STILL A MUSIC VIDEO......

KANYE WEST "PARANOID"  feat: RIHANNA  Dir: NABIL from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Just watched Kanye's West's new music video. Very nice visually and pretty to look at.

But somehow this still strikes me as style over substance. I don't see a story here, just multiple shots of the two vain stars, Rihanna and Kanye. As to the vague werewolf theme, who knows?

I do love the typeface used here, but it seemed a waste to spell out the words on the screen as they are sung. Rihanna was driving but to where and why seems a mystery.

Of course it is a music video and primarily entertainment- but these still strike me as words from those without a whole lot to say.

POWERFUL

This little guy, after being granted an invitation to the White House, had only one request for the President: Can I feel your hair, to see if it feels just like mine?

NO MARRIAGE FOR YOU

PROP 8 PROTEST, SF CITY HALL

As expected, the California Supreme Court today upheld the validity of Proposition 8, the November  ballot initiative that made gay marriage illegal in California. At the same time, they kept valid the 18,000 gay marriages performed prior to November, which would seem to set up a constitutional contradiction, but more on that later.

For supporters of gay rights, the logical question is: What now?

The most likely next step will be a counter initiative in the year 2010. Civil rights groups began fundraising for this as-yet-hypothetical proposition even before today's ruling. Indeed, it would seem to be the most logical step- but in order for it succeed many things would have change from the last fight, and failing yet again would be an unthinkable blow to the movement.

A few alternatives to the 2010 proposition could include.

CLASS ACTION DISCRIMINATION

The California constitution guarentees equal protection under the law. That the 2008 gay marriages are valid and subsequent gay marriages aren't may lay grounds for a discrimination lawsuit. In other words, the state is discriminating not against gays but among gays.

JUDGEMENT IN FEDERAL COURT

Actually, this has already begun, as of a few hours ago. Litigators today filed suit in U.S. District Court, in Los Angeles, on behalf of two gay California couples, arguing that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. constitution's equal protection clause. The suit seeks an imitate injunction against Prop 8 and would restore gay marriage in California. This has a good chance of ending up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is usually split 5-4 against expanding gay rights.

Of course, a national policy must eventually be forged that would be comparable in scope to the 1964 Civil Rights Acts. Having different states with different standards for marriage and having the civil rights of Americans constantly in flux is not a sustainable reality. The time may be ripe for Californian gay marriage, but when will it be for national gay marriage? None of the conservative supreme court justices are forecast to die within the next few years, so is it not time?

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS

For now, it seems, the surest bet to gay marriage will be another proposition here in California, in 2010. That gives supporters just 18 months to assemble, fundraise, organize, inform, convince, and pass an initiative.

Success will depend on vast differences in approach from the Proposition 8 fight, namely in reaching voters beyond the affluent, white, urban Californians who support gay marriage. In particular, much more work needs to be done in the latino and black communities. This is something organizers seem keenly aware of, as they today announced the expansion of offices into "new communities" in California.

The truth is that one year may not be enough time to convince people who have deep-seeded religious and cultural sentiments against gays. So it may come down to strategy.

People need to remember that the ethnic minorities who voted in huge numbers for Obama and against gay marriage in 2008 will represent a lower portion of the voting electorate in 2010, a non-presidential election. There are also the republicans who won't show up on the off-year, as California doesn't elect conservative senators and they aren't energized by a presidential race. Of course, I want everyone to vote- but the likelihood that many people won't could be a good thing for gay marriage.

2010 might be the perfect year to run such a campaign.

We'll see. Until then, I'll be here in the peanut gallery, watching and waiting.

Brilliant Cover

Want more American Idol videos? Click here.

MAX BATT ARTS UPDATE

I have FINALLY updated my "professional" site, Max Batt Arts [www.maxbatt.com]. There are some lingering technical issues which I will probably solve by redoing the thing in Flash, but at least it's not like it was. I've added some items from school, and hopefully I'll be adding some more cool stuff soon.

WILD ABOUT THIS

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

EVERYONE'S been asking me if I've seen the Where the Wild Things Are trailer, and what do I think of it?

I've seen it guys. And I think it's the shit!

For reals though I mean this movie is so loaded for me that it can only disappoint, but I'm trying to keep my expectations down on the earth:

*Directed by Spike Jonze

*Script by Dave Eggers

*Puppetry by Jim Henson Studios

*Starring Forrest Whitaker et al. badasses

Yes, I mean it sounds good, great. But as many of us know, it has so far been rapt with turmoil. Essentially there was a schism between the filmmakers (Jonze) and the distributor (Warner Bros.) regarding the 'direction' of the film.

Where the Wild Things Are was slated for an October 2008 release, but was delayed an entire year after pre-screenings had come off as "too dark/ too scary" to the children watching. Or so goes the story. Also, it is rumored that Warner Bros. was pushing hard for the cheaper computer-generated monsters while Jonze wanted live-action/ puppetry. So until the trailer was released, out of nowhere, many of us assumed the movie was dead. 

Essentially I think Warner was thinking more 'blockbuster' while Spike Jonze was thinking more 'Spike Jonze.' A copy of the 111-page script was leaked to New York Daily News (the original book is 10 sentences long) and journalists there, while mostly tight-lipped, wrote only that the script was "really, really good."

From the trailer, it looks like Spike Jonze won his battle.

I mean, let's be honest here, this thing is straight art-house. It has the freaking Arcade Fire for it's song. The dark colors, the crying monsters, the absent mother, the morose Max, this stuff looks heavy. It communicated a lot in these few minutes, and Max is on a deep trip here. One shot, in particular, where Max is sailing to the monster island, in what looks like a toy boat through what looks like a real ocean storming--that could sum of the difference in tone between, perhaps, the original book and this film.

Which brings me to my thesis, if you will. Maurice Sendak's original children's book has been read by tens of millions of people through the generations and languages. Not just read, but like revered, lived, taken. No matter what this movie is, it will upset huge, huge numbers of people. Part of the beauty of the picture book is its ability to morph into what each reader wants it to be. It's ten sentences long and what is it really saying? People still argue about it. The coming of age? The loss of innocence? Anger?

What degree you read into those original darker undertones will inform how you interpret the movie, which is...emotionally poignant.

Visually, this looks stunning. Safe to say nothing in this style, on this scale, has been attempted before. The monsters have the feel of traditional human puppetry but are seen doing James Bond style live action and stunts. The backdrops seem to be a mixture of the Australian wilderness where it was filmed and huge, otherworldly CGI monuments. The scenes are beautiful to the eye, which is one of the benefits of having a music video director in a movie; they are masters of visual captivity and know how to make something pop in three seconds.

This movie will all come down to narrative, but I think this trailer is a huge success and I won't hide that it gave me chills the first time I saw it. It looks amazing and seeing it makes me really happy they took another year to make it the right way, whatever that meant.

ICON!

Mrs. Obama's status has gone from misunderstood to beloved to icon. Her trip to Europe has defined her as the pre-eminent American celebrity!

What happened?

How did she become like religiously important in a weekend? To see her receptions across the world is like watching footage from the Beetle's concerts in the 60s. 

Mega-celebrity.

TAKE ON MY SECRETS

Hey everyone,

Wanted to share my video created for a project I was given this last month or so, with the task of exploring secrets.

I'll keep it short: this video is a re-interpretation of the classic "Take on Me" video of 1986. It explores the burdens that go along with secrets. It was filmed, then edited, then rotoscoped, then re-mixed to get to what it is. Basically it is a composite of over 900 individual drawings based on live video frames.

Thanks to actors Anna Batt and Ashley Capell. Music: A.C. Newman.

BTW: If you watch this on youtube, make sure to hit the HQ (High Quality) button next to the play bar so it doesn't look crappy.

FAIREY + SAKS = ??

SHEPARD FAIREY'S NEW ARTWORK FOR SAKS

Guerilla luxury? Fairey's new marketing materials for Saks are clearly based on Soviet Constuctivist artwork of the early 20th Century. Interesting choice considering the company/ products (and to whom they're being marketed).

According to Fairey, there is nothing subliminal going on here, "it's a way of grabbing attention." That's good because I don't exactly get it. Cool though and props for doing something different.

POPE BLAMES AIDS ON CONDOMS

Today, Pope Benedict XVI injected Catholic doctrine into the AIDS discourse, telling Africans on the first day of his visit to their continent that they shouldn't use condoms; that condoms won't stop the disease, and moreover that condoms actually "increase" and "aggravate" the AIDS problem.

In Sub-Saharan Africa there are 24 million people living with HIV. Of the world's children infected with HIV, over 90% live in the region. Leaders have struggled for decades to battle ignorance and misinformation regarding the epidemic, especially regarding stigma attached to condoms and sex in these countries. 

FIRST PAPER GOES DIGITAL

Just as I predicted, newspapers have followed the trend initiated by magazines in their movement towards the internet. Today, the Seattle-Post Intelligencer (Seattle's oldest business, for the record) became the first major newspaper to switch to an all-digital format. Tuesday's printed newspaper will be their last.

What is this?

Well, basically it was a long time coming. The current economic crisis is speeding up what will be coming to other papers anyhow. The era of the printed newspaper is over.

In their current form, they are fatally flawed. Printing papers is prohibitively expensive, and delivering them is more expensive (and an environmental stress). Magazines don't have the daily expenses that newspapers do, but their expenses are higher, and both will be out within 15 years.

In the future, newspapers and magazines will be entirely online. Some of the more successful ones may be able to afford a printed Sunday edition, or a yearly commemorative or celebratory printed edition, but the daily delivery to houses or businesses are done.

News is fluid and news is now. People need updates not daily but hourly. Some organizations like the New York Times have found residence elsewhere, in a more "analysis/ commentary/ investigative" realm, which may suit them for now, but the truth is that most people want their information in a two sentence morsel, in colors. That's why places like MSNBC or TMZ have flourished; vast updates and loud graphical interfaces.

What about other printed material? What about books?

Well, lets be honest, no one reads books anymore. But for those who do, you will probably buy one device more or less designed like a book, with a cover, etc., where you will download books like you do music on iTunes for $9.99 or whatever, and own them digitally. Amazon has a device called Kindle that is doing this. It is woefully ugly in design, almost Microsoft-ish in its cold android appearance, but if someone like Apple got on this, it would be HOT, it would be the next iPod, easy. When will the iBook arrive and what will it look like?

I am all for this. I am pro-streamline and pro-efficiency. But there are some unfortunate causalities that will happen. Going to the neighborhood video store, for example, is a ritual that I love. And this will be something that will have to end. Institutions like Amoeba Music will shut down (Cody's Books already did!). 

If intellectual property becomes entirely electronic, which it will, then we will lose our community meeting places (like book stores, music stores, etc.) Movie theatres may stick around off their novelty, but they are endangered too.

The evolution of media did lead to group, community conglomerates, which is something that brought people together. Now this evolution is ripping people apart. I hope that in our electronic future, we will find a way to integrate people into people's media. Realtime chat, user response, etc. are things that will be vital. Let's find a way to do this right.

PEPSI RIPS OFF OBAMA BRAND!!

TOP: PEPSI AD & LOGO, 2009 | BOTTOM: OBAMA AD & LOGO, 2008

Pepsi has taken 'riffing off of' to straight ripping off with their new logo & branding. Look familiar to anyone else? Sound familiar to anyone else??

TOP: PEPSI AD & LOGO, 2009 | BOTTOM: OBAMA AD & LOGO, 2008

Pepsi's new logo and branding material are shameless rip-offs of the Obama brand built in 2008....

I first saw it this week in downtown San Francisco. Pepsi had plastered the word "JOY" on a yellow background to the side of a building, running around four stories high. It actually didn't say Pepsi anywhere but the circle logo & placement on the O of JOY immediately reminded me of the Obama campaign.

When I got into the BART subway, I learned it was Pepsi, as they had bought out the entire station, with a huge "Yes You Can" billboard on the descending staircase. The other phrases were vaguely inspirational but all seemed to speak in the language coined by the Obama campaign, as you can see in the pictures above.

When I got home I did some research and learned that Pepsi had announced a full re-branding within a month of Obama's victory and revealed its new materials in early 2009.

Part of this was changing their slogan to "Refresh Everything," complete with its own website. In keeping with their branding theft motif, they simply use the international recycling symbol for their 'refresh everything' movement, as seen in other ad materials:


When you click on the website, there are environmental and politically progressive overtones including a "Dear Mr. President" section which apparently connects consumers to the president via Pepsi?

I think this is pretty funny. We all know PepsiCo is multi-billion dollar corporation. They have been busted for environmental destruction in Asia and again for selling pesticide-laden sodas in India. Typical stuff, really- but from their re-branding you'd think this was like a National Ad Counsel thing or something.

I am just struck how blatant Pepsi's appropriation of the Obama brand is and I wonder how succesful it will be. Maybe they can get Shepard Fairey to do screen-printed Pepsi hoodies or get moveon.org to get in on this "refresh everything" deal.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS

Hey all. I am compiling a collection of secrets for a project and I would like to know yours. I know from viewing my site statistics that people read this yet very few actually comment. Here's your chance:

Use any name you want (real or fake) to leave a secret below under the comments section. It doesn't have to be yours and it doesn't have to be totally true (hey- many secrets aren't). Here's your chance to help Max out. I'll start and leave the first one. Thanks to all who contribute. Please leave secrets in the form of "I......." regardless of who they are about.

Max

SLUMDOG DANCE REMIXED

THIS SHIT IS COOL:

Ever since I had cocktails at The Met in New York, I've known how cool it was to mix drinks with museums and wished they had something similar in San Francisco. Now we do:

Starting this week, The California Academy of the Sciences will be opening their doors every Thursday PM for a special evening that includes "live music, provocative science, mingling, and cocktails."

Coool.

Read more. 

THE ASSOCIATED OPPRESS

Just read about this on Mateo Bittanti's awesome blog. Turns out Shepard Fairey's iconic Obama image was based on an image owned by the Associate Press. AP is now suing Fairey for copyright infringement and Stanford Law is defending. Read more.

I'll be watching this play out.

STUPID FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT

For those of you that haven't seen this, it's great. I'm not normally into The Onion but this is money.

HOW TO FINISH IN A STORM

How to finish your shit when it's crazy out there. Between school, hustling, and resting I have little time and less than little energy to finish those projects I talk about. This year I wanted to get more into fine art, finish my novel, to do music. Those things fall to the wayside when you live zombie style. But I can always try harder. January is the "let's kick ass" month and February is the "ok...how am I going to do this" month. 

School has been taking up the majority of my time lately, and it's been interesting. I'll def. be writing something here about some new thoughts I've had after a few more weeks of reflection on that subject.

More good news is that I've had a few chances to work on my novel, and once I get the plot in-detail fleshed out, I'm thinking the writing should be fluid and fun.

The book's working title is Amber Part II, and a working synopsis follows here:

Amber Bauer-Butler has had anything but a normal life. With a washed-up computer scientist for a father and an anarchic environmental activist for a mother, Amber was raised in seclusion in the gloomy yet beautiful Pudget Sound of Washington on the abandoned estate of her late grandfather, Eddie Bauer; founder and proprietor of the ubiquitous Eddie Bauer clothing company.

After a college stint in Massachusetts, Amber returned to Seattle as an assistant master Audio Engineer at famed Litho Studios with high hopes for the future. Yet four years later, Amber has not progressed professionally, her family has decayed into total disfunction, and Seattle, and indeed the world, seem to be a twisted place.

When Amber discovers she is pregnant, she loses all human restraint and begins to murder the rotten people she encounters in throughout her day. As her pregnancy progresses, the body count mounts, and her community is confounded by the violence, spectacle, and glamour that invade the damp and ragged King County.

 With her due-date growing ever closer, Amber knows she must make her world fit for Baby Phoenix, but her reign of control is ever so feeble, and her troubles echo back ever more real. It's due or die for Amber and her seed, and for some of those she encounters, death is all-too-real.

....More coming soon. I'm going to attach a page on my design site (www.maxbatt.net which may change to www.maxbatt.com) soon, perhaps this weekend where I'll provide more info and a first chapter as soon as I get it done.

The rest will happen when it will happen, but rest assured it will...

PAINT IT BLACK IN 2009

I've been gone here for a while but I wanted to take a few moments out of my Sunday to reflect on a few things, on the week, on the new year, etc.

Firstly and foremostly I have to say I'm happy I was around for this very important week for America. I legitimately never really thought I'd see a minority elected to the White House, especially a black person. I don't want to overstate anything; Obama isn't our savior or even a silver bullet.

But the truth is that racism is a huge part of the American story. It has been at the center of almost every pivotal movement of our country's history. Colonialism, slavery, the Civil War, WWII, Civil Rights, and the 21st Century. Racism is among the ugliest and most base of all human traits. It's powerful and it's forever.

Our new president is a new symbol that stands against racism. In America we all want to be included and recognized equally no matter how different we are, and through whatever differences we maintain. I watched Barack Obama's inauguration with the knowledge that problems will always exist, but seeing also that things have changed from the way they were. Things have changed for the better.

Sometimes the better parts of America can get muffled under television advertising and the Dow Jones and Iraq and Enron. This week I saw those better parts coming through. And I know that things will get better!

So enough of that, onto 2009. What to expect and what to do. I think that in 2009 androids will make their debut as assistants to humans, and scientists will find a new power-source from coffee beans. Wars will become obsolete and cancer will be eradicated.

No for real though I think 2009 will be a great year. For me personally 2008 was easily the best year of my adult life and I think 2009 will be even better. I'm really lucky to have amazing family and friends in my life who are for the most part happy and healthy. In 2009 I don't want to take anything for granted and I want to treat those people close to me in the amazing way they deserve to be treated. I want to be supportive and full of wise advice. A friend of mine told me this week I was a good influence. Me! Out of all people! Definitely one of the better things I've ever heard and frankly five years ago I would have never believed it.

One of the things I've been learning lately, to follow this musings-on-life current, is how much power I have; more specifically how much control I have. I've let a lot of things happen to me and I watch a lot of people let things happen to them. And that ain't right. People need to make things happen and not let things happen. If you do things right and have pride then you should be in control. Don't do things half-assed and if you start something then FINISH it. You are the boss.

Of course there are rules and people that suck. But I've been trying to make my own rules lately, without breaking any of the big ones like murder or arson. In 2009 I've been sticking up for myself. Sometimes it has meant being a dick or butting heads with "superiors." But these "superiors" aren't actually superior to me, they're just in a different position. They're not better than me, and with all due respect, someday I'll be pissing all over their faces.

So that's it. It's called "I'm the man in 2009" and you all should be saying the same thing. Lets have some pride in this new year. If you fall down, get back up. If someone disses you, hunt them down and destroy their character. LETS GO 2009!