I've been chomping at the bit to post this story -- Thomas Kinkaid (painter of Light) has merchandised an entire housing development.Hodder, you reading this?! I got all excited - went to blog it, but the blog was down. Well, it turns out to be less sickenly exciting than it really is -- Kitschmeister Kincaid is only stamping his name on a series of otherwise bland condo's -- and no, they won't really resemble the artists work too much. No cascading waterfalls with rainbows and sunsets. No turn of the century town squares with rustic foliage and inspirational sayings... Just your usual sprawl, but with pictures by the artist in every home. Joy... Hodder, you reading this?!

...Spent this morning watching my latest DVD aquisition - Criterions triple box set of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. I remember seeing this movie as a teen and being blown away by it's Orwellian plotline and stunning visual effects. My friends and I must have seen it dozens of times at the theater and eventually repeated viewings on video (quoting lines ad nauseum, "my complication had a complication", "This is your receipt for your husband ... and this is my receipt for your receipt", "Care for a little necrophilia? Hmmm?") Needless to say, it still holds up 18 years later - still amazed at both the black humor allusions to our own fascist reality, as well as the amazing art-design (essentially creating a dystopian post-Metropolis)... In any case, they've included much discussion around the production of the film, including the controversial 94 minute happy-ending version as well as the directors own 2 hour opus.
Funny - now after seeing it - I realize, while currently sitting in my own Art-Deco workplace in Pacmed on the third floor, with a ravaged post-industrial aesthetic of exposed pipes (aka - the Central Services Ducts), sitting in my own Cubicle-cum-office, how Brazil it's all become...

So - I leave work in an incredibly foul mood (don't ask) - and arrive downtown to meet Beate for her grandson's Art Exhibit. I was tired, achy, gassy and very cranky - wary of doing anything remotely in public, involving art or children. Needless to say, when I got there - my heart completely melted at seeing V5's Children's Art Exhibit. This exhibit asked children who their hero's were, and they each created a portrait in some medium (collage, paint, woodblock). What was so incredibly endearing was the depth of the answers - kids (mostly grades 1-4) named everyone from Rosa Parks to Eleanor Roosevelt, and even better, their mothers, fathers, friends, or siblings. The display space was this new and upcoming gallery that's downtown - and talking with the owner, he said that they "wanted to expose the kids to the art world at an early age" --- really cool stuff and space for young artists who usually hang on fridge's or classrooms.
If anyone is reading this and they are in Seattle, the gallery is on the corner of Denny and Westlake and the show is on for 2 weeks. The paintings sell for $20 a piece and the money goes to Childhaven. Of course you should wait a few days so parents can have a chance to buy their kids work (or heck, initiate a bidding war with the Mary Boone Gallery)....

We're fighting for table service and tequila tonight - Dine Out is tonight and we're going to Duex Tamales (brother of Les Tamales in W. Seattle), a French-Mexican resteraunt in Columbia City. I'm waiting for Dana to show up, after laboring on reviews and fighting my inbox for the last 9 hours, boy do I need a drink...
In any case, the Stranger reported the alarming news Broadway Market Cinema is closing. Surprising because I thought they were doing relatively ok (recession-proof entertainment?)... I guess that leaves us with just 3 theaters (Egyptian, Harvard E, and Little Theater). In alot of ways the BM (as we lovingly called it) was good at taking chances and playing alot of indie cinema. On the other hand, alot of the indie cinema they had were the really bad cast-offs from Strand Releasing (insert "2 gay cowboys eating pudding joke" here), or they kept the one success indie-movie until you wanted to scream at them to stop the umpteenth showing of Trainspotting or Pi. Oh well, it will be missed. I guess they are going to put a gym in there. Hmm - looks like we're all going to gym these days as opposed to the movies.

David Sedaris has a new article in Esquire on fashion tips... which is so (un)fitting because I just got my shipment in from jcrew. The dark khaki hopefuls for spring-fall are one size too small, and the black twill trousers have effectively now become my Fat Pants for 2002. Sheesh. Oh well - my own mistake for buying into their post-Kennedyesque orgy of clean and sensible.
I so wish I for online tailoring - something where you download measurements and include a picture and at the other end is this old Italian guy ready with quality fabric and a needle. On second thought - I think trying it on is probably the best option.

Was thinking about school again - when all of a sudden wince of my past academia hit me with all the badly written papers and what little I've to show academically. [confessional: Yes, I did this - I used pop music and critical theory shamelessly because it accessorized film criticism, and relied on visuals. Besides, I used to love Greil Marcus for those same reasons...]
I am going to be slammed over the next few days. Reviews are due this friday and monday, plus I've got other priorities to juggle.
...but i finally got to hook up my new DVD player. I am going to watch Buffy in Spanish when i get a chance.

Did measurements, took weight, and looked at my overall lean body mass... I managed to gain 5 pounds, but it's all in muscle (*yeeehaw)... but the bad news is that my waist is still a land mass unto itself (*wahhhh) - oh well, this is only a small dent in my determination to be svelt, chisled and bad-ass. Might even up my visits to 4 a week - but I worry that's being too hardcore. Plus, I am not sure if I can afford it.
Also went to the dentist today for a filling. No bling-bling gold caps or monogramed fangs, but I did toy for a minute with getting the cheap silver filling and going for a rough-trade vinnie jones kinda look... luckily I knew I couldn't pull that off. I went with ceramic white, which will only clash with my yellowing teeth anyways.