This audio of Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul was recorded on the afternoon of December 30, 2015. There are four locations. The first is by the Mississipi; the crackling sound is water lapping ice. The second spot is amid a circle/shit-ton of crows; some other birds attempt to join in near the end. The third and forth locations are, respectively, at the stream approaching the falls and then at the falls. The falls, it might be mentioned, appear to be the result of a drainage pipe. While Minnehaha Falls across the way is more parky-scenic-photograph-your-kids-by/in/etc., Hidden Falls is more St. Pauly-paul.
Yearly Archives: 2015
NE Minneapolis, December 29, 2015
This audio of NE Minneapolis was recorded on December 29, 2015 between 7:45 and 8:15 PM. The neighborhood is pretty quiet, perhaps due to a snow earlier in the day. There are two vantage points in the recording: the first with me closer to a vent and the second with me further away. In addition to a couple cars, a plane or two, you can hear someone hammering on a house, a child, some dogs, and near the end of the track, rather excitingly, someone start a car and let it warm up for a minute-and-a-half before pulling away.
Famouse the Mouse
Version 6.12.
03 Clove Smoking Clowns
It is dated, and it sounds like mud, but it will never get any better.
Desert Solitudes
Everyone is very excited that Bernie Krause’s Desert Solitudes arrived today. And yes, it is a Japanese Import.
Update: Click “Continue Reading” to see reactions.
The James Spader Podcast 11 – “Baby Boom”
Baby money montage – it’s another James Spader Podcast, and this time we’re reeling in Baby Boom (1987) and possibly a MacArthur Grant. We might even accidentally play a promo for The Blacklist from Youtube as we stream trailers. For now though, get your deck of cards ready and prepare to rate Baby Boom.
Download or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or your newsreader.
Screen grabs from Baby Boom.
Close captions of James Spader’s mysterious business slang
from the 1987 film **Baby Boom**.
The Avengers’ Secret Message
It was pointed out to me the other day that I kept turning around the cereal box to showcase the Avengers’ secret message I had decoded. I was unconscious I’d been doing this; if anything I was just upset that I’d bungled entering “E’s” where the “N’s” should have gone.
Goodbye CP / Sayonara CP
I recently joined the movie streaming service Mubi, which I highly recommend 1. Mubi is distinct in that it is curated; any film is only availible for a period of 30 days, with a new title added and another removed daily. I watch a lot of stuff, but like many I usually default to a predictable algorithm of watching. With Mubi, it’s a multifarious grab bag; some of the films I’ve seen so far I love like Hong Sangsoo’s The Day He Arrives (2011), while others I dislike, like Butter on the Latch. (2013), directed by Josephine Decker. Thumbs up or thumbs down, though, the fact that the movies on Mubi are selected by someone with an intellectual agenda means that, whatever the viewing is, it will still stir opinions and summon reactions.
Mubi also tends to show several films by a specific filmmaker in any given cycle. This allows one to really get a sense of someone’s work, and also see some things that even if you are aware of such-and-such a person, you probably don’t know that obscure film in their back catalogue. Recently Mubi streamed a number of films by documentarian Kazuo Hara who is perhaps best known for The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987). I’d seen the film some years before and having no idea what it was about was completely captivated. If you think you might check it out yourself, I’d recommend going in blind, but be forewarned Hara is not for the faint of heart.
During his career, Hara has only made a handful of films, Mubi streaming most of these, and one being Goodbye CP / Sayonara CP (1972), a film about adults living with cerebral palsy in Japan in the early ’70s. The film is dated, and not without its problems, but Hara pulls no punches, and love it or hate it, it is affecting.
If you don’t check out Mubi, you can watch Goodbye CP / Sayonara CP over on Vimeo.
Chapi Chapo
I recently rediscovered “Chapi Chapo;” the show’s beefy synths and general oddity have been rattling around in my head for the past couple days. In the US the show aired on Nickelodeon’s Pinwheel. You can watch the first show here (various YT users have put 24 shows online).