The language of somnambulism

My new site is live but still needs work. It's where I'm pointing potential employers and I'm available for freelance design work. Rates are negotiable.

http://kimberlylindbergs.com

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I continue to do a lot of film writing in my spare time and it's going surprisingly well. My Cinebeats blog was featured on IMDb.com as part of their "Hit List" and a recent piece I wrote about Mario Bava's Bay of Blood (a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve) was mentioned at the popular film site Cinematical.com this weekend.

Unfortunately my two year old Mac iBook finally decided to have a total meltdown over the weekend which is slowing down my writing this week. I was forced to take it to the local Mac shop where I was told it would cost me $600-700 to fix a computer that only cost me $900. The guys said it would be a waste of my money to repair it. It seems I've been using it too much and the insides got cooked. I was told that laptops often do this which I wish I would have known about before I bought the damn thing. Thankfully everything on my computer was supposedly saved. I've applied for credit from the Mac store so I can buy another computer, but I'm rather peeved about it all. I really can't afford a $1000 loan for another computer right now.

Thankfully I'm borrowing Andis' PC again but it seems to be on its way out too. It's making some strange noises and it's so slow. If that isn't enough, our damn TV is also dying. It's like we're having a major tech breakdown at home. I would laugh if I wasn't so annoyed by it all.

I never reported back about my Vegas trip, but some photos I took of the neon are posted on my Flickr. I still need to edit a bunch more shots. I really liked driving through the California desert, but I'm such a coastal/ocean loving soul that all the sand started to wear me down on the drive back. Vegas is not for me. It's way too expensive and the whole "adult theme park" vibe just turned me off. The high-priced food we ate was amazing though and our hotel was fantastic. We had Warhol prints on our walls and a giant roman bathroom with a TV in it where I spent most of my time. I felt totally out of place surrounded by all that luxury though. I kept bumping into lots of old Italian guys in the hotel elevator talking about someone named Joey who was "becoming a problem." They seemed straight off the Sopranos set. It was a very surreal experience.

Great outsider art from China...

- Mr. Woo's Robots

Poor Mr. Woo needs a more supportive and understanding wife. She doesn't know she's married to a creative genius.

Andis and I are headed to Vegas on our first road trip in the Mini Coop tomorrow. We'll be staying in super luxurious $400 a night digs thanks to my guys boss, who's paying for our hotel room and gas. My guy's going there for a work related conference and business stuff, but I get to tag along.

I'll probably spend the days enjoying the luxurious hotel room with it's plasma TV and roman bath since I've never stayed anywhere so rich before. In the evenings I hope to snap lots of pics and do some sightseeing with Andis.

The Bodies Exhibition that I've been dying to see will actually be showing in Vegas when we're there so we hope to see that and maybe catch Hostel 2 with Edwige Fenech since it's opening this weekend.

Off to pack...

Neato last.fm graphic of some of the albums I've been listening to a lot lately. I find the revolving cover art hypnotizing...




Thanks to saintartaud for pointing out this new last.fm toy

I've had a lot going lately and not much time to write about it all, so I put a quick list together of 10 Good Things, which is based on an idea originally started by danschank in his lj.



1. Blog-a-thons
I've really been enjoying contributing to a few film related "blog-a-thons" lately. Blog-a-thons are a smart way to share the collected blogging experiences of lots of different people on one specific topic. I've been keeping track of my blog-a-thon contributions over at my film blog. If you like writing about film, I highly recommend participating in a blog-a-thon for fun. Also, just a reminder that lj users can keep track of my film blog posts by subscribing to my blog feed here.

2. Pulp Hope
I've been wondering what my favorite comic book artist & writer Paul Pope has been up to since his official website has been off line for awhile, but I recently discovered his blog Pulp Hope and it's great to be able to keep up with his new work and get a personal look into his creative process.

3. Bill Moyers Journal
Bill Moyers is back on PBS after a long hiatus with all new programs that promise to be some of the smartest and most interesting shows on TV this year. He debuted with Buying the War which opened with a fascinating look at coverage of the run-up to the Iraq War by the mainstream media and it's pro-war bias. Last Friday he interviewed Jon Stewart and they had a great exchange. Smart news TV that isn't being force fed it's ideas from the White House is disturbingly hard to come by these days so Bill Moyers Journal is a much needed breath of fresh air on public television. At the Bill Moyers Journal website you can even watch the programs online if you miss them on TV.

4. Vivienne Westwood: 36 Years in Fashion
The de Young Museum in San Francisco is currently home to the Vivienne Westwood: 36 Years in Fashion Exhibit and I'm looking forward to checking it out soon. The exhibit was put together by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the de Young is the exhibits only U.S. stop on it's international tour, so if you're a local or visiting the area I highly recommend stopping by the de Young Museum before the exhibit is gone.

5. Bjork's Volta
Bjork has a new album coming out on May 8th and that's always an occasion to celebrate. I've only heard a couple of songs from Volta so far thanks to her great live appearance on SNL, but I really like what I have heard so far. There's also a terrific interview with her that features bits from Volta on YouTube right now. You can watch Part I. and Part II. there.

6. Fay Grim
I really like Hal Hartley's films and one of my favorite movies from the 1990s was Hartley's Henry Fool. I normally have a lot of reservations about sequels, but I'm actually really looking forward to Hartley's sequel to Henry Fool which is getting released in May. It has a great cast and it's called Fay Grim. You can watch the trailer for the movie at Fay Grim's Official Website.

7. Modern Japanese Fiction
I finally caught up on some reading. I recently read Banana Yoshimoto's Hardboiled and Hard Luck which came out in paperback last year and it just confirmed that she's one of my favorite modern writers. I've also recently discovered the work of Natsuo Kirino. Natsuo Kirino has written Out: A Novel and Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan, and I highly recommend both books. Her latest book translated into English is Grotesque which I hope to read soon. I'm also happy to report that Haruki Murakami has a new book coming out on May 8th called After Dark which sounds really interesting from the all the descriptions I've read.

8. Planet Earth
I really enjoyed the recent Planet Earth series that ran on the Discovery Channel. The photography for the show was fantastic and the entire thing was really put together beautifully. The people who created the series did an incredible job and managed to capture some of the most amazing footage of animals, sea life and plant life that I've ever seen.

9. Indian Market
A new Indian Market is opening up in town just 2 blocks away from my apartment and I'm so happy about it! We've got great Asian and Mexican markets in town, but no Indian markets and this one looks like it's going to be great. We usually have to go to the east bay to shop at Indian Markets, but not anymore. The place currently has "coming soon" signs in the window but it promises to offer "food, spices, music and movies." I see more Bollywood films and curry in my future!

10. Amon Tobin's The Foley Room
Amon Tobin has a new CD out called The Foley Room and I highly recommend it! If you're a fan of his previous work, get ready to be impressed with his new sound. If you're not familiar with Tobin, I highly recommend his entire discography. Unfortunately, much like Iggy Pop, Tobin has been selling a lot of his music to commercials and it's getting on my nerves, but I still think he's one of the most interesting people currently recording right now. You can sample a track from his new CD below:

I've finally completed my 30 Favorite DVD Releases of 2006 list which I've slowly been compiling for the past few months. If you're looking for movie rental ideas or just want to read about older films feel free to stop by and give it a look.

I wish I had more to say, but work is keeping me busy lately and I've been fighting off a cold which makes my head fuzzy.

Damn... I hate earthquakes! I was just roaming around online looking at youtube videos and my apartment literally lurched underneath me. I really like California, but the earthquakes scare the crap out of me.

It's official...

I'm now working with David Walker who runs the great ModCulture.com site in the UK. He's recently created a movie site at Cinedelica.com and I've started contributing articles there on a regular basis.

Cinedelica focuses a lot on what's going in the UK, but I'll be contributing posts about film news and reviews with an American slant. My first 2 contributions are a review of the great new Komissar X DVD collection and a brief blurb about the paperback release of For Ever Godard. I'll be contributing to Cinedelica.com at least 5 days a week so you'll find lots of stuff there that should interest flm fantatics. I also plan to continue updating CineBeats on a regular basis. I hope to get the last part of my Favorite DVDs from 2006 list finished soon, but I'm also working on some stuff related to Ennio Morricone which I hope to finish up before Oscar Sunday.