Since I'm going to be in Germany...

I can recommend a great German director - Wim Wenders.

In his works he explores American culture in some very interesting ways like his last two films were Land of Plenty (2004) where he takes on America post 911 and Don't Come Knocking (2005) is a story of a washed out western movie star.

He is also connected with the music world quite a bit; through his documentaries about American Blues - The Soul of a Man (2003) produced by our local Paul Allen, and Cuban music - Buena Vista Social Club (1999) you can get quite an intimate portrait of these amazing artists.

A good intro to his work is Paris, Texas (1984) or the amazing Wings of Desire (1987) later remade in Hollywood under the title City of Angels (1998) w/Nick Cage.

Bye bye for a little while...

I'm going on a trip to Europe and will miss everyone very much.
In less than 48 hours I'll be landing in Germany, then I'm off to Poland to see relatives and maybe in the last week we'll go to Greece.

I'll try to do some posting while I'm traveling, so stay tuned...

But it's a black comedy...

This is a great black comedy! It was made by the Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea whose last film was a great satire of contemporary life in Cuba called Guantanamera (1995).

Death of a Bureaucrat (1966) reminds me of the long lines I had to stand in with my mom back in Poland during the 1980s. You couldn't really take care of business unless you had connections or gifts for any type of bureacrat even to get an appointment at the dentist. The protagonist in this film tries to avoid and even beat the system at its own game but of course as with any bureacracy there are complications...

MySpace/Social Networking

I realize the enormous impact that MySpace has had in the past few years and it doesn't seem like a fad it looks like it's sticking around. I have a MySpace page but have not spent too much time developing or expanding it. It's more fun just to look at other things like music videos or other profiles and I'm a part of several groups.
I think libraries and other institutions should take advantage of this medium because it appeals to young patrons and can add a new positive perspective to MySpace. See video clip below.


I found this video on LibraryBytes it has a lot to do with Learning 2.0, so check it out!
It's aimed at educators but we have a lot to do with this stuff too.

http://www.librarybytes.com/2007/04/worth-view.html

Bust A Keaton... "The Great Stone Face"

"I have called Keaton the most silent of silent film comedians without quite explaining why. The silence was related to another deeply rooted quality -- that immobility, that sense of alert repose, we have so often seen in him. Keaton could run like a jackrabbit and, in almost every feature film, he did. He could stunt like Lloyd, as honestly and even more dangerously. His pictures are motion pictures. Yet, though there is a hurricane eternally raging around him, and though he is often caught up in it, Keaton's constant drift is toward the quiet at the hurricane's eye."
-- Walter Kerr,The Silent Clowns

Popular legend has it that one day before a vaudeville performance, a very young Keaton was walking down a flight of stairs, but tripped and fell down the entire flight and broke his nose. Keaton got right back up, and upon seeing this the famous magician Harry Houdini, who was in the performance, said to Keaton's mother that he was quite the little buster. It is more likely, however, that the nickname was given by a fellow vaudvillian, whose name has been lost to history. Although Houdini did tour with the Keatons, he did not join up with them until Keaton was well beyond infancy. Regardless of the source, however, the name 'Buster' was acquired in his youth, and used ever since.

-- from Wikipedia

OK, here’s some comedy…

I like to laugh, really!

So is it Charlie Chaplin

or Buster Keaton?

I open this question up for debate so I'm waiting to hear who's your favorite and why?

As far as humor goes I lean toward British humor: Monty Python & Mr. Bean etc.

The French also have Louis de Funès with his twisted slapstick comedy.

A more recent subtle but funny French actor is Daniel Auteuil. He was very funny in films like The Closet (2001) and Après vous... (2003).

I found some feeds.

I really liked the Feedster Blog of the Day and ended up adding two interesting blogs from this feature. Topix.net was interesting to explore as well, I found some interesting news from Europe.

My topic feeds were on film and I found them w/the help of a wonderfully nice coworker (you know who you are :-)) on Google Blog Search:

http://www.twitchfilm.net/

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/