Surreal Politik

Posted September 3rd, 2008 by john

So, I was going to write on Sarah Palin today, but poshdeluxe has already done a great job on presenting the issue and started a cool conversation, too.

A short post instead, then.  The use of tabloids to pursue a ridiculous agenda and supposed outrage at personal ‘scandals’ make me yearn for a simpler time, when sensationalism and politics just didn’t go together:

Damned to Hellvetica.

Posted September 2nd, 2008 by john

I have a confession.

I love type. 

But I know nothing about it.

In fact, my love of type is incredibly superficial.  However, it has lasted longer than other infatuations.  You see, I used to work at a wonderful place where things like type are extremely important.

During my time with the wonderful people at Magma I cultivated interests in all kinds of pretty wonders I lacked the skill to emulate.  Back then, we had an hour lunch break, and I would either pop over to the Chinese Arts Centre or head to the back of the shop to read a bit.  The best thing about Magma was that you could spend your time reading books on the history of typography, looking through a collection of graffiti sprayed on trains through Germany, or browsing through a colour index.  Yes, I enjoy browsing through colour indexes, and own one for this very reason.

One little book in particular often stared me down as I turned to the back of the shop, sandwich in hand, and was so convincing that I bought it, and read it right through.  By the end I was so happy I wanted to physically hug this book.

The last issue of Émigré excited me partly because I could identify with people living in a strange land.  Mostly, however, I was drawn to the story of people being creative in an extremely pragmatic niche.  The idea that there is creativity in everything was not an unfamiliar one, but for some reason it comes to life for me in type.  It’s my favourite example of the little bridges that join dour pragmatism and art for art’s sake.

You see, reading about typography, and typographers, does more than make me feel smug for using a Macintosh.  I can’t help but be fascinated by something that I never even thought about, not even once, for the first twenty-three years of my life.  Reading an interview today over at Typographica, I found out that there were 1,800 new commercial typefaces back in 2006.  It blows my mind.  People who manipulate type fascinate me but I’m not even sure where to start asking them questions.

It’s fantastic. I love type.  I am an unenlightened enthusiast.  Writing in Verdana.

Alien 3: Not exactly awesome.

Posted August 31st, 2008 by john

I haven’t blogged in a while, but I’m back, and I’m in reviewing mood. 

The reason for that is a lazy day.  For obscure reasons I can’t figure out, my recent lazy day routine (when I’m lucky enough to grab one) is watching movies I’ve already seen, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s, therefore no longer being recent but certainly not being ‘old’.  At least not in my mind.

Today I decided to watch Alien 3.

John’s opinion on Alien 3 as of noon on August 31st, 2008:

Alien 3 is an underrated sci-fi sequel that easily relegates Alien: Resurrection to being the worst installment in the Alien series but fails to reach the heights of the first two movies.  As David Fincher’s first feature film it showed promise at the time, and the “dog-alien” has been the subject of unfair criticism.  At the very least, Alien 3 rounded out the series, before the nonsense of Alien:Resurrection (specifically: Winona Ryder and alien-human hybrid clones that excel at basketball).

John’s opinion now:

Wow.  So, I always knew that Alien 3 had experienced a ‘troubled’ production, but having never bothered to go back and watch the movie since I first saw it in 1993, I was missing out on some pretty big problems.  The movie is put together really, really badly with a plot that opens up a ton of interesting possibilities but delivers on none of them.  The acting talent available is formidable, but these people are working with thin stuff.  For example:

• The warden type character played by Brian Glover decrees that Ripley will not leave the infirmary to wander the prison inhabited entirely by depraved male religious zealots, but she does anyway, and nobody tries to stop her or lock her in said infirmary.
• We are regularly asked to suspend our disbelief for stylistic touches that don’t add anything to the film and serve no purpose, case in point: Ripley confronting the male prison population in service of some vague feminist agenda.  In the twenty-second century. 
• The “dog-alien”, luckily for the scriptwriters, has a canny sense of dramatic timing, and chooses its victims in a manner that defies any kind of real predatory instinct but serves to move the plot along without any kind of conflict between characters that might actually generate some kind of drama.

So, in short, the film is a mess, but one that I enjoyed watching.  It’s still better than Alien: Resurrection.

It also gives me a tenuous excuse to post this:

My favourite game on the Sega Genesis not featuring a very fast blue hedgehog.  But I won’t talk about that game now.  Maybe somewhere else.

Do the De-Evolution

Posted August 13th, 2008 by john

It looks like Matthew McConaughey has an acolyte. Seriously, I know the name of this site implies it automatically, but I have deeply rooted fears that our society is on a downward spiral into irrelevance and the ubiquitous use of the term ‘bro’.

I get that Jake Gyllenhall has beefed up for a movie, but would it kill him to put a shirt on? Come on man. I understand that being handsome, wealthy, talented and famous hasn’t gotten you as much attention as you deserve, but this… it’s kind of gross.

The decline of western culture owes a lot to misinformed attempts to relocate masculinity. This represents a crisis, however: jocks thinking that they are ‘different’ and in some way ‘alternative’ is one thing but when normal men start to emulate gorillas we are in trouble.

At least Reese Witherspoon had the decency to look embarrassed.