Ali Artsy Life Update

I lost my sketchbook :(
I think I left it in the Hammer museum,
but they don’t have it in their lost and found.
What sucks is that I was about to scan in my drawings from it
to put online and now I cant.

Actually I’m more upset about loosing the book itself.
I bought it a few years ago at the Kinokuniya bookstore in S.F. Japan town
and since then haven’t been able to find it again anywhere.
(even at the same store when I visited S.F. a couple weeks ago)
It was made from this raw rice paper-ish paper
and was surprisingly light and took ink very well. Oh well…

On a more positive note,
I got a new monitor and color calibrator
so I can finally begin scanning in my backlog of drawings and photos.

I just finished the book “Gentlemen Of Space” by Ira Sheer.
And it was simply amazing.
I got inspired to read it after hearing the author read a short story
he had written about kids who found a man trapped in a well,
on This American Life. (Act Two)
It was by far the most powerful story I heard on that show,
and when it finished, I knew I had to read his book.

(I also read Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Murakami,
but would rather not speak about that literary abortion)

The new Radiohead album came out and it’s amazing.
I’m a little confused why it took four and a half years
to make 10 straight forward guitar rock songs,
but they are great non the less.
“Nude” and “All I Need” are my favorite tracks.
The lyrics for “All I Need” are incredible.

I saw Interpol and Múm, both shows were great.
Interpol was a little less then what I was expecting,
and Múm allot more. (My review of the Múm show)

I became obsessed with watching Malcolm X videos on you tube.
I was surprised to discover that he wasn’t at all
the violence advocating, Islamic fundamentalist
history has billed him as.
He was extremely well spoken,
and while not in agreement with Dr. Martin Luther King
about how to handle black inequality,
his arguments and philosophies
were just as well thought out and sensible as Kings.
Those two leaders were really the Yings to each other Yangs.
These videos show this compare/contrast very well:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9m4xFfF6v8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MwKIUMbi9Jk

I feel that Kings message was to the society as a whole,
and was directed towards full and equal integration.

While Malcolm X’s message was more cynical of that possibility
(or more realistic depending on your stance)
and was geared more specifically to blacks,
about how they can learn to help themselves
without reliance or expectation of whites to give them anything.

And to encourage a sense of pride,
and willingness to defend and empower themselves.
That white people will only learn to be more covert and subliminal
with the way they racially structure society,
(50 years later you could argue he was completely right)
that equality will come about only through the actions of blacks, not whites.

I also finally started reading through the instruction manual
for my old super 8 film camera I got recently,
and almost cried at how amazing it is.
This camera can do everything I could ever want,
and is so incredibly well designed.
I have to call a couple of labs
to see if they will support my O.C.D. control freak desires
(film stocks, processing, scanning, hi-rez output etc.).
I can’t wait to shoot footage with it in the Yucatan in November!

No Talking Tuesdays #5

Made it through another Tuesday without a hitch.

In the evening I saw Interpol at the L.A. Forum.
So instead of wearing my no-talking-helmet (it would muffle the music)
I wore a red armband I made from cutting up one of my favorite shirts.

Ive gotten much better at learning how to emote through gesture,
so there is record breaking amount of non-writing this week:

The List:

Halfer at bags #2
With sandbags veggie

I small Tuscan turkey please

No Talking Tuesdays #4

I made a single mono syllable mistake this Tuesday…. So close.

Alas, when my friend mumbled his response to my question
I accidentally blurted out “what?”…
actually it was more of a “wha-“ but no matter, it was a breach and I own up to it.

The List

Should we wait, or does this
Take a long time?

Where to?

A little craggily

Noah’s?

Me = Noah + Hammer

Chicken pannini please

You may be cold

Speak to me at great
Length about your girlfriend

So you have already been
To Washington to visit?

D.C?

When those people put on suits
its probably like a Pavlovian
response they rely on to get
in the zone. Like dawning a
uniform before battle

but we will always need
a way to call political bluffs

that’s poetically tragic

its even Dijon mustard

dancing, house parties etc.

when I’m in S.F. or Santa Barbara
not really here

I would say the exact opposite

I thought the same until I started
going back since living here

Sausage ratio here is so
much worse

Bar/dance clubs

Mainstream I guess, all west L.A.

1. No guys talk to girls in S.F.

2. More % of women are attractive
(b/c they less homogeneous)

3. More places that cater to young real people
who don’t design their lives after magazine covers

Mission district, SOMA, and a
smattering of other places

Elbo room
upstairs

you mean like downtown, silver lake areas?

But I do enjoy not getting stabbed

Whole foods for some chocolate?

They don’t have 75% dark

75% dark?

Belgian + swiss = win
Rest = fail

It scares me that their playing Interpol

They are precious to me

What do you feel like?

Juice

I usually go solo now

In case there's shenanigans afoot

Ali is unusual

Small carrot juice please

Cant. I’m about to take a
Fat vacation.

Winter = Japan again

Its fixed

No Talking Tuesdays #3

Well I made it through another no talking Tuesdays without any slip ups.
I think im getting the hang of it.

There was more stuff I wrote that I can’t share because it was related to work.
Just as well, divorced from its context it sounds like technical art babble.
In fact it sounds like that anyway.

I think after next Tuesday ill coalesce my sociological/personal impressions of this experiment.

The List:

What’s helps phone extension thingee?

Brian Eno?

Do you have Vangalis?

435

So no doors?

But this is static.
Is there a scene for static west?

Chicken pannini

Ali

It doesn’t line up.

I haven’t added to the new prop. Yet

I’m picking up a roll of film

Ali Jamalzadeh

Small carrot juice

No Talking Tuesdays #2

I’m sorry to report that my second no talking Tuesday
was a tragic failure…

I was hoping to go years before breaking my no talking oath,
and I only managed to go a week. : (

I wore my helmet again (white one this time)
After work I decided to go to the gym to swim.

Of course I couldn’t wear my helmet in the water.
So doing stretches by the side of the pool,
(Without my helmet reminder),
I accidentally said out-loud “Thanks”
to the guy getting out the pool,
Whereby freeing a lane for me.

I immediately realized my mistake,
and was so mad,
I forced myself to swim all my laps without a break.
(Oddly enough,
I never finished with less fatigue or cramping.
Maybe because I started riding my fixie
and developed more leg strength?)

As if that wasn’t enough,
afterwards, when I got changed in the locker room
I checked my voicemail
and again without thinking (still no helmet)
I returned a call to my cousin
Saying I was available to get dinner.

This time I was less mad than flabbergasted at myself,
I just spent the last half hour angrily swimming
thinking of how stupid I had been to break my oath
And here I did it again.

But when we met for dinner,
it was no-talking business as usual.

Oh well.
I’ll be more on guard in the coming weeks.

*NOTE
During dinner, my cousin got frustrated with my no-talking
and snatched my writing pad to force me to speak.
I wrote on my napkin until she returned my pad
A few minutes later.

But I forgot the napkin at the restaurant!
Luckily I remembered most all of what I wrote
And in what order, but there are still probably
A few lines missing from this weeks list.

The List

Joe’s anti piracy?

Falafel pita
Water (bottle)

Which Zelda?

The I-max screens are more

So what do you call that?

The back of that woman’s
head/neck is totally
seducing me.

I need resolution : (

You’re dressed like a communist

So I finished the diffuse and
normal texture, what should
I name it?

That was epic

You down with M83?

Electronic music
He’s French, shame on you

So I forgot when I called
you back, I betrayed
my oath…

Im not talking today

But I can write

What are you craving?

Forget it, ill cook when
I get home

I have food at home. Its ok.
Don’t tadouf (farsi)

Do you want to smooch him?

Every Tuesday = no talking Tuesday
…
Forever

Use this opportunity to expound
At great length what’s
On your mind

Large tortilla soup please

You can get your elaborate salad here

The waitress has a be-witching swagger

Truer words were never spoken

Your being very L.A. right now >:(

It’s a respectable occupation
But I bet you could aim higher

Doctor?

You just graduated

Dentistry/orthodontics

Maybe owning a small business

Whore house

Why do you know so many Asian virgins?

I totally would, but im only
attracted to her swagger

I can’t stand it when bands cover “twist and shout”

Beatles

John Lennon recorded his vocals
in one take. The most famous
vocal take in recording music history
or so ive read

Your distress, amuses me

Borders still?