Basement Blog

It’s only once a year after the closing night of the Maryland Film Festival that I take some time to write down a few little movie commentaries. And then I find myself struggling to write something more meaningful than “I like it (or not)”, so I normally just avoid writing about the films I watch throughout a year. But once in a while I discover a film (like Together or The Fall) that leaves such a strong impression on me, I have to mention it, even if it’s only to create a record of its existence.

Yesterday I watched such a film: Vozvrashcheniye or The Return, by Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev. What a brilliant, unforgettable movie. Wow…although it was his debut directing a full-length feature after working with commercials before, it instantly found a place in my list of top-favorites. I find The Return essential and give it a rating of 10/10. This film is a masterpiece.

I can only hope that Andrei Zvyagintsev continues his path. He might be worthy to become Tarkovsky’s, Truffaut’s or Ingmar Bergman’s successor.

I don’t even know what to say…everything was as close to perfection as it can get. The photography was just beautiful, the camera work outstanding. The actors, especially Konstantin Lavronenko were
fantastic. The music (as well as the silence) was wonderful, the mood and setting, psychology, characters and story, the ending, the complexity within the minimal, the unexpected…

I have to keep an eye on him. I can’t wait to see what his next projects will be like. After The Return he also directed a film named Izgnanie or The Banishment, released in 2007, also starring Konstantin Lavronenko. I have to watch it as soon as it becomes available.

Thank you Andrei Zvyagintsev for enriching cinema with The Return. I can highly recommend this film.

How lucky I was to finish my pumpkins in time for yesterday’s Halloween display. This year I had a lot of trouble coming up with ideas first. I even tried to get ideas from our neighbor. But when I took some time, sat down and surfed the web for inspiration I finally managed to find some good ideas last weekend. I even found enough material for the next two years.

The weather was cool enough this year and helped these pumpkins stay in a good shape for a few days. It was also good I started out quite late this time. We got the pumpkins last Sunday. I was still working on some of the patterns before I could begin to transfer them. On Monday evening I carved my first pumpkin. The following evenings including Friday afternoon were dedicated to the other pumpkins.

When Ingmar Bergman died last year I thought about dedicating one pumpkin to one of the greatest directors in cinematic history. I tried to create a pattern based on one of his movies, I thought about The 7th Seal or Hour of the Wolf, but then I thought nothing would be more appropriate than a portrait of the master himself. It turned out really well. I’m very happy with the result.

This motive was such a lucky find. Originally I was just looking for ideas relating to George Orwell’s 1984, and got reminded of Shepard Fairey’s work who impressed me with his Orwell book covers, Obama’s posters, and his other propaganda style obey posters and stencils before. I found this ‘obey frank’ stencil here, and thought it was just perfect and almost already made for my pumpkin. A few minor adjustments and I was ready to carve Donnie Darko’s Frank.

My third pumpkin was dedicated to Stanley Kubrick’s unforgettable Clockwork Orange and my costume this year. It turned out well although I once lost a bit of track in the facial area.

With these more complex patterns of 3 shades it’s nearly impossible to work with a ‘poke-along-the-outline’ technique. I found it very difficult to trace the outline with a pen, too–pressing hard enough, or using transfer paper. Standard carbon transfer paper doesn’t stick on the pumpkin surface. A blue textile transfer paper worked better before, but not well enough. I found the best way to transfer a pattern is to print it out, perhaps in 4 tiles, then cut the carving areas out with a scalpel or sharp blades. Paper is easy to cut, and such a template will make it much easier to transfer. All you have to do is fill the holes with a sharpie and then carve out the filled areas. Spray paint might work there, too. Maybe I will try that next year.

The last pumpkin was inspired by M.C. Escher’s tesselations, in this example his lizards. Actually, it was my first pumpkin I carved as a warm-up piece on Monday (and tried to “save” on Friday). I made so many mistakes with this one: It all started when I cleaned the interior of the pumpkin out. I didn’t remove enough from the inside, so the wall I had to carve ended much thicker than I wanted it to be. Mistake #2 was the transfer. I first used my old method that worked alright for simple one-sided motifs. But it didn’t work well  in 360 degrees around the pumpkin-sphere. The lizards didn’t match up properly, and I manually tried to fix it with a pen. In the end I got nothing but a chaotic pen-drawing on the pumpkin’s surface that didn’t work at all.

So I started over and cut out a single lizard to use as a template. This worked much better because a single lizard fit much better on the pumpkin surface and made it easy to trace along its outlines without having to use transfer paper, pushing pens hard or poking needles. With the existing drawing the outlines turned even more chaotic and difficult to identify. I hardly could see which lizard to carve as a hole, shave off from the surface or leave intact.

The first test didn’t look great at all, you couldn’t recognize any of the lizards. Yesterday I worked on this again and completed the 360 degree circumference. I could improve the outcome somewhat, and it didn’t look too bad after all. However, it didn’t look as I intended. Next year I will have to try another one.

Happy After-Halloween!

I ran across this a few days ago, on a page at rei.com if I remember right. I already knew some of these numbers from cycling magazines or the league newsletter, but others were new to me. I think it’s really nice to find other organizations, companies and merchants that promote bicycling for one reason or another. It’s good to know it’s not just always us preaching to the choir.

5 reasons to bike your drive

1. The average person loses 13 pounds their first year of commuting by bike.
2. 40% of all car trips in the U.S. are made within 2 miles of home.
3. 60% of the pollution created by autos happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
4. Just 3 hours of biking per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
5. The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.

“In regione caecorum, rex est luscus.
[In the realm of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.]”

(Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus
Collecteana Adagiorum, 1500)

“[...]How an one eyed man is
Well syghted when
He is amonge blynde men?”

(John Skelton
Why Come Ye Nat To Courte, 1522)

“In the kingdome of blind men the one ey’d is king.”

(George Herbert
Outlandish Proverbs, 1640)

“The one-eyed person is a beauty in the country of the blind.”

(Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Arabic Proverbs, 1830)

“[...] and through his thoughts ran this old proverb, as if it were a refrain:–
‘In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King.’ [...]”

(H.G. Wells
The Country of the Blind, 1904)

In The Kingdom Of The Blind The One-Eyed Are Kings

If it were within,
within our power
beyond the reach
of slavish pride,
to no-longer
harbour grievances
behind the mask’s
opportunists facade,

we could welcome responsibility
like a long lost friend
and re-establish laughter
in the doll’s house once again.

For time has imprisoned us
in the order of our years
in the discipline of our ways
and in the passing of momentary stillness

You can see our chaos in motion
our chaos in motion
We can view our chaos in motion
view our chaos in motion…

…and the subsequent collisions of fools
well-versed in the subtle art of slavery.

(Brendan Perry
The Serpent’s Egg, 1988)

I think I should start my own “Best of Baltimore” series beginning with today’s Rally for the River on 1-83, the Jones Falls Expressway or JFX. The highway was closed today from 8am to 2pm for a little festival stretching from downtown up to Cold Spring Lane. You can’t imagine how exciting it is to ride a bicycle on a highway until you have done it. It was pure bliss and heaven. Not only I had a lasting smile on my face, I have seen it on many other’s today.

I have to thank Ramsey for pointing me to this event last Friday, and Alice for joining me on this ride today. I’m so glad that instead of my usual solitary Sunday ride we could go out on the highway together. We entered the JFX at Penn Station and rode up to Cold Spring Lane where you could find some stands of the MTA, Joe’s Bike Shop, some environmental groups, some food/drink stands as well as a stage for the live music that started later around 11am.

To my surprise, there even was a chess stand! Chess and bicycles–I always knew that is the perfect combination. But I had no idea other people would agree to that

We had a drink and snack, watched people and the band setting up their equipment, watched cars zooming by in the opposite direction… they had not nearly as much fun as the closed side of the highway. Eventually we continued our trip on the highway, took the Falls Road exit, continued on Falls Road and took the route back through the Hopkins campus.

So great… I wish the highway was closed every Sunday! In Germany during the oil crisis in 1973 there were four car-free Sundays that left the Autobahn free and open for cyclists and pedestrians. Too bad I wasn’t old enough to remember that. These few car-free hours on the JFX were definitely a highlight of the year for me–one of the things I would add to my list of Baltimore’s Best! Is it 2009 yet?

Here are a few pictures courtesy of Alice:

Today I learned about the Rally for the River which will take place in Baltimore this Sunday, September 21st, from 8am to 2pm. One lane of 83 will be closed to traffic and open for cyclists, hikers, runners, walkers, skaters, for kids and adults to play. Riding or walking on a highway…that’s a rare opportunity you wouldn’t to miss. There will also be games, displays, food, beer, and music. Check out the JonesFalls.org site for more details and photos from last year’s Rally on Flickr. That looks really fun–I wonder why I didn’t know about it before. I’m already looking forward to this!

When I browsed Jones Falls Watershed Association to register for the Rally I also spotted the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival which is actually a national festival that started off in Nevada City, CA and celebrated its 7th anniversary last January. During the year a selection of films makes a round on tour through the US. See also their tour dates for more details. The festival will reach Baltimore in October and will be hosted by the Jones Falls and Herring Run Watershed Association. Find more details on the Herring Run site. It will take place on October 16 from 7pm-9:30pm at the MICA Brown Center (map). I’m curious about the selection of films and looking forward to this event as well.

Maybe I will see you there

Date/Time:
09/14/2008 07:11 AM

Route:
Route to North Point State Park via Boston St, Ponca St, Holabird Ave, Wise Ave, North Point Blvd, North Point St, Old Bay Shore Rd. Paused at beach. Return via an unmapped road, Sparrows Point Rd,  North Point St, North Point Blvd, Wise Ave, Holabird Ave, Ponca St, Boston St, Charles St. [Google Map]

Traffic:
Easy going most of the way.

Length:
approx. 35.1 miles

Bike:
Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Weather:
started out warm and humid, but bearable; ended very sunny, hot and humid, heavy air.

Condition:
The first half of the route was quite pleasant. The beginning of my return trip was okay and interesting as I took an unmapped road that wasn’t open for general traffic. I don’t know why this road was closed–it was in a very good shape. It was a very nice and without any traffic a safer route than North Point Street. Riding back toward home quickly became more difficult with every additional mile. The uphill ride on Charles Street pushed me to my limits. I brought two bottles of water, but they were not enough to keep me hydrated and cool enough. The bike began to feel heavier, my neck started to hurt, my legs started to hurt, and feet as well as my hands tended to fall asleep. I made it back home and was ready to get out again soon, but overall it pretty much tired me out for the rest of the day. Mistake #1: I should have had enough water last night and this morning before I started my ride. Mistake #2: I underestimated the weather and even wore a longsleeve tee. (lol.. stupid I know). Mistake #3: I might have underestimated the switch to the mountain bike after having ridden the (lightweight) 3-speed for the past few weeks.

Despite the difficulties on my way back, it was again a remarkable trip through so many different, very different places each with their individual smells. A feast for the senses. From city alleys with a mix of garbage and dead animals, to the harbor with a surprisingly strong fish odor, to an industrial area smelling like electronics, metal, steel and tar, to a road that somewhat smelled like old socks (lol), to a field with a familiar farm smells, through a park with a familiar pleasant wood-smell, to the beach with a nice view across the water… all these impressions makes it all worth the troubles on my return. I’m curious about riding this route this winter. I hope we will get some snow, too.

Heartrate/Elevation:

“One house: one revolutionary; two open straight marriages; three gay people (maybe four); three children; two carnivores and eight vegetarians; there’s only one way they’re going to make it… together.”

Last Thursday we saw Lukas Moodysson’s “Together”, a funny and beautiful story of a Swedish commune in the 1970s. To keep it short, I just loved this film…for all the individuals and their differences, troubles, compromises, solidarity and being real. Although I’m normally not a fan of happy endings, I thought it worked really well in “Together” considering how they all influenced each other and developed over the course of this film. The American trailer I found on YouTube is really bad and doesn’t reflect what I have seen on Thursday at all, but I can highly recommend this wonderful piece of Swedish cinema.

Unfortunately, it was the last film of the free series at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Despite two years of great screenings of visionary films from all over the world with an average attendance of 150+  people, the BMA has decided to stop the funding. Anyone who enjoyed this series in the past and wants to ask the museum to reconsider their decision can reach them at: programs@artbma.org

Date/Time:
08/29/2008 02:45 PM

Route:
A few beers later it was time to take the route back into the city via Bay Shore Road, North Point Road, North Point Blvd, Wise Ave, Holabird Ave, Ponca Street and Boston Street. I tried to avoid the lower part of Charles Street and turned right onto Howard Street instead, which was probably more insane than Charles. The street was jammed with cars, the sidewalks were jammed with people. I made a right onto Read Street and followed my standard route on Lovegrove St, N Charles St and back on Lovegrove St. [Google Map]

Traffic:
Heavy rush-hour and holiday traffic.

Length:
approx. 17.4 miles

Bike:
Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Weather:
Wet and rainy.

Condition:
It was tough to get started after food and beers, but after a mile on the saddle I was fine and comfortable with the ride again. The traffic was even heavier than that morning, the rain was a bit stronger and longer lasting than before–it definitely was more uncomfortable to ride, but it never felt out of control or undoable. With a good focus I continued to ride and pass all obstacles and didn’t really mind the cars all around me. During most of this route I again didn’t find myself in threatening or dangerous traffic situations. Maybe I just got used to riding through rush-hour traffic, or it didn’t intimidate me as much because the density slowed the speed of traffic down enough to feel safe. I felt strong enough to ride without a break and could have continued further. It was just later that day when I got some rest that I suddenly turned very tired, but in a good, refreshed and not painfully exhausted kind of way.

Heartrate/Elevation:

Date/Time:
08/29/2008 10:09 AM

Route:
Same as previous route to North Point State Park. Start at Cathedral Street in Mt. Vernon, to the Inner Harbor, Aliceanna Street, right onto Boston Street. Turned right into Ponca Street before 895 and 95, a short about 1 mile long segment leading through a business park/industrial area, then left into Holabird Avenue. Continued on Holabird Avenue all the way straight for several miles, crossing Dundalk Avenue and Merritt Blvd. Later Holabird Ave becomes Wise Ave which I followed straight for several miles. I crossed a bridge and turned right into North Point Blvd at the end of Wise Ave. Further straight on North Point Blvd to the exit/entrance to 695 I turned left into North Point Road. I followed North Point Road a bit further, made a u-turn and turned right into Bay Shore Road, which led to the parking lot and the final destination the Trolley Pavilion [Google Map]

Traffic:
Heavy (holiday) traffic.

Length:
approx. 15.5 miles

Bike:
Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Weather:
Wet and rainy.

Condition:
This was the first real rain-ride for the season. The weather had been wet since I got up that morning. High humidty, light, soft rain throughout with occasional stronger showers. Luckily this wet had not been cold, so it turned out to be unpleasant but bearable. More annoying than the weather was the traffic which turned out to be much more busy than two weeks ago when I rode this route on a Sunday morning. Holiday traffic in addition to the regular business traffic probably made it even worse than on regular weekdays. However, during most of this route I didn’t find myself in threatening or dangerous traffic situations. Most of the route offers enough space for cars and cyclists. It’s only the narrow segments that felt a bit too cozy to me. The route was very flat and easy to ride. I found myself in a good, focused shape.

Heartrate/Elevation: