Monday, April 13, 2009

Short of the Week #14



Juranessic - one of the trailers shown during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in june 2002. It has been directed by 5 studients of the GOBELINS animation school: In-Ah RÖDIGER, Simon Pierre ANDRIVEAU, Yann AVENATI, Hervé BARBEREAU and Louis CLICHY.

Meitantei Holmes - Intro of the Week #14 + Animation #26

Last week it was "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century", this week I give you the classic antropomorphic anime verion, "Meitantei Holmes", aka Sherlock Hound :) Great series with lovable characters, detailed animation and great stories. There is even a slight steampunk feel to it. Six out of 26 episodes were directed by Miyazaki himself.



Watch fansubs online here
More info: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/holmes/
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Hound

Poster of the Week #14


Concept poster for the upcoming movie (to be released October 2009) based on Robert E. Howard's characer Solomon Kane, it looks a lot better than the photo poster of the movie (which heavily reminds of Van Helsing).

Quotes #26


"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? That's me."

Walkt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino")

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Честит Празник!

Честит Празник!

Честит Имен Ден на родния ми брат ми Здравко :)

И Честит Имен Ден на другия ми брат, Цеко (Цветелин!) Цял живот да си заобиколен все от най-красивите цветя, брате! Голям харе...ъъъ...букет да си направиш :)

Честито и на Цветомира от стария клас, на Цветомира от стария курс, честито и на моето другарче Теменуга :)

Всичките да сте ми живи и здрави, и Силата да бъде с Вас винаги!

Записки по българския преход...

Нашия (моя и на Цеко) работодател, Евгений Тодоров, когото на галено наричаме "шефе", наскоро издаде книга, наречена "Записки по българския преход", с подзаглавие "този скапан начин на живот". Като "скапан начин на живот" се визира именно оцеляването, това дето от както се помня все хората около мене се мъчат да свържат двата края.



Не му правя реклама или нещо, нямаше да пиша, ако нещо не ми беше харесало в книгата. И по принцип винаги съм избягвал да пиша разни по-така, социални или политически неща, особено в тоя блог, не поради липсата на някаква позиция, а просто не му е тука мястото. Но сега след няколко десетки страници от тая книга просто ми се ще да споделя това-онова и да кажа няколко думи за изданието.

Не съм я и дочел още... В интерес на истината съм в самото начало, но не ми остава много време за четене в последно време, че все някой нещо иска да пишем за пустия университет с разните му там редовни и факултативни дисциплини... (че даже и последните така по-дълги неща на моя си блог са всъщност домашни, които съм писал и съм си пуснал и в интернет, "Myself as a reader" и "Decide your destiny" и двете бяха първоначално за писмените упражнения на Кацарска...)

Отклонявам се, обаче...

Та, книгата на шефа е нещо поне за мене уникално, не съм чувал за друга такава. Може и да има, но едва ли в България.

Той самия си направи блог и започна да пише в него спомени за прехода, едно време което аз смътно си спомням, и тогава съм бил прекалено малък за да разбирам за какво става дума. Както Цеко се шегуваше, когато излезе книгата "Яааа, шефа си е принтирал блога!"

На пръв поглет беше ми интересно оформлението на книгата - всяка статия, или пост ако щете, е с датата и дори часа на публикуването й в нета, отдолу с броя прочитания и коментари... Както и няколко от коментарите, подбрани да останат в книгата. После осъзнах, че не оформлението, а съдържанието е нещото, което прави книгата така оригинална. Така нареченият принтиран блог е доста интересна идея. Поради няколко причини. Честно казано зачитал съм се в някои от статиите от блога ( http://www.zaprehoda.blog.bg/ ), но едва ли някога бих седнал систематично да го изчета целия. Вярвам, че и при доста други читатели би било същото. Най-малкото поради липсата на навика да го проверяваш редовно, и поради липсата на време да изчиташ и коментираш всичко, което излиза, а след това пък евентуално да следиш и да отговаряш и на коментарите след твоя. Отделно че, обичам да чета от монитора книги и разкази, ако имам избор винаги бих предпочел хартията (пък било то и да ми струва някой лев, за разлика от онлайн версията). Второто е, че коментарите след статиите допълват съдържанието по един начин, който аз до сега не съм срещал в друга книга. Разказана е някаква случка, а след това някой анонимен читател скрит зад nickname пиша "ааа, по това време аз бях еди къде си и се случи еди какво си, спомням си това, беше така и така"

Въпреки (или може би именно заради това), че ежедневно монтирам новини, не се интересувам особено от политика и не са ми наясно всичките машинации и далавери, които се въртят из различните институции и етажи на властта. Видял съм обаче доволно много неща, доста от които по една или друга причина са останали извън ефира. Станали са достояние на репортерите, операторите и на нас монтажистите, но по една или друга причина са останали скрити за зрителя. Или с други думи, знам си че политиката (или поне родната такава) е, както би казал Цеко, "пълна смрад". Не съм сигурен дали всички са маскари, или просто маскарите са прекалено много и задушават всякакви зачатъци на съвест и идеология у единиците, които евентуално биха си свършили работата. Факт е обаче, че до такава степен съм се отвратил от всичко това, че за мене думата "политик" звучи обидно и се е превърнала в синоним на "крадец","предател" и "безсрамник".

И понеже съм млад и зелен и не разбирам кой знае какво, интересно ми е да прочета спомените на един човек, който е видял доста повече от мене. С Цеко си купихме книгата и шефа се зарадва и ни благодари за интереса (нищо, че някой от екипа не пропусна да се обади, че уж сме се натягали и подмазвали). Не знаех дали ще ми хареса или не, но си казах - най-малкото ще ми остане спомен от един човек, който ми е дал работа и хляб, точно в кофти времето когато съм почнал да нагазвам и да осъзнавам че морето не е до колене.

А книгата ми харесва. Чета си я с интерес и осъзнавам, че аз и Цеко сме следващото поколение, че сега нещата които ние виждаме и чуваме от нашата си перспектива и гледна точка след време ще са точно едни такива мемоари, и се чудя дали пък на тия след нас изобщо ще им пука и дали ще се трогнат да обърнат някакво внимание. Дали ниеще оставим нещо и дали ще променим нещо... Ще видим.

А ако някой се поинтересува от книгата ето линк: http://books.janet45.com/books/495

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Myself as a reader

*check the footnotes for a greater experience while reading my essay ;)

A bit more than a year ago. Room 60 of the PWSZ Dormitory in Wloclawek, Poland. My room!

It’s small but cozy. Streaks of morning sunlight sneak between the curtains pulled over the windows, colouring the room in warm pastel tones. Fresh cool breeze is whiffling through the slightly opened door of the balcony. On the drawler near the bed there’s an unwashed bowl with dark spots from the chocolate cereal and milk I had for breakfast. Next to it is the Star Wars mug I got some weeks ago at the Empik store – with Chewbacca and Tarful on the outside and some fresh orange juice on the inside…

Aaah! A perfect Idyll!

I’m on my bed, comfortably covered with soft black cotton with printed Angelina Jolie/Lara Croft on it – the kind of warmth that just doesn’t let you go out of the bed even when you’re already wide awake.

From where I sit I can see my “Sweeny Todd” and “National Treasure 2” posters, but on the walls around me there are also “Beowulf”, “Invasion” and “Terminator 3” plus plenty of cut-outs from the cinema booklets I used to collect at Multikino.

I guess that there was some of the typical dorm noise coming from down the corridor and maybe a lawnmower rattle outside at the yard. But I couldn’t hear any of this. I was all inside the book. In my hands I was holding Wilhelm Hauf’s “Fairy Tales”.

(It was one of the three books I took with me from Bulgaria when I left. The other two were the complete edition of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”). You’re never too old for fairy tales, especially when it comes to Wilhelm Hauf. It’s not your usual kid-friendly-bedtime-stories-with-talking-animals-and-faity-godmothers kind of thing. These are not the tales that will put you to sleep. These are the tales that will keep you awake, hiding under your blanket, afraid to cross the darkness and go to the toilet! The kind of tales that will make you ask for more terrific adventures night after night, no matter how scared you got with the previous one. The kind of tales you just gotta love!

Wilhelm Hauf died way too young, he was just 25 when fever took him away, but he defeated death with the stories he left behind - exotic adventures in faraway Orient take turns with dark Gothic chillers, blazing deserts and stormy seas, glamorous castles and lurid dungeons…

My first encounter with Wilhelm Hauf was back in the days before school, when I could hardly read, but I had plenty of audio cassettes with taped audio dramas. “Little Mook” was bright and funny, “Caliph Stork” was mysterious and enchanting, “The Ghost Ship” I wasn’t allowed to play, because my sister was terrified to death by it, and “Dwarf Long-Nose” still gives me the creeps!

Back in those days I also got on board of “Espanola”, set sail for the Treasure Island and spent much of the trip hiding from the pirates under the table… I mean in the cargo hold. Way before I read the book itself I had seen the Russian animated version, “Остров Сокоровищ” (1988) which as goofy as it is, is preserved in my memory as wild cartoon adventure and my very first touch to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic. I was so into it, that I asked my aunt to make me one of those “triangle pirate hats with a skull and crossed bones on it”, and I used a backgammon chip as the black spot. When I got the book itself, they made me like 10 copies of the page with the map, and I was so damn proud that I own a real genuine pirate treasure map!

“The Treasure Island” influenced me a great deal along with the first books I read at primary and secondary school. Gianni Rodari’s “The Cake in the Sky” was the very first big book I read completely on my own, followed immediately by “Gip in the Television” and I think “Fairy Tales Over the Phone” – all three books in one cover, I borrowed them from my first grade class teacher, Mrs. Dusheva (I can’t possibly thank her enough!). Another one of my favourites was Eno Raud’s Estonian cult classic “Muff, Halfshoe and Mossybeard” (my own rough translation of “Маншон, Полуобувка и Мъхеста брада”). I greatly enjoyed Erich Kestner and I simply fell in love with every single Astrid Lindgren book I could get my hands on (by the way they published her biography last year and I’d strongly recommend it to anyone, for fans especially it’s a must).

Some may regard my taste as “childish books with huge font, a lot of pictures and no more than 200 pages”, but I think that the most important things in life are the simple things.

In secondary school I just hated my literature teachers, who were so fascinated with the so called Bulgarian classics and forced us to read crap like Elin Pelin’s “Angelinka” – I still can’t believe that the same guy who wrote the glorious “Yan Bibiyan” also came up with this slobberblob (Hey, I just coined a brand new word! It must be some Roald Dahl influence on me! It sounds like “BFG” language. I think that a Slobberblob is something gruesomely terrible and oversantimental in a very unpleasant way). The highly overrated “Under the Yoke” was kinda OK, it was action-packed and patriotically-charged and everything, but come on – kill all the good guys after some 500 pages!! I felt so cheated that I read the full version and not some of the short “demos” some of my schoolmates used. Come on, give me a break, what is this? Kill the heroes and push this book to 5th graders?! Damn you!

In high-school it was even worse – we started with some absolutely loathsome bullshit piece of writing by our highly acclaimed Nikolay Haitov – “Dervish’s Seed”. What the f**k!! What kind of sick education system we have, to put this hardcore Balkan redneck porn in 8th grade textbook!?! Well I don’t know about the girls, but at this age we boys were more interested in wrestling and video-games than in losing virginity, and this twisted mind-f**k about kidnapping girls, first wedding night, broken noses and blood on the sheets left me scarred for life and almost made me turn asexual!

During these years I had the feeling that there is no room for individual thought in literature classes, I hated the boring stuff they wanted us to read, and I hated even more the critical writings in the text book that were trying to put you in the path beaten by the generations before and impose their way of thinking on you. Nobody paid any attention to Jules Verne or H.G. Wells. Nobody cared about Arthur Conan Doyle or Jack London. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, western, adventure – these topics were taboo in the literature classes. My interests were disregarded, so I felt as an underdog and in return I disregarded Balzac and Hugo, like they weren’t already repulsing enough with all that tragedy, social injustice and misery all over their pages.

Unfortunately in the University things turned out to be quite similar and instead of “Frankenstein”, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, “War of the Worlds” or Orwell’s eye-openers “1984” and “Animal Farm” we spent weeks and weeks on tons of pages of Victorian drama crap and dealt with misunderstood fruitcakes who spent their lives writing poetry in the attic room and hiding it under the bed so their relatives can find it after their die at the age of 30 just because they never went out, not to mention suicidal feminist lesbian bitches, snobbish gay opium addicts and stuck-up incest-oriented aristocrats and their friends who go drown themselves, so they can be called “lake poets”. Thanks, but if that’s your profound intellectual classic cannon literature, just leave me to my pulp fiction and comic books!

I will read the things you don’t want to teach. Books are a riot!

Rebel against reality!


---------------------------------------------
* Check out the Bonus features for a greater experience while reading my essay:

Welcome to my lair – a video documentary on my room in Poland - http://nsg1138.blogspot.com/2008/05/welcome-to-lair.html

Wookies rule! – a photo of my Star Wars mugs I got in Poland - http://nsg1138.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-buddy-sways-got-new-mug-well-well.html

Wilhelm Hauf at the Gutenberg Project - http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Wilhelm+Hauff

Wilhelm Hauf tales in English - http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/mcdonnell/hauff/hauff.html

The complete Russian “Treasure Island” cartoon on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=hallhunt&view=videos

Essay soundtrack:

Guido and Maurizio De Angelis – “Trinity Stand Tall” (from “Trinity Is Still My Name” OST) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR3Tokd_6qY

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Web #24

Shadowboro's Channel! Great YouTube user with tons of retro cartoons, complete series, classified as playlists :)

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Shadowboro&view=playlists

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century - Intro of the Week #13 + Animation #25



One of my favourites - "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" - sci-fi/cyberpunk/noir/detective cartoon :)

Watch episodes here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Kaytori

Short of the Week #13



"Pyrats" is an animated short film made by 5 french students from the animation school "Gobelins l'école de l'image" in Paris ,FRANCE.
It was made as an opening short done for the Annecy 2006 international animation festival.
The movie was completed in 7 months (including screenplay, storyboard and designs).
The technique is basically 2D traditionnal animation with some scenes helped by 3D and flash.

Poster of the Week #13



Just look at it - it just smells like old school classic :)

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Music #30 + Movies #22

I just remembered this song and wanted to hear it again...



In Time
Mark Collie


I can hear what you're thinkin'
All your doubts and fears
And if you look in my eyes in time you'll find,
The reason I'm here

And in time all things shall pass away
In time you may come back someday.
To live once more
Or die once more
But in time your time will be no more

You know your days are numbered
Count 'em one by one
Like notches in the handle of an outlaw's gun
You can outrun the devil if you try
But you will never outrun the hands of time

In time there'll surely come a day
In time all things shall pass away
In time you may come back some say
To live once more
Or die once more
But in time your time will be no more

I can hear what you're thinkin'


It's from the soundtrack of the "The Punisher" (2004), which I still consider the best Marvel movie up to date, along with the first "X-men". The new "Punisher: War Zone" was so over-the-top (and over-rated!) that it felt like "Sin City" in colour and I hated it, but anyway - the Jonathan Hensleigh adaptation is just great.

I fell in love with this movie from the very beginning - the black background, the falling white cartridges, the titles and the main theme by Carlo Sillioto.



It has a great spaghetti western feeling. On second thought - I actually fell in love when I saw the trailer - "They killed my family... They thought they killed me... But they were wrong. DEAD WRONG! (kaboom!) This is not vengeance... not vengeance! It's PUNISHMENT!" I guess you can describe this movie as Mad Max plus Sergio Leone plus classic 80s action movie. It has all the classic motives - broken family, ruined life, inner demons, friendship, a girl in danger trying to help, revenge... It has all the classic elements also - spectacular killings, duels, arrows (Rambo homage), explosions, stone cold lines, even the armored car (Mad Max homage)! Not a single CGI shot, all good oldfasioned stunts and real explosions. The script is great, the directing is neat, the score adds to the atmosphere, Tom Jane is excellent... The result is something really worth watching! You can easily identify with the characters, you understand them... I hated John Travolta's character so much that I was thinking "Oh, they have to come up with a really nasty death for this bastard!" - and hell yeah! He kills his wife and best friend for nothing, both his sons are dead, he's beaten up, shot, put on fire, chained to a moving car and blasted! I mean - how cool is that? The movie reminds me of the good old days when the studios didn't care much about ratings and weren't afraid of rate 15 or 18.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

ЧРД ПОТВ!

Работното ми място днес празнува 11-тия си Рожден Ден :)
ЧРД, ПОТВ!

Подаръкът на монтажистите - колекция гафове от изминалата година :)

Трейлърче за Одрин :-)

Филмчето за пътешествието до Одрин все още не е готово, но поне трейлърче си имаме ;)



Coming soon!