RUTHLESS RUTANS

From the great Doctor Who episode, The Horror of Fang Rock.

WOLVES IN MY ROOM

I've flirted with all types of metal since I was a teenager. Black metal always fascinated me - the cryptic lyrics, the distorted wall of sound. The icy landscapes of the northern Scandinavia that gave birth to so much black metal always compelled me. And yet, I couldn't stand to listen to more than a song or two. My fascination seemed to be all on the surface.

Recently, I started listening to a new band, Wolves in the Throne Room, and I've been drawn back into black metal's web. This band seems to be able to both pay homage to black metal's extreme features while simultaneously experimenting and integrating different genres and new sounds. This is black metal to which I can relate. That kinda freaks me out.



From Wolves in the Throne Room's site -
"Our relationship with the natural world is a healing force in our lives. If you listen to Black Metal, but you dont know what phase the moon is in, or what wild flowers are blooming than you have failed. The music is about wild forests, unfettered rivers, nature: furious and vengeful." This "natural" aesthetic permeates the bands every expression: Lyrically, musically, and ideologically.

"Black Metal is the cleansing fire that frees us from the bondage of rationality, science, morality, religion, leaving us free to choose our own path."

"The deep woe inside black metal is about fear that we can never return to the mythic, pastoral world that we crave on a deep subconscious level"

TREEHOPPERS

Treehoppers from this flickr page

FROM FLATLAND TO THE 4TH DIMENSION

From Edwin Abbott Abbott to Carl Sagan. I just read Flatland again after reading Sagan's The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God.
I love these dudes.

POWER OF THE WOLF SHIRT

Do you have a wolf shirt? They lend their wearer super wolf powers to rock. Apparently this dude wears a wolf shirt everyday.

RUNNING THE LOPING

SIPHONOPHORAE

Siphonophorae appear to be a single large organism when they are, in fact, a colony of organisms. In this case, it is a colony of jellyfish that appears to be a single, bioluminescent deep sea creature.

Source - Pink Tentacle

SPACIOUS EARTH

Photographs by Michael Kenna

OF YOUR HAND

WHAT IS THE STAR WARS?

SILENT LIGHT

Saw the film Silent Light by Carlos Reygadas today in NYC. The above video is the opening scene. The film is simply incredible. An absolute miracle. I could throw endless praise at this film and is would still feel true to me. The story takes place in a german dialect speaking mennonite community in Mexico. Love is the foundation of the narrative. However, nature takes center stage through gorgeous cinematography. For fans of Kubrick, Tarkovsky, Bergman, and Malick. Or any fan of cinema. Do not miss. Playing now at film forum NYC.

NY Times Review

SNOWY DEATH METAL SATURDAY

I'm getting ready for the big snow this Saturday morning in NYC. Listening to new favorite Grouper whose new album has the most metal of names, Dragging a Dead Deer Uphill. But really it's like a beautiful dreamy acoustic version of My Bloody Valentine. The album is definitely in my top albums of 2008.

MARU

From now on, I am only posting funny animal videos from Japan. Srsly. This is Maru. His youtube channel is the 20th most popular video channel in Japan. Maru is a kind of a big deal. In this next video, the owner writes - "Maru behaves like a baby every morning." Funny animal videos all winter. Srsly.

BACK SUPER KAWAII STYLE

I hope everyone had a great holiday break and a super new years! I was back home seeing the family who I'm really missing now. And today was my first day back to work. And back to blogging. So here is something a friend sent me, lifted from another blog - MAME SHIBA!







Mame means "bean." And Shiba is a kind of dog - Shiba Inu. For some reason the Mame Shiba always say hello and then say something terrible. In the first one the mame shiba says "did you know in france tanpopo (in English - Dandelion) means 'peeing your pants?'" And then peanut mame shiba says "Did you know when you kiss 2 million germs are exchanged?" And then edemame shiba says "Did you know a kangaroo's pouch is soooooo stinky?" So awesome.

Source - From Japan With Love