Endorsement: Small Chair and the McSweeney’s iPhone Application

I’ll be honest: I’m kind of a self-hating iPhone owner. Ok, maybe not self-hating, but I do make a concerted effort to avoid flaunting my little pocket gem — both in real life and on the Internet. However, I’m breaking my own rule for this: McSweeney’s just released an iPhone application, and I think it’s quite wonderful.

But it’s not just the beautifully designed little software package I’m enamored with, it’s this thing they’re doing called Small Chair. The price of the application ($5.99) also gets you a six month subscription to Small Chair, which is essentially a McSweeney’s imprint for the iPhone. I just finished reading Wells Tower’s short story “Raw Water” on the bus today, and next week I’ve been promised a Spike Jonze short film featuring Where the Wild Things author Maurice Sendak.

Admittedly, I’ve been a sucker for anything Dave Eggers has touched since I finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and this is certainly no exception.

(Photo from the website of Russel Quinn, the talented fellow who pitched, designed, and developed the McSweeney’s application)

When In Doubt, archive.org.

Here’s my submission for Tuesday’s MNKINO, entitled Paradise. The mystery meat for September was “transparency”, and even though I was one who suggested the theme, I found myself rather stumped.

So Monday evening rolled around, and with nothing yet to show for myself I went back to a long-dependable source of inspiration for last-minute filmmaking: The Internet Archive. More specifically, the Prelinger Archives — a massive collection of over 60,000 “ephemeral” films from decades past.

So let’s meet the cast: the starring role is filled by Looking Ahead Through Rohm & Haas Plexiglas (Part II), a 1947 film that “brings a glimpse into a wonderful tomorrow — a tomorrow where this crystal-clear plastic turns its amazing characteristics to beautifying the home.” In a strong supporting role is Heart and Circulation, a short educational film about the workings of the human circulatory system circa 1937.

There’s also a brief cameo by Here’s Looking (1939), and Caught Mapping (1940) was originally cast but didn’t make the final cut. Also of important note are musical contributions by Sun Ra and Cornelius.

Oh, hey — I never posted this video I made for the last MNKINO. The theme was ON / OFF, and the video was shot at Summerwork.

If you haven’t heard, this month (September 22) is Transparency. Also, a few updates to the MNKINO website coming soon…

Still two weekends left to make an “ON/OFF” film!

Whoa … weird as hell to have this show up in my Tumblr dashboard. Worlds collide! [vocalizing smashing & exploding noises]

hungryghoast:curate:dominickbrady:speakingoffaith:

The image above is a photo of artist Nam June Paik’s video installation “TV Buddha.” It’s always been a favorite of mine for its clever take on the practice of meditation — a Buddha statue “contemplating” a live video image of itself.—Andy Dayton, Associate Web Producer, Sifting Through Screens

Also: another shot from the archives.

Come on people, let’s make something move.

wbsc:

Ok kids, I know you’re all racking your brains to figure out the perfect animal costume for Biophilia tonight, but here’s something else to think about this weekend: why not make a movie?

Next Tuesday (July 21st, 8:30pm) is the first meeting for MNKINO at WBSC, a monthly excuse for anyone to make a film, and to meet others who like doing the same. The basic idea is that every month we have a theme/idea/mystery-meat for you to incorporate into a short film, and this month it’s ORANGE.

So, show up at WBSC with an orange film at 8:30 on tuesday, and we’ll screen it. We’ll also tell you more about KINO International, and have a few extra films to show.

michaeleckblad:

Yesterday evening, some fine Twin Cities folks inaugurated what promises to be a fine, fine Art space. Though I could not join them in the flesh for their first event, I joined them in Spirit. Congratulations, West Bank Social Center.

Ha, this is great. Thanks Michael!

Glad to see my old Madison pal Andy Schlachtenhaufen is still making beautiful short films. Andy was one of the more dependable contributors to the scrappy little monthly microcinema I directed there, both in quality and quantity.

The storyline for this 4.5 minute short Wayne is familiar, but some of the shots are spectacular. I’m hoping he’ll start posting more of his older films to his Vimeo account soon…