Helvetica

last night i watched this rather interesting documentary
about the typeface Helvetica



the films introduces a lot graphic design and typography talk
but also a lot of interesting points on global visual culture
and how we recycle the visuals presented to us every day

the documentary balances between beautiful photography
of New York City, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zürich, London
and Münchenstein, Switzerland, where Helvetica was born
and dynamic urban shots presenting the stellar Helvetica



all structured in between interviews
with an endless list of graphic designers, typographists,
and other graphic gurus

one thing that i think keeps this films so alive
is that is a little controversial
the filmmaker Gary Hustwit
interviews both
Helvetica advocates and Helvetica adversaries
Helvetica users and Helvetica haters

yes! a typography can have enemies
but then you'll have to watch the documentary
don't want to spoil it for you
just recommend it
ah! cool music too

a bright new day for Americans

USA has a new elected president

and today it feels and breaths around here
like the long-asleep American dream
has resurrected again!

election day (part II)

so here waiting for the results of this rainy election day



after about 6 months of dryness in San Diego
today finally rained
not very helpful for Elections day
but great for our city

it was encouraging to see people
running to the polling place even under the rain
and to see NO on Prop 8 supporters holding
banners under colorful umbrellas

also praise to the supporters of
YES on Prop 2
against animal cruelty

here the latest results


and those always interesting numbers



and good idea of Starbucks to give
free coffee away to voters!
of course i had to get mine

election day

it's a little over 7am
so the polls are officially open
and i am getting ready
to vote too

this will be my 2nd time voting
for president of this big country
[i am mexican but born american]

and i am thrilled to participate
in what people are already calling
the most important election on
the history of this country

just hope that peace
reigns over the decisions
made on this country today

and my vote again goes for
Obama and a soundly
NO on Prop 8

good luck USA!

Halloween 08

Halloween came again
days of pumpkins
horror films
and sugary treats



a quiet evening for me
a little warm here in hell
but look!
another pumpkin here
the '4734'



next to the 4734 is an little artifact made out of a pumpkin too
an Argentinian Yerba Mate drinking cup
the 'straw' is made out of metal (silver, i think?)
talking about art made out of pumpkins
as for misses 4734
once opened showed was no cooking material
it was a little old for that so, so...



so a 'modernist' mini Jack-O-Lantern became


my carved pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern - day 1

and Turner Classic Movies selections for the night
Horror films based on books by H.P. Lovecraft
a long time preferred author of mine

The Shuttered Room (from 1967)



Die, Monster, Die! (from 1965)
(the original name of the book
was "The color of out of space"
a delightfully creepy reading



so with devilish horns
and an old dried Jack-O-Pumpkin
after a couple of days


my carved pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern - day 3 (premature aging?)

i spent a sugary scary night
have a good Halloween too
and let the witches and ghosts
go merry around you

tomorrow and Sunday
will be for me to celebrate the mexican
Día De Muertos

& those elections coming so close...

the California general election
and gotta read all these propositions
i have brief ideas about some
but...



thankfully for presidential election
i have my mind fixed
i am with

Barack Obama





i think these Obama's poster
series by Obey Giant taste
dunno, transcendental?

Die schöne Melancholie des Sonntag

since a was young girl
i remember feeling this little
empty space in my stomach
every Sunday night
the idea that the fun part of the week
was coming to an end, i guess

and since then i've found little cures for this

Die schöne Melancholie des Sonntag
the beautiful Sunday's melancholy
la hermosa melancolía de Domingo



i've been to movies to forget or
when there's a new Simpsons on Sunday
that's my breaking point
but also a good early evening walk
will suffice for the mini-closing of the weekend
celebrating my own way of saying to this week
curtains downs
and welcome a new week ahead

and here what i saw
around 17.15 Uhr

Friday, Ikea

as my 8" analon non-stick skillet
is almost never big enough
for a decent stir-fry
i went to Ikea last night
[ah, always pleasant there]



to buy the planned 11" wok with lid
here he is



already used twice this morning
steaming sweet potatoes
and the ah! long-awaited stir-fry which i just
munched now accompanied of some crunchy brown rice

but as always i end up with
some extra unplanned product
so this time the
extra-not-on-the-shopping-list-completely-unnecessary
product is



the BUSIG tray

but i just couldn't resist the elephants
and the colors, or the idea of elephants
with flowers and patterns on their bodies
or the little elephants
dunno, but it reminded me of a Beatles song
one of the silly ones they made (wink)
and oh well
it's an Ikea weakness heh heh

the little refugee

again tonight
little time set aside
and write here about
an outdated date
'cause tonight i write not
about today's date
but about Monday's

too tired to work
took a Monday off
just sat around and watch old Horror movies



1st I watched a very young Humphrey Bogart
he was the infamous Doctor X
in The Return of Doctor X (1939)
a lip-less pale make-up doctor with a
stroke of white hair, and glasses
who holds & strokes a
little white rabbit
and runs experiments with synthetic blood
mmm? even though, he's not the main character in the film
and this was his 1st and last appearance on a horror film
still rather recommendable film
little quirky, but it was just 1939!
better plot and script and surely grammar
than we get in many now-a-days films

and then I watched this exquisite suspense movie
a ghostly woman in white, but not quite a ghost story
but a great thriller
The Woman in White (1948)



this wonderful film was based on an epistolary novel by
Wilkie Collins
and it is considered the 1st official and precursor
of the genre of mystery novels!
now I am looking for the book...

so Monday was and
I did lost of seating around
and movie-watching
and TV-picture taking



as for this Wednesday
I wish it was Monday again

[random* notes on old-film watching]
and the moral of the post
just now & then, take a day off
and watch some old films
but truly old
something before the 60's

I feel old-films truly detach you from reality
there are no cell phones ringing on the films
they didn't existed yet
and everybody smokes, apparently lung cancer
wasn't 'invented' yet either
they drank whiskey at 10am
and true men wore hats
but also knew when to take them off
and women ran with very high-heels
without getting their hair messed-up
while
hiding from fictitious monsters or
very real gangsters

and if the film is in black & white
even better!
you get to exercise your imagination
and color yourself the film
you get to decide if that pale shade of gray
on the heroin's dress
is either a light blue or a soft orange

old films are the only cinematic art
that i can think of as the closest thing as reading a book
is it rather refreshing!

go and rent an old film
you'll learn so much!

* as if the rest of this blog is not random

der Calabaza day

Kürbis Tag!
pumpkin day
día de la calabaza



as it comes the pumpkin season
decided to cook a little one



once baked, can be used for soup,
pies, bread, or...



as i ate it this morning
just warmed up sprinkled with sugar & cinammon
accompanied with a glass of cold milk



ah better than any sophisticated dessert



i will try to bake more this October
too bad i don't remember the kind of pumpkin it was

ohne Namen Kürbis!
[oder? Frage: wie man sagt auf Deutsch?
ohne Namen oder kein Name?]
nameless pumpkin
calabaza sin nombre