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Moo Holiday Card Competition
2007-11-09 16:20:00
I´m a great Moo fan. They´ve got new stuff available and now they started holiday card competition.Make a MOO Greetings Card with this image and help raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières. Click on the link and you'll be taken straight to a page on MOO with my image selected, ready for you to customise and buy.Or find out more about the MOO Greetings Cards.
More About: Holiday , Competition

Surprise!
2007-11-09 01:29:00
It´s after midnight and Benjamin just presented a box to me. I immediately guessed the right content: Chocolate from my favorite Chocolate store in town! I have a weakness for special chocolates and these are just delicious. Each and every piece is made by hand in the store, using only organic ingredients. Delicious! That already made my day. Thanks Benjamin.Update:More nice things today: breakfast with a very good friend (she also gave me a Moleskine sketchbook), snow, browsing (and buying) books in the comic shop next door with Benjamin (I have never been there before, because I knew I wouldn´t be able to stop buying comics), flowers from another friend, Plasticine figures from my daughter, movie coupons from my MIL, sister and Benjamin, an anonymous present (I have no clue from whom) etc.

Munich City Night - My New Blog
2007-11-07 18:57:00
I love taking pics of anything I see - at night, when I´m alone and everything around me quiet. I´m posting my favorites here:
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100 ideas 1 - part two
2007-11-07 14:26:00
Covered:Part ly Uncovered:Uncovered:Link to Mim´s post
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Collecting rubbish (100 ideas 1)
2007-11-07 13:08:00
The next assignment was to collect stuff from the sidewalk. I did this together with my kids on the way to the kindergarten and back. It was strange walking all the time with the head down on the ground and at first it was also very strange to pick up all the rubbish (specially cigarette stubs or dirty stuff). But you can´t imagine how happy the kids were to pick up all these colorful bits and pieces. It´s going to be hard to get them away from this again and they still keep finding wonderful things.1. Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk.What a variety of things we found! Usually I don´t see so many different kind of colors when I rush along.Full page:Right side:Left side:When I completed the drawing I went to have another look at andrea joseph´s sketchblog. She has a picture showing stuff she found at a church yard. I was surprised how many similar things we found. You should take a look at her blog. Her crosshatching is just amazing.Link to Mim´s post
More About: Ideas , Rubbish

100 Ideas By Keri Smith has started (100 ideas 3)
2007-11-02 16:25:00
The Asia Filmfest is finally over and I can get back to other stuff. The whole week was rather busy... watching as many movies as possible. But I did have a lot of fun doing so.A while ago I started two new projects. "Wreck this journal", which I will be doing with Benjamin "100 Ideas " and a second one which I will be doing with Mim.Mim and I agreed on doing the first few assignments in no special order and just try to do complete all 100 ideas.3. Buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create, (new pen, a tea cup, journal).I started with this easy task. No difficulties for me to go shopping for nice stuff! :) So I bought this wonderful red water color journal (along with a set of pencils) for documenting the 100 ideas on this list.The lower pics shows the 100 things on the list.
More About: Smith , Keri

Asia Filmfest - Soo
2007-11-02 15:11:00
After the two movies yesterday afternoon we went to get the kids from friends. Back home they were put to bed and off we went again. My mom and I went to watch the last blood-splattered movie of the Asia Filmfest: Soo.About the movie:"It's bloody and brutal, and harrowingly so. Japanese-born Korean director Choi Yang-il (Yoichi Sai) brings the Korean audience a hardboiled vengeance film with a slightly different flavor. When you think of blood-splattered retaliation, Park Chan-wook?s vengeance trilogy or Quentin Tarantino?s "Kill Bill" series may come to mind. But imagine such a film stripped of fancy cinematographic techniques and devoid of stylishly choreographed action sequences. Every gesture and grimace is meticulously planned, according to the director. But Choi keeps the camera at a certain distance to portray the no cut skirmishes. The product is heightened realism, and you believe in the brutal violence and the raw human instinct for survival." (The Korea Times)

Asia Filmfest - Dasepo Naughty Girls
2007-11-01 21:41:00
Right after "Breath" we saw this crazy movie: Dasepo Naughty Girls , based on the popular Internet novel, "Multi-Cell Girl"."Fun, sex and lunacy. All hell's been let loose at No Use High School! Director E. J-yong puts a whole new curriculum together for his brilliant adaptation of an internet comic. Whilst the couple that run this somewhat unusual boarding school indulge their sado-masochistic longings, their multi-confessional pupils are busy educating themselves primarily in all kinds of sexual practices. Just as unorthodox as the love life of this crew of bright young things is the colourful look of this bizarre teenage comedy, that takes the audience on a high-speed romp through a highly unpedagogical realm." (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via Berlinale)"Shot with a candy coated color scheme and leaping from a song and dance number featuring a fetching swarm of pink clad go-go dancers to a mass exodus for the doctor's office on news that a teacher has tested positive for syphilis to ...

Asia Filmfest - Breath
2007-11-01 21:27:00
What a wonderful movie. This was the first one we (Benjamin, my mom and myself) enjoyed today. Right after that we watched a second one."Removing any pretence of reality for yet another of his existentialist essays on human nature, Kim Ki-duk?s bare-boned new film pairs a married woman with a man on death row, for an impossible love affair. But as this is, after all, Kim Ki-duk territory, the affair does materialise in a manner of speaking, even offering a deserved relief to two tormented souls, before it drops the curtains. Kim?s followers will embrace this and festivals couldn?t possibly miss exposing such a bemusing item. Kim, whose international reputation was based for many years on the excesses he indulged in films like "The Isle" or "Bad Guy", doesn't quite achieve the same heights he climbed in "Spring, Summer?", but he doesn't need to shock anymore and works wonders within the minimalist conditions he imposes on himself. Visually, this is as eye-catching as any of Kim's ...
More About: Asia , Breath

Asia Filmfest - Carved - The Slit-Mouthed Woman
2007-11-01 02:15:00
The second movie was a horror movie called "Carved - The Slit-Mouthed Woman ". Even though the movie was frightening at times it isn´t a movie which you have to have seen.About the movie:"Legend holds that thirty years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by the spirit of a woman whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured by a jealous husband. Roaming the streets wearing a long coat and surgical mask, the spirit would approach young victims and, while removing her mask, ask "Am I pretty?" The victim's response would almost always lead to their violent death. Now, one by one, children are disappearing again. As teachers and officials desperately begin to investigate, a panic begins to build as the woman's spirit returns for some unfinished business and the town's dark secrets are exposed. ?Carved - The Slit-Mouthed Woman? reminds me of Clive Barker?s ?Candyman? in spirit with perhaps Wes Craven?s ?Nightmare on Elm Street? thrown in for good." (vi...
More About: Asia

Asia Filmfest - Eye In The Sky
2007-11-01 02:01:00
Halloween evening Benjamin took care of the kids again so that I could watch some more movies. (Thanks, B.). Tomorrow is the last day of the Asia Filmfest and then I can get back to my usual blog postings. Hopefully with more art again.The first movie I watched today was "Eye in the Sky". Nice one!About the movie:"Eye in the Sky" is engrossing cat and mouse stuff ? riveting entertainment that gathers an undeniable momentum as the chase rachets up notch by notch. Oozing with style and gripping throughout, Yau?s movie heralds an exciting new talent. (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via firecrackermedia.com)?A Hong Kong police surveillance unit finds itself caught up in the rough-and-tumble of underworld violence in smart action-thriller "Eye in the Sky," helming debut of longtime Johnnie To scripter Yau Nai-hoi. Well-received at its world preem in Berlin's Forum, and stuffed with To regulars on both sides of the camera, this looks to have a similar fest and distribution arc to the best of T...

Happy Halloween!
2007-10-31 01:28:00
Midnight has passed and I wish all my friends - specially my American friends - a lot of Treats. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
More About: Happy , Halloween , Allo

Asia Filmfest - Flash Point
2007-10-30 23:37:00
A few hours ago we watched the best movie of the Asia n Filmfest so far: Flash Point . A great movie with mind-blowing action! One of the best action movies I have seen (though I have to admit that I haven´t seen too many of them).About the movie:"Flash Point" belongs in the new crop of Hong Kong films that have begun to take shape over the last few years and found a major following in International markets tired of the same stuff. It?s a genre with hardcore fighting that isn?t predicated on styles or even signature moves, where violence looms, threatens, and finally develops in a heated "debate" of fists and kicks. You probably wouldn?t have seen anything like "Flash Point" or "Sha Po Lang" ten or even five years ago, and it seems Yen has helped to usher in this new genre of Hong Kong action-crime films that combines grit, martial arts, and crime that has never been seen before." (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via BeyondHollywood.com) "Flash Point" is an awesome action movie when the time ...

Asia Filmfest - Glory To The Filmmaker!
2007-10-30 11:36:00
Kitano has described this film as part of the ongoing "creative destruction" of his career, which began in 2005 with Takeshis'. The movie is pretty crazy and I had to laugh a lot. There are different parts of the film, which were all good. But somehow I didn´t like the last part (mainly science fiction). Actually I can´t really describe the movie. All I can say is that you should only watch the movie if you are a Kitano fan.About the movie:In his search for the perfect movie ? one that will satisfy the urge to entertain and to explore the limits of film ? cinematic mastermind Takeshi Kitano has produced a phantasmagorical allegory of the craft. Rooted in his personal catalogue of films, Glory to the Filmmaker! a corrosive yet light-hearted reflection on recent Japanese cinema, defying genre definition and radiating freedom and originality.Playing himself in the film, Kitano is confronted with the difficult task of producing a box-office hit after publicly announcing his decision to...
More About: Asia

Halloween Countdown 1 - The Death Clock
2007-10-30 09:58:00
"Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying." Jean Cocteau ©2007 ~Backseat-Instigator According to the Death Clock my personal Day of Death is Thursday, January 21, 2055. That gives me almost 50 more years to live. Not bad!"Death Clock: The Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away..."
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Allo

Halloween Countdown 2 - Dieter Frangenberg
2007-10-29 08:10:00
Some interesting pictures by Dieter Frangenberg.Frau mit "Bock" © 2007 by Dieter FrangenbergPower of Love © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberghier ist der Wurm drin © 2007 by Dieter FrangenbergFrischlinge © 2007 by Dieter FrangenbergKaffee im Garten © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Berg , Allo

Asia Filmfest - My Blueberry Nights
2007-10-29 00:14:00
Today my brother showed up surprisingly. So he had to take care of the kids and we had the chance to go and see another Asia Filmfest movie. Today they showed the "surpise movie". We were lucky. They showed "My Blueberry Nights " directed by Wong Kar Wai."My Blueberry Nights is a film starring Norah Jones and Jude Law. It also features Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and David Strathairn. Wong Kar Wai describes it as "a story of a woman who takes the long route instead of the short one to meet up with the man she loves." PlotA young woman takes a journey across the United States to resolve her questions about love. She encounters a series of offbeat characters along the way.The movie was the opening film for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It is Kar Wai Wong's first feature length English-language film. Norah Jones was the only choice for the leading role, despite her lack of prior acting experience actually it was her film debut.

Halloween Countdown 3 - Tim Burton (Staring Girl)
2007-10-28 08:51:00
I once knew a girlwho would just stand there and stare.At anyone or anything,she seemed not to care She'd stare at the ground,She'd stare at the sky. She'd stare at you for hours,and you'd never know why. But after winning the local staring contest, she finally gave her eyesa well-deserved rest.This poem as well as others from Tim Burton 's "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" can be found here.
More About: Girl , Halloween , Countdown , Staring

Halloween Countdown 4 - Rasputina
2007-10-27 21:53:00
1816 The Year Without A Summer by RasputinaThis is a most delightfully dark and frilly Rasputina video for "1816 The Year Without a Summer." It was created by the one and only Dame Darcy. (via Phantasmaphile)
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Allo

Asia Filmfest - Vexille
2007-10-27 20:00:00
Just a short post on this one. We saw the movie "Vexille" Thursday evening and did enjoy it. It was the opening film of the Asia Filmfest 2007 in Munich. It´s a good movie!The movie theater had an asian buffet in the entrance room, you could buy some Asian dvds, there was a promotional stand of Diamond Prosecco and of course some promotional material from the movies.The entrance ticket to the movie was also the entrance ticket to the after-show party in the club 2rooms. I even managed to get Benjamin there for about half an hour. Interesting club, futuristic interior and they had japanese porn running on two or three screens. The famous DJ Hito from Japan appeared and I enjoyed my vodka. Unfortunately we missed Drag Queen Masu with her J-Pop-Playback-Midnight-Show.About the movie:"One of the most ? if not the most ? hotly anticipated anime titles of the year, "Vexille" is nothing short of a visual feast. The production team behind the hugely successful "Appleseed" film reunite here ...

Halloween Countdown 5 - Halloween Feast
2007-10-26 13:43:00
©2006-2007 ~Keeper-of-Darkness"Sic Gorgiamus Allo s Subjectatos Nunc.We gladly feast on those who would subdue us."- Addams Family Credo
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Feast

Pay It Forward - A Little Blogging Game
2007-10-25 13:05:00
Over at Mithi's blog I read about a pay-it-forward game, which she found on Milla´s blog. I´m joining in on the fun, specially as the holiday season is coming up.Here are the rules: "I will send a handmade gift to the first 3-5 (I think I prefer3 ;) ) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don?t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog." Just comment here and wait and see what you´ll receive by mail. It´s fun making something special for someone you know - or even don´t know.Update:Recipients so far :1. Milla2. Mithi3. ???
More About: Blogging , Game , Forward , Pay It Forward

Halloween Countdown 6 - Demon
2007-10-25 00:50:00
This is a film produced by Eoin Ryan using rotoscoping. He used a combination of live action and CGI and traced then on Wacom Cintiq Screen Tablet.Have a look at the Rotoscoping Demon , Before & After shots. Interesting technique!
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Allo

Halloween Countdown 7 - Are You A Vampire?
2007-10-24 00:44:00
©2007 ~sitamaeI did a test "Are you a vampire?":A person who looks like one, talks like one, and even lives like one, ain't necessarily one. We'll just call you a 'scam-pire' until you can prove otherwise. You're about one step away from the real thing, but you gotta believe...I´m only one step away. Any voluntary victims? Only excellent offers will be considered.Vampire 1Vampire 2
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Allo

Asia Filmfest 2007
2007-10-23 16:40:00
October 25 to November 1, 2007 plenty of great Asia n movies can be seen at the Asia Filmfest in Munich. I love going to Filmfests - specially the Asia Filmfest and the Fantasy Filmfest. Unfortunately I didn´t have the time the past years to see a lot of movies. This year I have bought tickets for 3 movies so far. Maybe I´ll manage to watch more.What I really like about Asian movies is that these movies can be extremely creepy, very strange und weird. I´ll let you know more about the movies when I´ve seen them next week.One of the movies which I already missed watching at the Fantasy Filmfest is "I´m a Cyborg, But That´s OK". At the Asian Filmfest I won´t be able to watch it either. :( But the website for Korean director Park Chan-wook?s film "I?m a Cyborg, But That?s OK" is very interesting. It depicts a pop-up book with charmingly animated structures which inflate as you turn each page. OPEN THE BOOK!Plot:After attempting suicide, Young Goon (Lim Soo Jung) ends up in an asylum, out...

Halloween Countdown 8 - Edward Gorey
2007-10-23 09:36:00
Click on the image to see a phantastic video of the Gorey Alphabet.Edward Gorey was a writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books. I read The Gashlycrumb Tinies when I was a child and I have loved his work ever since.He died a few years ago and now his house has been turned into a museum.The Tuning Fork is another project using Edward Gorey´s work.
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Ween , Allo

Halloween Countdown 9 - Bondage
2007-10-22 23:55:00
Most of the controversy over bondage, or any other kink, or sex generally for that matter, can be explained with this line: “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.� (Emma to her father, in Jane Austin’s “Emma�)(inspired by a Luis Royo painting)Bondage or any other kink is not really a Halloween theme, but I guess most people consider this to be a "dark" theme.
More About: Countdown , Ween , Allo

Halloween Countdown 10 - Run Wrake
2007-10-21 13:39:00
Only 10 days to go. It´s Halloweeen time. So I´ll be posting some darker stuff the next ten days. Don´t watch the movie if you are sensitive. :)"Rabbit" by Run Wrake. The film is a very simple morality tale about greed and the dangers of greed & exploring nature. Run Wrake found some 1950's stickers in a junk shop and made a film out of them. It took about 16 months from the start. He spent about one year for actual making animation and 4 months for pre-production.
More About: Halloween , Countdown , Ween , Allo

100 Things By Keri Smith (Project 2)
2007-10-18 14:44:00
Here´s a list of 100 things I would like to do which I saw on Keri Smith ´s site. It could be fun to do this with a partner or maybe in a group and everybody can share their experience in their own blog or in the comments here on my blog. Anyone interested?1. Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk. 2. Write a letter to yourself in the future. 3. Buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create, (new pen, a tea cup, journal). Use it everyday. 4. Draw your dinner. 5. Find a piece of poetry you respond to. Rewrite it and glue it into your journal. 6. Glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street. 7. Expose yourself to a new artist, (go to a gallery, or in a book.) Write about what moves you about it. 8. Find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief bio about them. 9. Spend a day drawing only red things. 10. Draw your bike. 11. Make a list of everything you buy in the next week. 12. Make a map of ever...
More About: Project , Things

Wreck This Journal By Keri Smith (Project 1)
2007-10-18 14:41:00
Today I finally received my copy of "Wreck this journal", which celebrates creative destruction: "To Create Is To Destroy". She encourages the reader to fill the book in a messy kind of way and then to destroy the pages to experience the true creative process. The book is wonderful and I already find it difficult to destroy the pages, to poke holes into them and to crumble it - as suggested. Even writing in it seems hard to do, as I really consider books to be treasures and like to take care of them.Still I wanted to start right away, but then I had this idea: It would be so much more fun to do this together with someone else. Then we could compare the pages. I think this could be fun to do and inspiring. Maybe we could also blog about it.I´m looking for someone who would like to do this with me. In exchange for the time you need to invest I would send you one copy of the for free. I had a look through the book. There is no need to be an artist. So, if you drop by my blog from time...
More About: Journal , Project , Smith , Keri