Uncouth Reflections

Exploitation Movie Posters

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

These days, everyone loves old exploitation movies — even smart people. In fact, it seems to me that old exploitation movies are to the artsy-smartsy set of today what Hollywood classics starring Bogart and Cagney were to the artsy-smartsy set of the ’60s and ’70s. They’ve become a significant cultural thing, one that’s frequently referenced and reworked by creative types seeking to align themselves with a certain vibe or attitude. It’s funny to think about, isn’t it? Funny to think that hip young people are perhaps more familiar with the work of Fenech and Grier than they are with that of Garbo and Dietrich. But there’s really no figuring the ebb and flow of culture. It just sort of goes where it wants to go, like a finicky cat. And all we can do is diligently follow it around with our pocket video cameras, hoping against hope that we’ll get some good stuff to post on Youtube.

Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial art, Movies, Performers, Sex | Tagged 13 Assassins, American International Pictures, Audition, Blaxploitation, Breakdown, Crank, Edwige Fenech, Exploitation, Frank Tashlin, Freeway, Greg McLean, Grindhouse, Herschell Gordon Lewis, horror, Ichi the Killer, Jack Hill, Jonathan Demme, Jonathan Mostow, Kung Fu, Matthew Bright, Movie Posters, movies, Neveldine/Taylor, Pam Grier, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Roberta Collins, Roger Corman, Russ Meyer, Sam Fuller, Sam Peckinpah, Sid Haig, Takashi Miike, The Devil's Rejects, The Human Centipede, Tom Six, Wolf's Creek | 18 Comments

Why “Follow Your Passion” is Bad Career Advice

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

In his 2005 Stanford commencement address, Steve Jobs said, “You’ve got to find what you love…. [T]he only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.”

Only thing is, Apple started as a way to make a quick buck, Jobs didn’t particularly care about computers or technology.

I don’t doubt that Jobs eventually grew passionate about his work: If you’ve watched one of his famous keynote addresses, you’ve seen a man who obviously loved what he did. But so what? All that tells us is that it’s good to enjoy what you do. This advice, though true, borders on the tautological and doesn’t help us with the pressing question that we actually care about: How do we find work that we’ll eventually love? Like Jobs, should we resist settling into one rigid career and instead try lots of small schemes, waiting for one to take off? Does it matter what general field we explore? How do we know when to stick with a project or when to move on? In other words, Jobs’s story generates more questions than it answers. Perhaps the only thing it does make clear is that, at least for Jobs, “follow your passion” was not particularly useful advice.

Agree or disagree? What bad career advice have you received?

HT: Seth Roberts

Posted in Personal reflections, The Good Life | Tagged Apple, bad advice, career, graduation speeches, Steve Jobs, work | 6 Comments

For the record, I like fried eggs and scrambled eggs.

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9573822/A-persons-way-of-eating-eggs-can-predict-personality-type.html

Posted in Food and health | 4 Comments

How many think this is a good idea? Why?

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/world/middleeast/with-tattoos-young-israelis-bear-holocaust-scars-of-relatives.html?hp&_r=0

Posted in Personal reflections | 5 Comments

Non-Question Lady Questions

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

I just threw out about 2 years’ worth of magazines that I had been accumulating but neglecting like the national debt. Wired, Bon Appetit, The Atlantic, New York, bunch of stupid lawyer mags, local business magazines, L.A. Weekly, OC Weekly — Jesus, another few weeks and I’d be a candidate for Hoarders. Every month I’d promise myself I’d read them and every month they just piled up.

So: Which magazines do you subscribe to? Which do you actually read?

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Personal reflections | Tagged Bon Appetit, local business magazines, magazines, New York magazine, obsessive-compulsive disorder, print media, stupid lawyer magazines, The Atlantic, those free local weeklies with all the escort ads in the back, Wired | 14 Comments

Michael Chabon Likes Genre Fiction, Punts on Endorsing It

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

In a recent NYT interview of Michael Chabon for the Book section, the following exchange took place:

You can suggest three books to a literary snob who believes genre fiction has no merit. What’s on the list?

“The Turn of the Screw.” “Heart of Darkness.” “Blood Meridian.”

Let’s see: a literary ghost story, a literary adventure story, and a literary Western. I guess his point is that even acclaimed literary writers have written genre-influenced works. OK, sure, that’s a valid point. But Chabon’s answer is still a cop-out b/c the Literary Snob can retort, “Well, yes, in the hands of master prose stylists perhaps these genre conventions are worthwhile, but otherwise they’re safely ignored.” To be fair, Chabon does namecheck Ian Fleming, Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury, and Sherlock Holmes, so that’s something.

Anyone familiar with Chabon’s novels? If so, what did you think? I gave The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay a whirl once but I made it all of 50 pages in before ditching it out of boredom. A friend says it took her three shots to get interested but she ended up loving it. Maybe it’s time to give it another try.

Here’s Paleo Retiree’s epic look at the NYT Book Review in 5 parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged Cormac McCarthy, Elmore Leonard, genre fiction, Henry James, Ian Fleming, Joseph Conrad, literary fiction, Michael Chabon, missing the point, New York Times Book Section, Ray Bradbury, Sherlock Holmes | 5 Comments

City Sights: Bikes in Long Beach

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Back here, Paleo Retiree contrasted the asshole bicycle culture of the United States versus the more civilized one in Berlin. This got me thinking about the city I work in, which as I mentioned in the comments, has set itself the goal of being The Most Bicycle Friendly City in America. But this is southern California! Our motto might as well be, Give Me A Car or Give Me Death! Trying to graft a European-style bike culture here has as much a chance of success as, say, trying to put a baboon heart in a human, right?

Well, I’m happy to report that after a good month-and-a-half of observing and riding the streets of Long Beach on my own bike, the vibe here is far closer to laid-back and respectful Berlin than the too-pumped-up-American-biker/athletes described in PR’s post. Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Photography, The Good Life | Tagged Beach Boys, Belmont Shore, Berlin, bikes, California, christopher alexander, city infrastructure, cute girls with nice legs, hipsters, Long Beach, New Yorker cartoons, Pop Art, signage, transportation, urban fabric | 6 Comments

Architecture We Love 4: Brick

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

OK, so it’s more like a Material We Love, but you catch my drift. This is a combo fire and police station in Belmont Shore, CA.

I know this marks me as a fascist, but I’ll brick over raw concrete any day. The handmade feel, the fragmented yet unified visual quality, and the color all put me in a better mood than gray, dull, rain-streaked slabs.

Previously.