Five Things on Thursday #2

Buy the tee from TSHIRTBORDELLO

It's Thursday again! And because I, a) love the sound of my own voice (like the look of my own words?) and, b) will most definitely go crazy if I don't keep writing, here's my second go at this weekly round-up malarky.
This week was brought to you by the letter 'M' (for monsters), awesome graphic novels and body growths with adult/baby mutations inside them. Of course.


1. It's all about the money:

It feels like only yesterday that people were doubting crowdfunding and the general public's willingness to help bring others' projects to life. Now, everyone's bloody doing it! This week, I came across a total, thieving nutter who claims the sun (yes, that yellow fire ball in the sky - sorry England) has forbidden her from using donations to complete the intended project - the perfect example of dirty specimens that could become the slow-gnawing downfall of crowdfunding. On a lighter note, I came across the delightfully curious James Curcio and his upcoming campaign for a potentially incredible transmedia experience. Also, my naughty friends over at Daddy Cross hit their blasphemy-endorsing target (and then some), which makes me happy. However, with two days still to go, you can still help these dudes make these shorts even more... exploit-y?

2. Things that go bump in the night:

This week, I fed my obsession with monsters. Monsters are awesome. The furry ones, the creepy ones, the Lovecraftian ones, monsters with one eye, monsters with tentacled faces and heads shaped like churches (seriously - also Pale Man's cousin is pretty slick too).

3. Good words:

I found new words to fall in love with, including Sophie Chamas's brilliantly written account of life in the Gulf over on The State. There was also this incredibly poignant review of Ales Kot's graphic novel, 'Wild Children' via Adam Rothstein - an excerpt, "Suddenly, I was not reading a comic book anymore- I was silently gliding down a VALIS beam, shot from a drone, illuminating a target I had not noticed before, despite the hours I spent pouring over satellite imagery of our contemporary cultural terrain." Woah. Read it all, here. Akram Foad Khater spoke to Jadaliyya about his new (and much needed) book about Christians in the Middle East and I was introduced to the gorgeously stacked archives of Coilhouse Magazine + Blog - check out this insane piece on REAL Ukrainian interrogation photographs.

4. I believe:

Not in the stupid ass 'Requiem for a Dream' montage, but that they will come:

5. Random:

Yes, more random than everything else on this list. First, this creepy (and fairly disgusting) clip from bizarre Japanese scifi/comedy, 'Funky Forest: The First Contact.' Equally as strange, here is a slideshow of David Bowie doing normal things. Highly disconcerting. 



Five Things on Thursday

My awesome friend, Tarek Es-bear, has adopted and adapted a new trend from the ever evolving digital hipster scene in the UK and introduced us to 'Five Things on Thursday.' Not unlike the roundups I've done in the past (like here, here and here), five things is meant to highlight the best of the best of your internet week.

So, I'm jumping on the numerical bandwagon (for this week at least) and recounting the top five videos/articles/one man Lord of the Rings shows, for your viewing pleasure:

 

1. Although I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and it is fairly old in internet terms, this short is pretty much one of the coolest, gutsiest and best made films I have seen thus far in 2012. Treading ever so lightly on a semi-apocalytpic, drug-induced mutation of a public announcement, check out 'The Gate' (dir. Matt Westrup).

2. You know those women, who are all (apparantly) about feminism, and girl power, not having kids and 'sticking it to the man'? Listen, I'm a Jordanian woman - if there ever was someone who was pro feminism, it would be me. But all this "marriage is crap" bullshit is ridiculous. Love is good, and personally, I'm a sucker for a good love story. Enter Jess & Russ and the latest example in this new, revamped online wedding invitation craze. It is LOVELY.

3. Film is what you make of it. Personal interpretation and value-systems dictate the success of a feature - alongside production prowess, budgets and execution, of course. In the past year, I've been exposed to some B-movies I would have never touched had I not made the friends I have. Although many of these are (putting it lightly) not my cup of tea (enter 'Green Slime'),  I have always respected the love some have for the genre. Although I could easily label some as sweaty jockstraps of an excuse for film, I don't, because a) that's mean, and b) I'm on this new zen diet where I try not to get worked up. Long story short, I know not everyone loved 'The Avengers', but I did and it is a wonderful two hours of escapism, alongside everything else (almost) that Marvel Comics have ever done. So here are a bunch of awesome geeks (including me - plug *cough* plug) talking about their favourite Marvel characters, embarassing photos included.

4. I love Guillermo del Toro. SO MUCH. So this week, I found i) a faun... having lunch... and, ii) Hellboy looking sad. Also, although James Cameron is meant to be producing, it appears 'At the Mountains of Madness' has been put on hold (thanks 'Prometheus'). Save it by joining the petition, here.
Note: Cameron lost one of the 'Pan's Labyrinth' notebooks that del Toro gifted him. Nice going, Jimmy.

Lunching faun

 

Image courtesy of Pacman on DeviantArt

5. The final link for this, my inaugural 'Five Things on Thursday' post, is courtesy of my 'Daddy Cross' friends who show us how NOT to do a crowdfunding video call-out. And Evrim Ersoy should reconsider a career in comedy.

My Goodies, My Goodies

No, not boobs, internet goodies. Sorry.

The first of said goodies comes in the form of Aussie hip hop band, Joelistics and their incredible crowdsourced video for single 'Heart Remains' taken from their brilliant album, Voyager. Ch-ch-check the Australian magic:

Second, comes the glorious workings of one of Jordan's most promising talents, Mike Derderian. I came across Mike's work via Twitter and have literally been hanging round his profile like a fangirl ever since. Refreshing, intelligent scifi-based satire and more. Check out his first fanzine, 'Panels', here:

Open publication - Free publishing - More amman

Finally, puh-leeease:

a) Vote for the wonderful Niam Etany and her super short 'Super.Full' in Youtube's 'Your Film Festival'. The film is beautiful in its honesty and lack of any pretentiousness, telling the true story of the richest country in the world, through the eyes of the less fortunate. Check out Sir Ridley Scott's video message here and follow the prompts to VOTE.

b) Support a project that's a little different and give the naughty 'Daddy Cross' kids over at Sponsume something to smile about. If you're silly and overtly sensitive and don't like British exploitation (uh, what's wrong with you?) and gore, then don't click on the link. Just sayin'.