(september 19 2007) LE LIBERATION

My friend and fellow writer Johannah Rogers, who apparently reads the french newspapers everyday, saw this on the cover of the Liberation website.

There's a trailer and a review and all sorts of fun stuff. All in francais
 of course.

the link is:

http://www.liberation.fr/culture/cinema/279463.FR.php


OCEAN PARK #107 by Richard Diebenkorn

Anyone who knows me, knows I go on and on about the California Art scene and how great and underrated it is. That was one of the reasons I was kind of into moving out here. My favorite older California artist is Richard Diebenkorn who did his Ocean Park paintings in the 1970s (I think). Ocean Park being a neighborhood between Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

I love them and when I was in LA a long time ago I saw Ocean Park on a map and I drove to it and drove up and down the streets of it, it was hilly and like the paintings and it was a really fun day.

Anyway, I was there a couple days ago and of course it's all developed and fancy now and not the quiet rundown neighborhood that it used to be. But whatever.

There are 140 paintings in the Ocean Park series. I love it when artists just do the same thing over and over and let it spin out it's own variations and mutate and grow and do weird things. This is Ocean Park #107.


September 18, 2007---SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

I have gotten several requests recently for speaking engagements, school visits, etc. recently. People weren't sure I did these things, as my blog has mostly become a journal for the making of the PARANOID PARK movie, with other assorted adventures thrown in.





So I wanted to let people know, that I love to come speak at schools, etc. And would love to come to yours.

So get in touch at blake@blakenelsonbooks.com. Thanks!


September 16- Farmers Market

Woke up early this morning to go to the Santa Monica Farmers Market. This is the one which is full of celebrities according to my wife's US WEEKLY. So for my wife's birthday we went there to see what we could see.

There were no celebrities. Not that I saw. It's funny how in a "celebrity" area, when there are no celebrities, how disappointing the ordinary people become. You know like the pretty girl whose chin is not quite right. Or the guy that almost looks like Gavin Rossdale except his eyes are too close together and he's wearing a stupid shirt. Or the good looking family with the cute kid who just turn out to be good looking California people with no distinguishing qualities whatsoever.

It was still fun though. Very possitive healthy child-friendly atmosphere. Kids on ponies. White guys in African Garb playing bongos and Xylaphone-like instruments. Organic stuff. No Jennifer Garner though. Not that I saw.


PARANOID @ NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

So the big news for PARANOID PARK this month is it's inclusion in the New York Film Festival. This is not the Tribeca Film Festival but the older more established one that takes place in toney Lincoln Center. I noticed that many of the films from Cannes are in this same festival, including PARANOID and NOT A COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (the Cohen brothers) and PERSEPOLIS. But also at the NY Film Festival are some very buzzy films from Americans like: Todd Haynes' new Bob Dylan Movie, the new Wes Anderson and the new Noah Baumbach. So this is heady company and quite exciting. I'm a huge fan of all of these directors, but alas I am in California so I will have to wait until all these films make it out here (to the art houses most likely). They will of course all land here in the same month, which is why in September my film choices are: THE BROTHERS SOLOMON, THE INVASION and UNDERDOG. Really there's nothing to see here right now.

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