Friday, January 30, 2009

The Night of the Purple Moon

Rocksichord tune next to a giant bass tree and a shadow-net horn on the sun... what words can describe the total migration, the direct capitulation of morals. Anything is possible and death is near. By the time this music reaches you it must have travelled a very long distance, and because of that it sounds distant and thin, like fm radio jazz, yet its so overwhelming in content, something you'd wish to hear on a soccer field played by a big band. And right then and there the melody grows out and escapes its intentions, seeping under your thoughts and resting in remote pools that you'll only notice later. Climbing a stairway you stumble upon doors with numbers and you simply turn the buttons and the electric sounds start merging. Electricity flows through your blood. The sun also rises. If you've listened to organ music you'll know how the liquid flows, its a moog dream, a Muaddib soldier under lunar slopes awaiting the slow ascension of the purple star. Like when you go drinking on your own and on the way home you drunkenly stumble upon a secret and sad society of tax collectors. Quiet solitary men with the midnight burden of reminding you about your taxes. They only come out on a full moon because then its so bright and thick nobody can actually hear them. There aren't many of them but you wouldn't mistake one when you saw him, whispering while chewing on a cigar, invisible notes, semantic hiss of sorts. You hear the message yet it never physically arrives anywhere.

These lunar soldiers occupy a certain time and place, surrounded just like we are, by the immensely rich organism of our universe. Instead of snake handlers and shamans they have the purple night of the dying moon when visions arise before them. And in these visions they see a green planet, with a strange name - Earth. And on this planet live Earth people that do the Sun-Earth Rock, the All of Everything. Its interesting to them, to know this.

learn, son


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Originally uploaded by joehangir
Here's a campaign to promote higher/better education at schools and universities. Straightforward, loud, and simple - Learn, son!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Searching: Hunter

ISO hunter. Seeking real hunter to hunt my food for me. Will pay top dollar for use of bow & arrows, knife, or fishing pole. Fresh Roadkill ok, but NO supermarket food. Will do my own skinning.

This bold CL Ad has inspired me to make a short film. In this film a couple of city dwellers start a hunters club, undergo profound changes, and rise up in arms against the establishment. Roadkill OK, Asian babies fine, goats, cats, whatever isn't fast enough to run away from us. Pictures taken as proof of good successful endeavors, videos on youtube with anonymous smiles. New hunting styles will evolve quickly - off road jeep rodeo, lawnmower donkey chase, fb cyber sprawl, moghul tactics + google maps, nomadic techies. Soon everyone will go back to hunting because its healthy, cheaper, and green. Slender fit healthy hunter chicks will take over and kill the couch potato.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

R.I.P. John Updike

I have only read two of his novels, Brazil and The Witches of Eastwick, and I know only a little about his biography, but i don't need much else to accept him as one of the True Greats of the 21st Century. John Updike's stories are direct commentaries about us - the people, witty reminders of who we really are - sex-obsessed, troubled, vulnerable, charming, decaying beings. His novels are full of magic and surrealism, they communicate on many levels, but most importantly, they are honest. Unthinkable transformations of character and flesh take place in Brazil, yet they are so real that I can't find any strength to dismiss their possibility - love prevails in the most unusual way at the end. In The Witches of Eastwick, Darryl Van Horne's sermon alone is worthy of highest praise and absolute admiration, its genius! Updike's style of writing is elegant and erotic, its seducing and bewildering, it will make you tremble and ask yourself some serious questions. Its a pity we lost this great man, but I am happy that I have yet to discover so many of his works.

Smile

Today i went by starbucks (ugh) to get a black eye (i just learned it means a dopio in a tall coffee) and as i was pulling out I had a woman from another car smile at me... It was the kind of a smile that remains for a while in your memory, sincere and beautiful. She was laughing at the ugly hat on my big head, but in a loving way, like it was ok. Kind of like if you mix Christmas and high school romance, or your first kiss gone awkward. She was gorgeous, European-like, probably a mother of some pretty kids and a loving husband, a member of some yoga club, organic shopper, etc. But what fascinated me most was that while smiling at me she belonged to me only, yes, that's the way it felt. You know, like she loved me... And then it all ended and the rain and winter cold took over.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Tokyo April 2008


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Originally uploaded by joehangir
Finally getting to some of those old pics. Pet em!

One-hand clap

Tokyo - April 18, 2008

On a train to interview an expert on Hildegar. Some top-notch philosophy guru will talk about his books and ideas. I won't understand anything but i'll get something out of it. Pretty lady sitting across the isle from me. We keep looking at each other. I like her eyes - Asian clarity, like two ripe pears split open. Her legs are slightly crooked and her toes facing each other. Straight black hair like long sewing needles... She just left. Been raining hard last night and this morning. Screen door fell off and did a little wet dance across balcony floor. Trees shook and rippled and rain drops found their way into everything. Udon lomein soup with dried tofu bits for breakfast, delicious! I feel like a vegetable - a Japanese pickle. Bodily fluids renaissance. Soon I'll start growing sprouts from my knees and elbows. Salty. Squeeze me, please. Life in Japan is hard because people are not encouraged to dream and to go after whatever they want. Its not that they can't get what they want, its more about them not knowing how to want it. I wonder if they'd appreciate a good slap across their face. I know i would, if someone slapped me in earnest. The kind of a slap that rings in your ears and allows you to escape, even if for an instant, from a prison of illusions. Hmm, what's that sound of the one-hand clap?... My stop.