Rhapsodies

Wednesday Double Feature

by wpmorse on December 10, 2014 at 9:38 am

Posted In: Test

For this week’s theme I decided to take a break and do some lighter fare and watch some movies based on French comics.

I’d seen the first of the live action adaptation of Asterix staring Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu as Astérix and Obélix and enjoyed. I had intended to watch the second one Asterix and Cleopatra but got things a little mixxed up and ended up picking up the third Asterix and the Olympic Games.

LIke the first one this one was an enjoyable peice of fluff that doesn’t pretend to be a fun hour and a half it for anyone who is going in as a history buff don’t bother… The place name’s are the same and Julius Ceasar was a real person but other wise everything is pure fantasy what I like to call a “Flintstones” setting. But don’t let that bother you it’s one big live action cartoon that was never intended to be taken seriously.

My biggest problem with series as a whole is because Depardieu is a bigger name, Obelix gets much more screen time than Asterix the title character (Now played by Clovis Cornillac). It’s even more so in this film where Asterix and Obelix are virtually background characters in their own movie.

But it makes up for it with Depardiieu making fun of his own Cyrano role by providing romantic lines for the romantic lead minutes he does the same thing for his dog who is trying to get a poodles attention.

The next film I watched was The Rabbi’s Cat an adaptation of the series of the graphic novels by Joann Sfarr of the same name (also directed by Sfarr). I’ve been a fan of Sfar’s work for some time, and this is a glorious adaptation of the material providing a wonderful portrait of life in 1920s through the eyes of talking cat.

This is a glorious film beautifully animated recreating Sfar’s art perfectly. My only problem with it is that it is very much just a piece of the Graphic novels and while it is a very tasty slice of the cake you still miss the rest.

└ Tags: Asterix, Film, Graphic Novels, Joann Sfarr, Reviews

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Did it Again!

by wpmorse on December 6, 2014 at 7:54 am

Posted In: Test

I didn’t expect to be crowing about a bike ride so soon after Wednesday’s hurdle but this one is just too sweet.

My Friday ride had been spoiled because of a flat tire on my front week that took me an embarrassing amount of time to notice to the point that I was worried that I had damaged my tire. Which along with not getting the day’s workout in it meant finding time to take my bike to the shop without wasting too much time in the day.

Now the most annoying thing about a flat on the front wheel is that it’s difficult to walk. In fact it’s easier to carry your bike over your shoulder. In this instance though “easy ” is a very relative term. Let’s just say at times like this I can tell exactly why road bikes pass me on my hybrid like I’m not moving… Did I mention Recycled Cycle’s os almost a mile away?

Happily the damage was not even close to as bad as it looked with the tire hanging out of the wheel the way it was and all I needed was a replacement tire.

Anyway all this means in the end was I had to do my workout today on saturday. I’d been debating with myself whether I should switch from Monday/Wednesday/Friday to every day. Pedantic I know but it might make a difference. Anyway, at first I thought I’d had a slow start until I was having that wonderful feeling of wondering if Runkeeper was working properly when I had passed my five minute mark (usually somewhere between the I-5 bridge and the traffic light at Greenlake) by a good 500 yards.

Anyway it went like this all the way doing 3.5 minute miles and only getting slowed down slightly with a few hiccups in traffic. In the end my time was 35:06 minutes! improving on Wednesday’s time by a whole minute!

Now I realize this improvement could have been effected by such factors as decent tire pressure and Runkeeper getting just a little eccentric in the rain, but the moment I don’t care! I’m owning this!

└ Tags: Biking, Exercise, Workout

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Friday Museum Sketch

by wpmorse on December 5, 2014 at 9:15 am

Posted In: Art

I hadn’t been to the Seattle Asian Art Museum so I was back to drawing a few old friends. This one of a Monk Achieving Enlightenment from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) is one I’ve drawn many times (nothing in the archives, sorry) but due to numerous reasons (pose and drapery) I’ve never gotten quite right. This time I focused on the face and I’m mostly happy with it.

It’s fun how you start writing stories in your head about certain pieces even if they have absolutely nothing for to do with what they are actually about. For me this statue had a definite Wu Xia vibe and the strange pose was a martial artists stance as if he would be taking out a dozen mooks in the next instance. I also like the way you can find new things in an image even after you’ve been looking at the image for years. For example I think this was the first time I noticed that the odd expression on the face here was the Monk biting his lip.

Monkgainingenligthenment

└ Tags: Chinese Art, sculpture, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Sketches

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Leveled Up

by wpmorse on December 3, 2014 at 10:22 am

Posted In: Test

The last couple of bike rides had not been my best. First there had been my frustrating ride in the rain last week. Then there was Monday where a combination of being just a little wiped out because I had gone to the movies in Northgate and then had to go back when I realized I’d dropped my lock on the way out. So in the end I’d ridden enough so I really didn’t need my Monday work out.

To make matters worse my back tire was getting low on air, I hadn’t gotten around to putting more air in them because I wasn’t sure how much was the air contracting in the cold weather. Needless to say the drag of said tires also added to my poor time which ended up being 44 minutes.

Runkeeeper said I had broken my record for “duration”, which feels a whole lot like getting a prize for good attendance.

But happily after putting more air in the tires last night. I had a really good run of just over 36 minutes! Considering that I was stopped by a few lights, it should be easy to do even better soon.

└ Tags: Biking, Workout

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Wednesday Double Feature

by wpmorse on December 3, 2014 at 9:08 am

Posted In: Test

For this week’s theme I decided to watch some Bill Murray films. Naturally I’ve liked hs work since Saturday Night Live. I was weaned on Stripes and Ghostbusters. I think the really big transition from just another comedian turned actor to one of the greats for me was Groundhog’s Day and it was all uphill from there.

So the first on my list was Lost in Translation. One that has been recommended to me just by everyone. It is a story about two people visiting Tokyo and join together to endure it. It’s a slow lyrical movie and briefly I wasn’t sure if my attention span could handle it but it certainly grows on you as it goes along. Murray is great as a fading actor suffering from the beginning of a midlife crisis enduring his week long business trip paradoxically alone in this huge bustling city. I especially liked it as a portrait of Japan in all of it’s extremes from the bustling chaos of downtown Tokyo to the quiet lyricism of traditional customs and temples.

The next film Mad Dog and Glory was one i’d been curious about for years because of how it had two actors playing against type with Murray and Robert De Niro in a film about a mobster who befriends a high strung cop. Whenever I describe this Ito people I like to ask who they think play’s who and it’s always funny to see people’s surprise when I tell them that it’s not what they think.

Seriously though… DeNiro virtually channels Woody Allen playing the overworked nebbish of a detective and Murray is terrifying as the Mobster. It was about as good as I had imagined with Uma Thurman thrown in for good measure as the Woman who comes between them. Very much worth your time.