California, people tend to be in cars while in transit. In NYC, you walk admist throngs of people, noticing the texture of passerby's napes while listening to snippets of conversation that float over the hum of the city. It's a pretty intense sensory experience. I recently played host to an 18 year old girl visiting as an admitted student to Columbia, R1, and her very concerned mother, R3. Friends of the family. R1 had originally wanted to attend NYU, R3 forbade her to apply (the family is based in California), so R1 secretly applied to Columbia. R3 was excited that her daughter had been accepted into an Ivy League institution, until she realized that Columbia University is in NYC, oops. R3 said to me "I never saw any pamphlets for Columbia, I had no idea R1 was applying!" R1 pleaded with me with her eyes to assuage an overprotective mother. I figured, if R1 could handle secretly researching, applying, and getting accepted into Columbia without any guidance, she's probably ready for NYC. It set me on a whole nostalgia trip for a couple of days, remembering my own college visits and the giddy anticipation of college.

Gentle Readers, we are now entering the abyss...

AKA - end of semester. Postings will be a bit sparse. Please forgive the interrupution.

you are deeppink #FF1493

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing. Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

(Via ScooterPoet).

"Faction" filmmaking...

"SHOWBOY" a movie by Lindy Heymann and Christian Taylor claims to be "faction" filmmaking. Their website notes, "Faction is not a hybrid of genres - it isn’t an ironic “mockumentary,” a straight-forward news package, nor a literal take-off on a reality-based story.  Faction is an art form; a fun and smart reality type of filmic style that draws upon the rawness and immediacy of ‘documentary’ production techniques  to create the story - leaving audiences questioning what is real and what isn’t.  The ultimate result is the creation of a ‘genuine’ emotional experience felt by the actors that registers with the audience.

Though faction filmmaking takes inspiration from the Dogme ’95 Production Vows of Chastity (Dogme ’95 is an influential Danish film movement profiled in depth in Hollywood Reporter, March 5, 2002), its real history comes from an already distinct and well-defined school of thought.  In fact, the dandified, indelible author, Truman Capote, made popular the term “faction” as a way to describe his 1958 novel, In Cold Blood.  For the novel, Capote used a fiction-writing sensibility to investigate the real murders of a small Kansas family.  It was the first non-fiction novel. Part fact, part fiction.

To make Showboy, the filmmaker’s agreed to immerse themselves in the Vegas world as “Method” filmmakers: setting out to allow the process of making the film create the story.  “This was often a terrifying process because we didn’t have the luxury of improvisation to fall back on,” says writer/actor/co-director Christian Taylor.

Christian had not really been fired from Six Feet Under, yet the crew had to believe the ‘lie’ in order to truly understand as well as support Christian’s ‘real’ dream of becoming a dancer.  

As Christian Taylor “the writer,” struggled to become Christian Taylor “the dancer,” the crew had to play and act as a documentary crew would.  The film was thus made in the field.

This ‘chaotic’ format was given structure with a story written by Christian, Lindy and Jason.  Certain ideas and scenes were planned and choreographed, including the beginning and the end.  What happened in between was left to fate and chance, thus giving the film a spontaneity that perhaps might have been missed if produced another way.

There are no actors in the film, making the portrayal of people and events a delicate balance for the filmmakers.  “Our intention was never to ‘mock’ anyone or anything…rather to allow the true beauty and eccentricities to shine through,” says writer/producer Jason Buchtel.  In this sense, Christian’s ‘character’ serves a mirror by which the people and moments  in the film come to be reflected.

For the makers of Showboy, The tragic-comedy that resulted from their faction filmmaking-style was possible because everyone committed to the film, and everyone took the journey."

So basically, they tried to shoot cinema verite of sorts, where the producers had a general idea of what was to happen and basically put the actors and the crew in place to "document" what happened. There seems to be a move by filmmakers to play with the realist documentary genre, from Empathy (2003) to Bontoc Eulogy (1995) or more in the mockumentary genre is Transanimals (2001) it's a "mockumentary about people living with pets that would rather have been another animal. Pets owners talk about their pets’ transitions and their consequence for the owners’ own feeling of identity." I'm not sure their distinction between faction film and mockumentary really holds. The only difference it seems to me that could be argued about the difference between mockumentary and faction is faction's claim that the audience is left uncertain which part of the film is film or fiction. Which is an interesting preposition, but I think someone else has already make such a film.

The Center for Constitutional Rights...

I was late to an event by the CCR today because there was an emergency union meeting to deal with questions about the two imminent strikes that might occur this next week - the (potential) Graduate Student Union at Columbia, and the adjunct union have both set strike deadlines as a result of stymied negotiations with their respective university administrations. But back to CCR... The sacred secular document (aka the U.S. Constitution) guarantees citizens certain rights (well, technically it's the Bill of Rights, but whose gonna quibble over details)... The Center for Constitutional Rights has historically used the legal system to keep abuses of power in check. They are involved in a pretty supportable fight - check out some of their main platforms. I went to a "young professionals networking" event where the topic was "The Police, the Protesters, and the Power of Intimidation: Silencing the Voices of Dissent in the Anti-war Movement" presented by Rache1 Meeropo1 who turns out to be the granddaughter of Ju1ius & Ethe1 Rosenberg. Talk about activist/socialist pedigree. Kinda like Yale graduate, Rhodes scholar, Chesa Boudin, son of Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, members of the Weathermen, active during the anti-Vietnam war movement (who are serving life terms for the conviction of 1981 robbery of an armoured Brinks truck in which two policeman and a guard were killed)... But back to the young professionals networking event... During the reception I thought to myself... am i... young?... yes, but only till my next birthday... professional?... I think that why they call it graduate school and not professional school.... networking... mmm, i don't think so. Having not heard about this event till I had gotten to school, I was definitely not in my networking duds. Most people in business attire scrupulously avoided eye contact with me. The only person I talked to who I didn't know already turned out to have been active in the organizing of the NYU graduate student union... when he was an undergraduate at NYU, and he had an anarchist star tattoo... Hey - dig it - I met an anarchist labor organizer who plans on going to study Anthropology in graduate school. I like New York.

Lefter than Gandhi...

According to the political compass I am Economic Left/Right: -8.88 & Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.33. Now you know. Post about the past week of overwork to follow (perhaps with photo of the cute new video clerk at the local rental place).

5 minutes till 8pm...

I am throwing a party tonight for other students in my cohort. It will be interesting to see who shows up and when they'll get here - ahh the politics of participation. Back in Cali, one hour after the time on the invite is common - it seems like in NYC two hours is more the norm. Alas I am out of vermouth and thus cannot begin my general party ritual of starting to drink martinis starting from when the party is suppose to begin till when the first guest shows up. It's a ritual that I've had to modify since my arrival in NYC.

My True Badass Self

This'll be the guy who shows up to my 8 hours of classes today after having read approximately 5% of the assigned reading. Yet I plan to kick ass and take names (of French social theorists that is).... Need to be writing response paper on why rich and poor people like rich and poor things and how social scientists should study this phenomenon (silly french theorist Bourdieu to the rescue - his motto - Bourdieu? Bored me too!)... must not procrastinate... create your own inner South Park character. (via spacewaitress)

Argh... I've forgotten my password..

To get into my frequent flyer account. I used to have it in my palm pilot until a bout of forgetfulness caused its memory to be erased due to dead batteries. So, now I have to deal with my own faulty memory. I am racking my brain trying to remember the name of the person I went to prom with. Why the heck did I bother to select that option? I suppose I thought all the other options were too easy to remember (or to guess) - little did I know that eight years later that the name of blonde bombshell who I went to prom with would gone from my brain. I choose to think of it as moving on. D'oh. For the record. We had a great time. I accidentally had spiked punch. Second base was reached. She wanted to go to third but I was too much of a prude to go there. Maybe that's why I don't recall her name...

Male models gone wild...

I thought this link to this movie movie of what happens backstage at a fashion shoot. The voice over "oyyyy oyyyy oyyy" was kinda hilarious. (via fleshbot)

Why I am really OVER this New York winter...

Heading off-line for the day...

Going to an an all day event at Kimmel - there will be screenings of WWJD (What Would Jesus Drive), Blue Vinyl, and Freedom Machines...

Hmmmm... a demographic...

According to a report by the Asian American Federation of New York: "Same-race relationships predominated among Asian same-sex households, but to divergent degrees in different metropolitan areas. Percentages of Asians living with other Asians varied from 56 percent in San Francisco to 74 percent in New York. Asian/White was the most common combination for interracial partnerships." How does 46% to 24% of Asians co-habitating with other Asians constitute a predominant pattern in same-race relationships?[ed. see comments] The research was funded by the C. J. Huang Foundation located on the UES and directed by a Paul Huang (Foundation Assets: $1,737,371) ... trying to dig up more information about them... the foundation goal is: "Promotion of medical research and Asian American ultural awareness among US universities and other exempt organizations that share the same objectives." (initial report via VHookup)

Lack of content...

I remember a time when I used to post more than just disturbing yet funny links and actually included content in my blog. Lest all my readers think that I just troll around the web for crazy stuff an the internet, I do have a whole other life that I could chronicle.... I went and saw a movie last night (it was a tossup between what I ended up seeing and this movie) and walked back to my place from the UWS to the UES through central park. It is really exciting that the weather has gotten warm enough that I was only slightly freezing when I finally got home at 1am. I am so looking forward to warmer weather. Tonight I will get to see Trembling Before G*d and see the filmmaker speak - it should be interesting... because the last time I saw the film was before I started graduate school - I am curious how I will respond to the documentary after having spent the last year imbibing documentary film history and theory.... btw - my policy on the use of the word "interesting" has been revised as per further discussion with someone I met - I now allow use of this word provided it is a segue into why something is/was interesting. The word should never be an adjective used in and of itself. The phrase "Ohhh... that was interesing" is something I've heard way too much of in grad school. Note to self, future rant - why the verb to strike should be struck from the vocabulary of academics.