The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

Kong. Should you see it? Yeah, you should. Was it good? Yeah, it was. Do I have a lot of issues with the story? Well…, yeah, I do. But you knew that already! So prepare yourself, as I analyze - KONG!!

You’ll probably wanna know some stuff about the current telling of the tale - maybe some techie stuff. First, Peter Jackson and crew are absolutely amazing. If you thought the stuff he did in LoTR was good - Kong, in my opinion’s, better. Not better from a story telling perspective but from what they can do with their computers. Andy Sirkis, the guy who played Gollum in LoTR did the body and facial movements for Kong. I guess that’s why he looks so damned good.

I found Kong to be an interesting commentary on race and forbidden love. It was interesting how at that time especially, Westerners had a fascination with the Orient and with Africa. Skull Island, the place where Kong was living, was inhabited by a bunch of dark-skinned, aboriginal people. They were savage and brutish. The partook on some kind of cannibalistic religion. They offered up sacrifices to Kong. In many ways, Skull Island was this place where white people just didn’t belong - they’re out of their element. Read more this entry »

During a training seminar I had this week I had to try and stay awake during the session. These are three sketches I made. Art abounds.

The radio station I used to work for as the host of Saturday Morning Jazz turns 40 this week. Congrats, guys. I miss all of you and I really miss being on the air. There’s something magical about it and I feel very lucky to have been a part of that for two years. You can read a little blurb here:

WEMU 89.1 FM, Eastern Michigan University’s public radio station, started in 1965 as a 10-watt radio station — originally shoehorned in a television production room in the Quirk Building — that was on the air only two hours a day. It has evolved into a 16,000-watt, 24-hour jazz station that is a must-listening stop on the radio dial for a generation of baby boomers in southeastern Michigan.

The influential local station, which has become a prime sponsor of many local music festivals over time, turns 40 this week. To celebrate that auspicious milestone, WEMU employees will host an open house for faculty and staff Thursday, Dec. 8. Station tours will be offered every half hour, beginning at 9 a.m. and running through 4 p.m. in 426 King Hall. Hot dogs, potato chips and soft drinks will be available 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (while supplies last) in King Hall’s Multicultural Lounge on the second floor.

Read the full article here

I came across this magazine today while skimming on the Net. It’s called FOUND, a magazine dedicated to things people have found lying around. But don’t take my word for it. See what they have to say.

While seeing the latest offering in the Harry Potter enterprise I saw the new trailer for Superman Returns. I am very excited - Superman is one of my favorite super heroes. While surfing around on the net I came across a forum where people were discussing how much could Superman lift and if he could break adamantium. Could Superman kick Wolverine’s butt? God!, that’s about as entertaining as Alien vs. Predator. Such are the questions of geeks who’ve read too many comics and played to many role-playing games and have missed the whole point of the character. Superman is not about stats - how much he can lift, how fast he can fly, how much adamantium he can bend or break. Superman’s about ethics, morals and principles. He’s about purpose. Superman is akin to an angle, or if I could extend myself here, a Prophet. He can perform super-human actions with ease. He has a moral compass that’s set to a higher standard than ours. Never does Superman have to weight the scales for what is right or wrong - angst is for Bruce Wayne and Batman, not for the son of Jor-El. Read more this entry »

If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t wanna read what goes down, skip to the next post. I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with my brother Mike, Scott, Darcy and Jamar. I just recently bought the first book and am reading it now. I was impressed at how readable it is. I thought it would be too kiddy. So I was really looking forward to seeing this one. It wasn’t that it was bad - I just don’t think it was as good as the last one. It felt like it was a T.V. episode verses a movie. It also didn’t seem to climax enough for me. Maybe there were too many sub-plot developments. Hermoine and her new boy friend, who I thought was going to have a bigger role to play and the new kid in the movie who didn’t make it all the way through. Ron getting jealous of Harry. And of course, Ray Finnes as Voldemort. So, while I did like it, I felt that it fell a little short of what I was looking. Question was, what was I looking for?

I cannot say how much I absolutely love this man’s work. Stettner’s a street photographer in the best sense of the phrase. His images go beyond the mundane and capture pure magic. I ordered his book, Wisdom Cries Out In the Streets, published by Flammarion (hardback edition). I can’t put it down. I continue to revisit the book, drawing further inspiration to take me back to my roots when I stalked the streets, with an old Canon AE-1 that had a faulty light meter, and a desire to see what was there. Louis Stettner has walked the streets of both New York and Paris. He’s imbued with all of those two fair cities have to offer and gives us rare and meaningful glimpses of what it means to be in those spaces - Capturing the moments we would ordinarily pass up. Don’t blink on this one. I cannot give Wisdom a higher recommendation (Amazon.com link).

We three boys be artists all. My brother, Mike, is a talented, comic book artist, illustrator and animator. He’s also pretty handy with his little digital camera. Have a look.