typed for your pleasure on 7 August 2009, at 2.41 am
Sdtrk: ‘You’re not the only one I know’ by The Sundays
So upon getting home from work this eve, I learned that John Hughes, director of two of my favourite films, ‘Ferris Bueller’s day off’ and ‘The Breakfast club’, passed away today at the age of 59.
The US film director and writer, John Hughes, who created some of the most famous comedies of the 1980s and 1990s, has died at the age of 59.
The director died after a heart attack in New York, his spokeswoman said.
Hughes was the director of such successful films as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
He was also a leading script writer, penning films such as Pretty in Pink and Home Alone.
Over the past decade, Hughes withdrew from Hollywood and became a farmer in the Midwestern state of Illinois.
Hughes had been in Manhattan on a family visit when he died.
1980s zeitgeist
The BBC’s Vincent Dowd says Hughes had not directed a film since Curly Sue in 1991, but it did not matter – his early movies had become part of the 1980s zeitgeist.
If, in 1986, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off owed something to the on-screen energy of the young Matthew Broderick, it also benefited from Hughes’ sharp script and direction, our correspondent says.
He worked well with young talent, as he had already shown the year before in The Breakfast Club starring Emilio Estevez and Mollie Ringwald, he adds.
In the high-school story, our correspondent says, Hughes cleverly portrayed teen America to itself – and the box office was enormous.
“Many filmmakers portray teenagers as immoral and ignorant, with pursuits that are pretty base,” Hughes told the Chicago Tribune newspaper in 1985.
“They seem to think that teenagers aren’t very bright. But I haven’t found that to be the case. I listen to kids. I respect them. I don’t discount anything they have to say just because they’re only 16 years old,” he added. the rest of the article is here
What he’d said above completely fits in with the way that ‘The Breakfast club’ starts — at the end of the opening credits, on the screen is an excerpt from David Bowie’s ‘Changes’:
…And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consolations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through…
The films of John Hughes will always evoke an acute fondness for the Eighties, my formative years, as I’ll always see parallels between his characters and the friends that I grew up with. I’m sure countless others will as well, no matter what decade they grew up in
EDIT (10.11am): You’ll definitely want to read the witty, heartfelt, and, well, John Hughes-esque post over at ‘We’ll Know When We Get There‘, concerning one person’s pen-pal relationship with the man
typed for your pleasure on 1 August 2009, at 4.35 pm
Sdtrk: ‘Benway’s carnival’ by Abecedarians
Draycott Place, Chelsea, London. I think this is a fine, 20th Century Modern place for a person to live; what do you think?
A corner terrace house built in the late Sixties, featuring four floors, five bedrooms, two reception rooms, two bathrooms, a roof terrace, and a separate garage. And it’s for saaaalllle.
Interested? Check out its listing on The Modern House Estate Agents. Should you buy it however, you have to let Sidore and I stop round to visit once a month, as a sort of a finder’s fee. Also, you have to let us choose appropriate Modernist decor. It only stands to reason, y’know
typed for your pleasure on 23 July 2009, at 1.05 am
Sdtrk: ‘All saints’ by David Bowie
As hinted at in the Prelude, this month’s edition can honestly be referred to as JUMBO-SIZED!!
+ This just occurred yesterday, so unfortunately, there isn’t a surfeit of details as of yet, but remember our lovely GynoidHRP-4C? She apparently lined up another modeling gig, this time making her way down the catwalk at the 2009 Yumi Katsura Paris Grand Collection in Osaka.
She’s just proving that a Gynoid would make someone a fine bride
Naturally, I’d want to see her in less — technically, we’ve all seen her in less, that’s her natural state of being — but after viewing the video, I thought the bridal gown was actually quite impressive, and you will, too.
More details as I hear of them! One detail that I have to confirm is that severalnewssources are reporting her name as being ‘Miim’ now. Err, that’s something that needs to be looked into. After all, when Holon-chan first hit the scene, a few sites were saying that her name was Phorene…
+ Orient industry has changed their layout (again)! And they’ve retconned their model types! Again! O gods, this shit’s ridiculously confusing, and it’s doing my head in.
Right, they’ve gotten rid of the separate model lines for the CandyGirl Jewel Diva and the CandyGirl Jewel Rosa; both of those types are now listed under either CandyGirl Love Doll Rosa, or CandyGirl Real Love Doll Ange. As a result, they’ve stopped production on the Jewel Diva models known as Lisa, Mao, Miki, and Ran. Which is a real shame, as Mao-chan was a gorgeous lass. In addition, they’ve added a new line, known as Love Doll Separate, which means that you can now have a custom-made CandyGirl with detachable head and limbs, for easy storage and transport. Which is double-confusing, as that’s pretty much what all CandyGirls were up until a few years ago, when they began making certain model lines out of silicone, instead of the sofubi (short for soft vinyl, aka PVC) that they were made out of previously. And now it’s a distinct model line? For no discernible reason??
They’ve also added two new heads — the sexed-up Jun and the mature Yoko — which can be used with used with the Rosa or Separate lines. Consolation prizes for your patience?
OI! Stop writhing around and close those doors, you’re letting the heat out
‘Sounds like Jun-chan’s in the other room, letting the heat out’
Quality products aside, Orient industry retcons their product lines so much, I’m sure working there is hallucinatory. Imagine being employed at an auto company — say, Subaru, for example — and you’ve been working there for around two years, helping assemble the popular 360 and 1000 models; which, I should add, are two totallydifferent looking vehicles. One day, the company heads announce that not only will you be making 1000s under the new name 360, but the original 360s will no longer be made. In addition, you’ll be building these cars out of silicone. It makes no sense, frankly.
At any rate, the previous links for those model lines found on ‘Shouting etc etc’ are all redundant, but they’ll at least take you to the main site proper. I can’t be arsed with swapping them out for the new ones, cos who’s to say they won’t change again in a couple of months?
+ Phoenix Studios has finally released Miss Spring, of the Boy Toy Seasons line! For a while, I was starting to think they forgot about her, what with it now being summertime and all.
It stands to reason that spring is the wettest season
She has a MILFy quality about her that’s definitely enticing, wouldn’t you agree? When you couple that with her stunning rubbery qualities, that’s a deadly combination…
+ Here’s the definition of ‘slipped past the keeper’: apparently in April, South Korea’s KiTECH finally debuted EveR-3 at the Hannover Messe industrial exposition. Of course, 90% of the info that I can locate about her is in Korean — oddly enough, Robot Watch, my go-to source for additional news about Japanese and Asian robotics, didn’t make a single mention of her — but I was able to find some pics, as well as this video:
Despite the fact that they had her singing awful K-pop like her older sister, her movements seem more fluid and natural than… well, her older sisters. Plus, this version’s face seems softer, and more appealing.
‘Man, I feel like I’m in a cone when I’m wearing this thing’
As she’s representing Korea, she’s wearing a hanbok, which is one of those incredibly high-waisted traditional dresses. Not exactly flattering, but tradition trumps style in this case. It looks as if she’s incapable of walking, or even moving a single leg, much like Actroid DER3 can, so perhaps that’s why KiTECH hasn’t exactly gone global with the news of her existence.
Further ‘investigation’ shows that she was acting and singing in a play back in February! Don’t ask me what it’s about, as my hangul kung-fu is pig dung.
+ A couple of Saturdays ago, Zip Gun tipped me off to a pair of upcoming Gynoid-related series due out later this year: Karakuri Odette, which is a six-volume manga series by Julietta Suzuki, and Fallout Toyworks, which will be a five-issue comic series by Brett Lewis and Sam Basri. According to Tokyopop, who happen to be the American distributors of Karakuri Odette, it’ll debut on 01 Oct, which will obviously be something to mark on your calendars. Its synopsis?
What does it mean to be truly human?…Odette is a lovely android built by Professor Yoshizawa. Curious to find out what it’s like to be human, she convinces the Professor to enroll her in high school. And thus, with a new group of friends in tow, Odette sets out to discover the true meaning of life as a human, where even the simple stuff is an adventure! A touching slice-of-life comedy, Karakuri Odette does nothing If not uncover the incredible possibilities of the “human” spirit!
And anyone who knows me knows that I loathe the so-called musical style knowns as ’emo’, and it appears that Fallout Toyworks is inspired by the ideas and music of Fall out boy, specifically a song entitled ‘Tiffany Blews’, but as it’s about a Gynoid, I suppose I can overlook that fact. According to the press release, the serial
tells the story of a brilliant young robot maker who risks his entire company for his factory’s newly produced android named Tiffany as she becomes his greatest passion and potentially his own destruction. taken from this site
As long as I don’t have to listen to any whiny emo caterwaulings, it sounds like something entirely worthwhile! Image Comics will be releasing Fallout Toyworks’s first issue on 02 September, and you can check the website-in-progress here.
+ The folks o’er at Private Island Beauties are coming out with three alluring new faces for their Bathing Beauty body type: Desirae, Fujiko (a Japanese lass), and Gaia (an African-American lass). They’ll be joining the yummy ranks of Angelique, Bella, Calli, and Eden. Gotta love how all the faces they’re developing have names in alphabetical order. Nineteen to go, lads! Get sculpting!
Eden (left), tasting Desirae
I’d show more pictures of the other new girls, but the one above is one of the few on the site where the Dolls don’t have one or both of their loverly jubbleys out. Under normal circumstances, I obviously wouldn’t be complaining, but this is a family blog. Feel free to check their site for more information, though. And pics, if you’re into that sort of thing.
+ Whilst there was a lull in the filming of our segment for the National Geographic documentary, director J.Siberry asked me if I’d seen the monograph of RealDolls wearing Dolce & Gabbana fashion accoutrements. No, was my frantic reply, followed by OMGWHAT’SITCALLEDWHERECANIBUYITHOWMUCHISIT. After the other members of the film crew forcibly pried me off of him, I learned more about it, through the Series of Tubes.
Sexiest marionette show EVAR
Dolce & Gabbana have released a book of photographs that highlight the art of embroidery called Diamonds and Pearls. […] One of the really interesting facets of the book is that the pieces are modeled by “real dolls,” rather than human models to create a “timeless” beauty. […] The photographs were taken by Guenter Parth and features shots in nature, as well as the studio. taken from this site
Now I can recall back maybe about three or so years ago, ‘Still Lovers‘ photographer Elena Dorfman had mentioned that Abyss creations was tentatively working on a high-fashion haute couture shoot, but I’d heard nothing about it since then, and simply thought the project fell by the wayside. I guess it didn’t!
I don’t know what’s sadder though: the fact that the book’s suggested retail price is $270 USD, or despite that fact, I’m still saving up for a copy. Hrrm. And hey, Amazon.com? You are not helping.
Sometimes it’s hard to choose the right face to go with your ensemble
+ Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of online comic xkcd, as it’s too mathy, but it’s easy to see why I included this one strip:
+ Finally, thanks to a tip from good friend and Gynoid-in-training Alice Keenan, we now have a bit more of a peek at the film that I’d mentioned in last month’s ‘Doll-related news’ post, ‘Kuuki Ningyo’. Here’s the trailer:
If she wasn’t inflatable, I’d swear that she was an ErieDoll…
Looks winsome! And to satisfy your curiosity, Kat, you can peek at five additional clips from the fillum right here. I only watched one, as I didn’t want to spoil myself, but you lot can knock yourselves out!
Happy 23rd! ‘Shouting to hear the echoes’: where affictitiousis synonomous with delicious
typed for your pleasure on 19 July 2009, at 10.00 am
Sdtrk: ‘Dial-a-cliche’ by Morrissey
Once again, 19 July is upon us, which means not only is it another anniversary of this rambling wreck of a weblog, but it’s actually the fifth anniversary of ‘Shouting to hear the echoes’! That’s right. I didn’t expect it to go for a full year, much less five! Sometimes I get the impression that it’s not so much a case of that ‘it’s built up so much momentum, that it’d be extremely difficult to stop at this point’, but more like ‘it’s still going, but at points, it’s being ghost-ridden’.
I should point out that’s ghost-ridden, not ghost-written. Who else would intentionally want to write like this, about subjects like this?? I suppose I’ve found my niche!…
As I’m sure regular readers recall from previous anniversary posts, ‘Shouting etc etc’ was started back on Blogger in 2004, and transplanted to WordPress in 2006. After reuniting with Patrick, a mate of mine, he suggested that I start a blog, as the reason he started one was to keep family and friends apprised of what he’s up to, instead of having to send x number of Emails to x number of people. So I did! (Incidentally, he stopped updating his round 2007. What does that say?)
If, for some masochistic reason, you’re curious as to what the previous years’ entries were, you can now find them located under the appropriately-named ‘Annual rubbish avalanche’ category, found where the categories usually hang out.
And now, this year’s post: 100 80 THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE AND/OR DO BEFORE ENTROPY TAKES OVER, aka, the Bucket List. Definitely not in order; airlifted from seeginablog.com. And you really don’t want to know how long it took me to compile and write this (hint: Months).
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
01. Visit the Tupperware Museum, Orlando, Florida
No, I’m serious. The Kitsch Value of a visit such as that cannot be denied. When you close the front door, does the building burp to seal in freshness?
02. Drive Sidore-chan and myself round in a Fiat 500, a pre-BMW Mini Cooper, or a Karmann Ghia
We’d probably have to dress in the height of Sixties Mod fashion to tie the whole experience together, but wouldn’t that be fab?? Answer: Yes
03. Ride a Vespa or a Lambretta
Having the Missus with me on a scooter would also be ace, but riding around would be near-logistically impossible, for obvious reasons
04. Visit Oscar Wilde’s grave, Paris, France
Well, this one’s a given. And hey, Reading Gaol is still in use!
05. Visit Ian Curtis’ grave, Macclesfield, England
Although I recently read some cunts stole his headstone — hopefully that’ll have been found and replaced long before I’ll get to see it
typed for your pleasure on 13 July 2009, at 12.45 am
Sdtrk: ‘Not that I am’ by Throbbing gristle
Yes, a Prelude. Due to post scheduling, which makes this ramshackle blog sound more sophisticated than it actually is, as well as ridiculous recent events, I’d written a massive article for this month’s ‘Synthetiks-related news’ post, and I wanted to break it up a bit as well. Consider this your apéritif!
+ Despite the fact that this is another example of Hollywood getting its grubby paws all over something and tarnishing it; in this case, making a feature film out of another comic series, ‘Surrogates‘ looks like it might be interesting regardless:
BRUCE WILLIS stars as DAVID ADDISON playing JOHN MCCLAIN fighting FUTURE CRIMINALS in THE STEEL CAGE MATCH OF TEH CENTURY
It’s due out in September, apparently. Will I actually see it in the theatres? Who can say?
+ ‘Regarding Jenny’ is a new fillum of the adult variety — it’s billed as an adult sitcom — directed by Marie Madison, and starring Jenny Densuke. As that sort of topic isn’t my forté, no points as to why I’ve included it; Jenny happens to be a lovely blonde RealDoll. *nods approvingly*
Now that’s an acceptable amount of silicone for an adult film star
You can view previews on the official film site here, as well as order the DVD. Not only that, that attractive little lady is also CoverDoll’s Doll of the Month for July. Onward and upward, Jenny!
+ You all know that act05 of ‘Time of Eve‘ came out on 01 July, right? Just making sure. Of course, if you don’t live in Japan or speak Japanese fluently, you can watch it on Crunchyroll, the streaming anime site. That… description sounds kinda gross; let’s not dwell upon that any further.
+ 4woods have done it again! Not only have they upgraded the A.I.Peach body — not that it needed upgrading — but they’re also debuting Akari, their latest head, which will fit the A.I.Peach and NEO-J bodies. Each Doll they create is slightly more gorgeous than the last. How do they do that??
She definitely has the almond-shaped Asian eyes thing going.
Which stands to reason
‘I swear to god, I am sick of losing my contact lenses’
+ Aaand this was brought to my attention by Samantha’s long-suffering husband Euchre: a charming little short film by Giordany Orellana entitled ‘Lovebot’.
From the way that it was spooling out, I was afraid the conclusion would be rubbish, but it turned out quite well! Let’s just say the director didn’t apply the same type of ending that ‘Cherry 2000’ or ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ had. GOOD.
Right; that’ll do you for now. The actual ‘Any Synthetiks-related news?’ post will be up on the 23rd, so stay tuned! Once you figure out how to tune a computer, that is. I suggest fiddling with the rabbit ears
typed for your pleasure on 4 July 2009, at 2.16 pm
I’m not one for emotional posts; frankly, I think there’d be extended wincing on both the side of the reader, and the side of the writer. But y’know, sometimes these things are unavoidable.
Back in 2007, my mum went into hospital for a routine check-up. When all the tests came back in, they called her back, saying that they’d found what may be a cancerous growth. Turns out that yes, it was colorectal cancer. So they got Mum into surgery, had it out, and had her on chemo/radiation to make sure. Eventually, she was given a clean bill of health, and we all thought that was that.
Late last year, we discovered that wasn’t that, as the cancer had returned. So Mum started treatments again. It took place over the course of winter, which was doubly-hard on her, as the treatments made her more susceptible to cold environments. But she took it all in stride, as she was never one to complain about things. Well, at least, not at length.
Round the beginning of 2009, the hospital said they were going to try out a new and experimental treatment with her, as the previous one wasn’t getting the immediate results. Thing is, there were a limited number of slots for treatment, as it was on this ‘you’ll have to wait in the queue when your turn comes up’ system. As she was waiting for her date to start treatment, the hospital discovered she was having liver problems, which would’ve prevented effective and safe treatment, so they had to get that sussed first. A couple of outpatient surgeries later, they attended to her liver issue (it was blockage) as well as they could. However, as she had to get that done — and that required scheduling, which is never immediate — Mum missed her slot for the new treatment, and so had to wait for another open slot. Of course, that meant the cancer was still progressing in the meantime.
I’d seen her in April, checking up on her and whatnot, and asked if she’d started proceedings. She replied no, as she was still having some liver-related issues. In between waiting on slots and waiting on surgeries, she’d actually developed jaundice, which again, postponed cancer treatment. She was annoyed, but still optimistic. She wasn’t a pessimist, but she tended to have a realistic outlook on things. In the case of something like this, however, optimism is what everyone aims for.
During another check-up call on Mum in mid-June, I spoke with her for only a couple of minutes, as she was in some amount of pain. The drugs she were taking were exhausting her, and making her tired and irritable. She told me that she wanted me to come round, as ‘we need to talk’, which is a phrase that, considering the context, I didn’t want to hear.
As she, my dad, and I sat in the basement watching coverage of the Iran election cavalcade, they laid it out for me: essentially, the doctors had told her that between the tag team of cancer and jaundice, things had gotten to a point that they were discontinuing treatment, as there was nothing more they could do. They estimated that she had about six months to live. Insert line about ‘you never think it’ll happen to you’ here.
Six months was a hugely optimistic estimate. Between her liver, the cancerous tumours on her liver, and her original colorectal cancer, she was in a very rapid decline. I promised to stop round on Mondays and Saturdays to see her, and over the course of two weeks, her health had degenerated in no time flat.
I stopped round after work yesterday, as we’d gotten off early, and Mum had been in bed all day, and was so weak that she couldn’t even really speak. Sitting with her was Gran, who’d flown in from Alabama on Wednesday. We chatted for a bit, and she went downstairs with Dad so I could be with Mum alone. I held her hand and talked to her — I told her how I was dragged to that hideous Transformers movie, and she managed a smile — but otherwise, she was barely lucid. I probably took off from there about two hours later, telling everyone that I’d be back Saturday morn.
As is our wont, on Friday eves, my good friend Marika stops round, and we watched the last two episodes of Ashes to ashes (hell of a show, it goes without saying), and she decided to crash here for the night, as her car was having problems. Whilst she was reading on the loveseat, I was scheduling about three posts to automatically post to ‘Shouting etc etc’, when Dad rang at a quarter to 5am. As you suspect, Mari and I spent a couple of hours crying after I hung up.
Although I’m an atheist, I can say without bias that she was an example of a perfect christian — never wished ill will upon others, always was there for practically anyone when they needed help, never smoked, drank… hell, she even quit swearing sometime in the mid-Eighties. She was someone who legitimately made a difference in society by being a good human being.
All of my friends knew that Mum had cancer, but I only got a chance to tell some of them. Part of me wanted to wait for the ‘right’ moment, and part of me was still in denial about everything. So now the world knows, and clichéd as it sounds, the world is dimmer for Mum no longer being in it.
