Category: Homage

Deep Puppy Thoughts (Part 250)

A collection. And remember, there’s always hope, so hang the fck in there.

“I am become Puppy, licker of faces.”

“In the silent privacy of his mind…she faced…and took his burdens upon herself.
He could not resist her…he had no defense…
“No Evil!” she breathed at him. Not this time.
His eyes were fixed on hers, and they flamed hot midnight…
His refusal made grief well up in her like the wail of a lost child.”
At least I can feel this. More than most, certainly.

Yes, how horrible, the “Friend Zone”.
I mean, it’s just friends.
It’s not corrupted by all those desires, wishes, dreams, love, eternal love. Because what says love like really really loud grunts.
Golly, I really am lucky. (That’s not a joke).
I might think differently if I thought most people were actually genuinely nice and caring.
It’s all just BS leading up to sex. Meaningless.
But if that’s all you want, the brief climax, don’t worry. There are plenty of fellows out there.
“Do you like it? These things you do?”
“No, I don’t. But that’s life, isn’t it?”

FAIR USE: CRITICISM –
“The Thunderous Sound Of Delicacy”
It’s probably already been done, but Duvall’s quiet, gentle, comforting tone and message at the beginning draws you in with an implied sense of civility. Then Duvall pulls a ‘Columbo’. Right before you can leave, he asks a very simple “When?”
You thought “Hey, that wasn’t so bad”…then he comforts some more, before turning it into a soft, gentle, mildly firm like a scold, which rises quickly into a dangerous, helpful, run through, which ends with what terrifies with tone and finally asks (in my opinion) “Do you like your job, son?”
“Because that would be *my* time, my own private time, which no one – if they had any sense of self-preservation at ALL – would dare interrupt.”
*Genial little chuckle*
Gently “If…I were you.”
*Genial little smile*
*The other, fear in his whole figure, freezes, pleading: “I’m sorry…”
Duvall raises his hand, with a low “shhhh”, and proceeds to ignore the man completely, 99 percent sure he will have nothing further useful to say, and he’s gotten bored already in his mocking “explanation”.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – The person and the bee.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – The beauty to me is how pure her love is. It seems so rare in people. And as for him, it was tense when I first saw this, a very long time ago…I was actively worried, and then relieved. I cared for them, I genuinely did…suspending disbelief wasn’t a big problem. They couldn’t have pulled this off so seemingly easily if there wasn’t some Diane in Shelley Long, and some Sam in Ted Danson.

“Even though his joints creaked and his bark rasped, he would fight with the fire of a much younger dog if Dru needed him to.”

“Eli: It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s faith, it’s faith. It’s the flower of light in the field of darkness that’s giving me the strength to carry on. You understand?
Solara: Is that from your book?
Eli: No, it’s, uh, Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison.”

“While it’s well known that as one gets older, one tends to find changes in the world at large unsettling, confusing, f@cking irritating, a rebuke to one’s very existence, it’s generally not a good idea to make a career out of saying so.” – Greil Marcus

“Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art Of War’ is to Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s ‘Hagakure’ what a refreshing, crystal-clear, shallow wading pool is to an ocean.” – Me

FAIR USE: CRITICISM –
“…so careful, when I’m in your arms…”
“You woke up screamin’ aloud…”

FAIR USE: CRITICISM –
Beautiful.
“Abashed the Devil stood, and felt how aw(e)ful Goodness is…”

“You deceived me.”
“You let yourself be deceived. But in your heart you always knew what had to happen here.”

“My…dark destructive tastes…
I chose…to stroll amongst the waste that was your heart…lost in the dark…”

Deep Puppy Thoughts (Part 237)

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – This is a troubling movie.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – This is also a troubling movie.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – Just, you know, if you find something in music or movies, or in life, that is positive, by all means share it as appropriate with the rest of the world. It helps to express feelings in a non-destructive manner sometimes. No-one is perfect. If you expect, be sure to give.

We all need that harmless release. Believe me, it can help. Sometimes not *shrug* but so what, “at least you tried.”

Deep Puppy Thoughts (Part 234)

“…these dreamsongs are nightmares of a world in flames, the kind you remember in all their scary inconsistency because you woke up sweating in the middle.” – Robert Christgau

With R.C., sometimes the review is more enjoyable and more fun to OCD to than the actual song/track/record/cassette/cd/mp3/beyond-my-comprehension.

In this case, I think “screaming” would be more appropriate, more image-inducing, more interesting. But he’s the best. Was, at least.

I am more and more uncomfortable with my failing relevance to things after “In my day…”

So out of touch that there’s really no point in trying to get current…impossibility takes a lot of pressure off.

So, next generation, you go out there and kick some a$$, metaphorically speaking.

I know about recency bias, Mr. Hunter.

When did it become a major accomplishment that someone can dunk the ball?
I mean, am I missing something? Or is it just totally absurd?
Any guy from any pickup game in the world can dunk it
It’s worth 2 points. Just the same as a layup or a floater.
It looks POWERFUL, but it’s not.
The best rebounders aren’t the best jumpers, necessarily.
Fcken sad if you ask me.
“What can your client do?”
“Well, he can dunk it and block it.”
“Ummm…and?
“That’s it. Oh, he can grab rebounds when they bounce luckily into his hands.”

Grumpy Old Puppy (Part 1)

And now with a commentary, a grumpy old puppy.

I’m old, and I don’t like it.

I HATE IT!

In my day, we didn’t have these “bicycle helmets” and “kneepads” and “armpads”; flabbity floobity!

In my day, there was only one kind of helmet: it was called “use every other part of your body to shield your head if you fall off or you’ll crack your skull open”. And that’s the way it was, and we LIKED it!

In my day, we didn’t have all this attention to SAFETY and concerns about not wanting your child to fall off their bike. In my day, there was only one form of bicycling concern: it was called “if you fall off and scrape yourself somewhere and start crying enough times you’ll learn”. That’s right, it was almost encouraged to fall off your bike and sustain minor injury. Because it put the fear of God into you, and eventually when you got the little push on the concrete sidewalk and had to fend for yourself you DIDN’T fall off. And when you finally didn’t fall off, you got rewarded with a glass of soda and an ice cream bar.

You were woozy from mild concussions and bleeding all over from small cuts but you had some ice cream, and that’s the way it was, and we LIKED it! WE LOVED it, oh happy day!

That’s right, we had little to no concern for minor injuries and the only safety measure we took was to have someone looking to yell “here comes a car!” so you didn’t get plowed into while you were learning by falling off and scraping yourself to protect your skull from getting cracked open.

And that’s the way it was, and we LIKED it! WE LOVED it! Oh, happy day!!!

Anna Dalton – She Is Violinist Hear Her Emote (Character Explanation)

Anna never started off “writing” a song…she would play, and let it take her where it did.  She would make notes, she would play repeatedly, slowly, every note touching her and judging each as just right/or not.  These were the only two categories because all must eventually become the first, and she was in no hurry to do so.

And after playing it MANY, MANY times, she would take permanent “notes”…but these wouldn’t have (musical) notes in them, they would consist of indications, moods, instructions, echoes, pieces of her soul and herself.  This would grow and be unreadable as music, silly and useless to anyone else.  Scribblings.  But that wouldn’t matter, because it didn’t have to mean anything to anyone else, ever.

All it ever had to do was mean something to her.  To be a piece of her husband, of herself, of the spirit and love that connected the two and always would, of that which she could not and would not ever want to define – beyond and above words, more than a definition.

And every aspect, every hint of every piece of music she played and felt, in this way, was beyond description, a version in beauty of Cane/Cthulhu’s indescribable horror…things that exist that can not be adequately described, for the words do not exist. Beyond, above, past them.  More than them.

Only in her music, it was love and devotion, not horror and insanity. And in this she was shrouded forever; comfortable and happy, content, in any circumstance…untouchable to the minor annoyances of the world outside of this place of magic.  And in this haven, how could she possibly be sad?

Semper Fidelis.

A Tribute To The A$$hole Fans Out There – Part 1

Have fun with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60WR8dB0H-s

Book One: Home,

Chapter One:
Music music man greetings.
Door man man man man man Mynril?
Put bound Gods one hold no!
This door do chatter humanoid

Thou Cast Outwards Before

this. Come To things stops
This you head images he he.
third How pause do that’s nod. Just
door third both Mynril? give pause…

Means

The valiant and heroic attempt to establish a peaceful, orderly society through vicious and violent repression and control:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVZe2qd6xPY

This applies exactly the same to all who pursue this noble cause, by any means. A tyrant is a tyrant: a tyrant of fear, a tyrant of pleasure, a tyrant of reason, a tyrant of tranquility.

Some people need to remember why, exactly, they’re complaining about certain things.

Here is the fictional achievement of said cause:

Ironic that the tyrant, Landru, – thought of as a “God” by the people – is actually a purely logical computer. Just as tyrannical, either way.

And ironic that Spock – quite logical himself – aids in Landru’s destruction.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – I hold no rights to either clip, they are being used both as things to be criticized and forms of criticism.

What Is The Meaning

“Tsunetomo believed that becoming one with death in one’s thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation.” – Wikepedia on Yamamoto Tsunetomo

There’s nothing morbid about this; not when you understand what it really means.

We’re all going to die. Make sure that when you die, your life will have been one worth living.

Criticism Of Criticism – Part One

Let’s start with the best of them…critics, that is.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/

“Abba
Arrival [Atlantic, 1977]
Since this is already the best-selling group in the universe, I finally have an answer when people ask me to name the Next Big Thing. What I wonder is how we can head them off at the airport. Plan A: Offer Bjorn and Benny the leads in Beatlemania (how could they resist the honor?) and replace them with John Phillips and Denny Doherty. Plan B: Appoint Bjorn head of the U.N. and Benny his pilot (or vice versa) and replace them with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Plan C: Overexpose them in singing commercials. Plan D: Institute democratic socialism in their native land, so that their money lust will meet with the scorn of their fellow citizens. C” – Robert Christgau

This is what you call the “so unnecessary you can just randomly mock it” archetype.

Since everyone, by this point, already knew what ABBA sounded like, and since he saw no change in their music, and really no point in them continuing to churn out the same music – which he saw as bad, his “C” does not mean “Average” – he decides to simply indulge himself in mostly-silly musings, incorporating references you may (or may not) get and may (or may not) like. The point is, he does, and he does.

And really…think about it: would you rather read this, or an “in-depth” examination of the music, when that examination would be pretty much exactly the same as an examination of their PREVIOUS album, which would basically say, not in so many words: “This is annoyingly-catchy cr@p.”

I go with this. It’s not one of his best, but it’s an intro.

Grade: B-

Criticism Of Criticism – An Explanation

The idea is this…

Scour reviews (of books, movies, music, etc) for the BEST and WORST written reviews.

Not reviewing what they’re reviewing…not reviewing what they THINK of what they’re reviewing…

Reviewing the quality of the REVIEW itself.

THINK OF IT!

-Puppy >.< Yip!

Quote Interpretation

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.'” – Jim Jarmusch

Analysis:

What Jarmusch is saying here is not “take other peoples work and pretend it’s yours.”

He’s saying that there is NO idea that is completely and totally original: that NOONE has ever thought of before. Even if only subconsciously, there are other influences besides just “…it just came to me and I worked everything out on my own”.

Maybe it came to you because you saw something, read something, watched something, felt something, heard something…

As I point out quite clearly in my semi-recent post on the subject, there’s a difference between “homage” (which is what Jarmusch is referring to) and NOT homage.

‘In The Mouth Of Madness’ DIRECTLY takes ideas from H.P. Lovecraft; even quotes his stories verbatim at times. But it EXPANDS on those ideas, it uses them as inspiration, as the origin of a much broader and greater (and authentic) work.

L.F. Dibley…does not.

Every comic has comedians that “influenced” them. So does every writer, every painter, every critic…

“…Comedians borrowed, stole stuff, and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different…”

The thing is to BE inspired…to have that inspiration be AUTHENTIC; something that touches you, not something you think is “commercial” or anything else. To be open to that inspiration, to accept it, and to not be ashamed of it – since every artist, to one extent or another, consciously or subconsciously, is using at least one small part of one idea that someone else already thought of.

And then to TAKE that inspiration, and with it, and your own ideas, create something new that is worthwhile; that pleases you artistically and enhances the world in doing so.

Be inspired not greedy.

Be authentic; because you can’t be “original”.

To claim a SPECIFIC work as your own is fine.

To claim an IDEA as your own, that noone else can draw from, be inspired by…is against the very nature of art itself. It’s corporate…and quite frankly if artists get to the point where they’re like corporations (“You can’t use X phrase because I copyrighted it”), that will be a sad day for artists…and the world in general, since it will destroy creativity.

Don’t be fascist about freedom of expression.

What is “Homage”?

This is homage:

This is not:

Somewhere WAY in between there’s a fine line.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – ‘In The Mouth Of Madness’ is a great homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. L.F. Dibley’s ‘If’ is NOT a great homage to anything, it just sucks. Also, this is a really bad review (criticism), but it IS a review.

Book Seven, Chapter Two

You Tyr… glance place gesture stay gesture.
Here mind walls touch you they? images.
“Them” gaze answering one… pause MY- knowing.
Here glance they? you investigator sort disappearance.
Disappearance new tea recommended… work… smiles shrug.
Amateur amateur professional… fun- professional miss really?
Towards deliberately scatter worst- it really bloodshot.

Book Seven, Chapter One

Ultimate Prize Gone As All Crumbles Down

Shrill gone white boney glows glow then.
In back unfettered covered close smile M.?
Now- down two nothing Mynril inside! wait!
Insane! men insane! fury wall sees end…
Speak emerges see screams down later afternoon.
Quickly? doing? them? out there… it? requests?
Charcoal enters walls fingers reality silence There.