June 2008
Devo’s Mongoloid
Did you know they’re touring again?
Get Disappointed By Someone New
In honor of Barack Obama’s rejection of campaign finance, support for FISA and, most recently, his denouncing the Supreme Court decision to reject the death penalty for child rape, linking to this bumper sticker by Edge of the American West seems like the only appropriate measure.
(All proceeds go to the Obama campaign.)
The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner
This is a clip from one of my favorite Herzog documentaries, The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner. It’s about Walter Steiner, the world-class Olympic ski-flying champion from Switzerland, who is also a talented carpenter.
Sometimes Herzog’s documentaries feel somewhat forced and inauthentic, as if Herzog is trying to make more out of them than what they really are, and his subjects seem to be aware of it (The White Diamond and How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck come to mind). In other cases, what he hopes to capture doesn’t live up to his expectations, such as La Soufrière. But usually Herzog succeeds in creating brilliant documentaries that feature captivating and inspiring subjects. Steiner is no exception, and the soundtrack by Popol Vuh has a kind of other-worldly sentiment that the best of Herzog’s films evoke.