hey

I painted!

p.s. if you've got the time

Watch cute comedian Demetri Martin act out "Selfish Jean," the new single from Travis. For me, the strangest thing about watching this video was that I once imagined a word-for-word interpretation of "Flowers in the Window" before I saw the band's actual video, the one of them stranded in a town populated only by heavily pregnant women. Yeah, I liked my idea better, too, but it's too difficult to describe. It's more difficult to describe than the band being "stranded in a town populated only by heavily pregnant women."

the tourist gaze

In writing a caption for the photo I plan to submit for the Post's travel photo contest, I mentioned in one of my drafts the concept of "the tourist gaze." I wanted to find a source that would help me write a succinct definition. So I remembered Lucy R. Lippard discussing it in On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art, and Place. I looked it up in the index and found the page, where she attributed the term to John Urry. No wonder his name came up when I wikied "tourist gaze." John Urry also featured on my Spanish cultural studies exam.

I know what you're thinking: OK. Who cares? Well, at the time of that exam, I wasn't that surprised my professor asked us to respond to one of his ideas. He's a sociology professor at Lancaster. He might be the head of the department. And he's definitely interested in "mobilities." I've walked past his office dozens of times, too.

What a small world.

when she rolls into port

Another trip. More photos. Another desktop.


This is part of one of the thirds of the Frank O. Gehry complex at the Media Harbor in Dusseldorf. What I love about all the buildings along the harbor is that you can't get just one photo of the landscape. You can't get just one photo that captures the "essence" of any of the individual buildings, either. It's an architectural photographer's playground.

which way is up?

This is my new desktop background:


It's of that ski-lift at the summit of the Great Orme, Llandudno, I was telling you about. If only the bush weren't visible; then it'd really be disorienting.

i'm keeping it safe for someone else

You know, when I was going through withdrawal for not being able to listen to RadioIO80s and I was really not liking my other options, I would go through the iTunes libraries of my neighbors. Most like a whole range of musical genres. Most do not have all the albums of the bands they like. Some only have the singles. Some actually do have British bands in their collection, which I was relieved to find out.

Of all of this new music available to me, I only played one song from time to time: The Zutons' "Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?" I'd seen the video before and fell in love with the song then. I like their other stuff (I'd seen them support The Thrills in D.C. a few years ago, too). Should buy the records for myself.

I've embedded the video here for your viewing pleasure. It's fantastically cinematic, tipping its hat to West Side Story (1961), Grease (1978), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and Gladiator (2000). But before watching it just now, whenever I'd listen to the song, I wouldn't imagine the video per se. I'd imagine some vague new (or is it nouvelle?) movie plot. I need to think about it some more, but I think this song can inspire an idea for a screenplay for me. Isn't that a strange thing to happen upon?

this used to be my playground

This used to be my desktop: La Grande Arche de la Défense, the amazing landmark sitting smack dab in the middle of the business district just northwest of Paris. From the top of this white block, looking back at Paris, you can see L'Arc de Triomphe. (Meaning: The Champs Élysées.)

it just makes me want to be a photographer

This is my current desktop background, a detailed excerpt from the facade of The Institute of the Arab World in Paris.