a glaring oversight... Dawn read the blog AND COMMENTED!

for those of you who haven't tuned in recently, i completely overlooked an important moment in the space/time continuum of the the ad hoc project. an actual subject of a blog entry COMMENTED! according to wikipedia this occurs in nature only in remote parts of the globe. anyway i'm excited and i hope you are too. you can read it after the entry or i'm posting it below because it should be its own blog entry. (click here for the referenced entry)

Dawn said...

Adam,Ihave expanded my pop culture knowledge. I also enjoy the poetry of that little short dead dude, Tupac. I like his poetry except when he gets cutesy and uses 4 instead of for or u instead of You. I find that obnoxious. I do not like 50 Cent. I think he is a big worthless idiot and a horrible role model for kids. He said once that if he wasn't a rapper he would earn money selling crack. What an idiotic thing to say especially when young people listen to him. That is all for now. Oh, I told the kids at school the Busta Rhymes story the other day too. They just think I'm a weirdo. Dawn

i love it - ad hoc

The Ad Hypocrit inside of the Ad Hoc

hollywood is an evil, evil machine. over the course of the last 80 years, it has come to symbolize all that is wrong with the corporate attempt to subjugate and control the creation of culture and how it is distributed to the general public. over time its strength has become such that any film that doesn't fit into some sort of simplified genre is relegated to the so-called "independent" circuit (which, i might add, has also been subversively annexed by the major studios through their use of carefully named "independent" divisions.) as an amateur filmaker myself, i have to accept that any time i set foot in a major-studio-sponsored cineplex anywhere in the world, i am in effect acting directly against the chance that anything i ever make will have even the most remote chance of wide release.

why then, am i so fucking stoked by the concept of a 4th Indiana Jones film?

Hoc Cam 1.0

location: home
time: 21:46
hat: definitely unnecessary

Here we go with another ZANY edition of: "Dawn Halterman's Pop Culture 101"

as the title somewhat presumptuously presumes, i hope this will become some sort of serial mainstay of the ad hoc project, but if not, oh well.

anyway, the basis for the segment "Dawn Halterman's Pop Culture 101" happened one fine evening years ago at the Halterman residence in Phoenix, AZ.

(rose, forgive me if i'm telling this story wrong but i quote section 6, pararaph 5 of the Blog and Sedition Acts of 1783 (worded by Jefferson himself) "Oral tradition ain't exactly a high-fidelity telegraph and therefore it's veracity shalt naught be highly regarded. As for it's entertainment value, may the bullshyte of a thousand blog entries enrich thy soul tenfold!!!" and then it was passed in the newly-formed 2nd Continental Congress 38-2-1(abstention puerto rico), but i digress.)

so anyhow, One evening in early spring i was gathered with the Haltermans 'round the fire, o'er the hearth, 'nder ye old roof "kicking it old-school" as it were, and talking casually over the weeks events. i'd guess mr. halterman was there, as was rose, perhaps rose's brother andy, 2-3 golden retrievers, and finally mrs. halterman herself. over the the dull roar of a cubs game, rose and i were discussing the ins and outs of the hip-hopical genius of one of the lead members of the east-coast rap collective known as the Flipmode Squad, a.k.a. Busta Rhymes.
"that song gimmee some mo' kicks f--king ass," i may have exclaimed.
"fo sho," rose added, "and check this out, i figured out last week that the sample on that song is from the score to Hitchcock's Psycho." rose and i both highly regard Sir Alfred Hitchcock as the master, nye the god, nye the POPE of suspense. needless to say, we celebrate the man's entire catalog.
"no way!" thats awesome," i said.
"i know. any rapper that would sample from a Hitchcock film gets mad props in my book," rose said, or something to that effect.

and then suddenly, amidst our self-gratifying laughter, mrs. halterman, sitting across the room in another chair hits one right over our heads and out of left field...
"Busta Rhymes? YEAH!, I know Busta Rhymes! I like him...he's good," she says with a little more than a hint of chicago accent. rose and i are dead silent, and then we look at each other. rose speaks first.
"Ummm...ok. Mom, where did you see Busta Rhymes?"
"I saw him on TV," she quickly retorts. rose looks over at me. i will never be able to accurately describe in blog form the sort of naive but self-assured confidence of one mrs. halterman. you have to see it to believe it. the way she sort of passively participated in our conversation, piped in her two cents at the right moment, and then returned her attention back to the cubs game gave us every reason to believe that she was, in fact, well-aware of Busta Rhymes and moreover had been exposed enough to his work so as to develop an opinion of him. i give rose the "sure, why not?" look.

"Hmmmm, ok Mom. Yeah, we really like him too," rose says. And then feeling somehow defeated, we all sit there for another hour or so watching the cubs lose in silence.

And now the epilogue to this story and impetus for "The Ad Hoc Project presents: "Dawn Halterman's Pop Culture 101"" (followed by the first entry):

So later, upon playing a Busta Rhymes CD in the family stereo (during a short-lived but rousing session of "listen to gangsta rap with your parents") the truth was revealed. rose and i found out that mrs. halterman had actually mistaken Busta Rhymes for 80's faux-lounge-singer Buster Poindexter. the cd was promptly stopped, removed, and concealed. a session of laughter commenced.

So in tribute to this random but cherished story, i bring you the first installment of "The Ad Hoc Project presents: "Dawn Halterman's Pop Culture 101: Buster Poindexter vs. Busta Rhymes" wherein 2 subjects of popular culture linked only by some superfluous detail will be briefly examined and reported on in tandem:











Buster on the left, Busta on the right. so a lot of this stuff is from wikipedia but what isn't these days. Anyway, first i should note that these guys have quite a bit more in common than it may appear at first. Both work under pseudonyms, both are musicians, both are from new york, and both have acted. (i start to wonder if their agents ever kicked around the idea of a tour: Bustapalooza. they could really cover a lot of demographic territory.)

Buster Poindexter: real name David Johansen,
Born: Jan. 9, 1950 (that makes him 57)
Previous Bill: lead singer of the New York Dolls! I had no idea...theres been a resurgence of interest in the New York Dolls, an early NY punk band, and I really had no clue this was the same guy. wow. apparently after the Dolls broke up, he started this Buster Poindexter alter-ego touring and making several records as a trashy lounge singer (but somehow i remember the quality being higher than trashy, comments?)
The one-hit: remember that annoying-as-all-hell ditty "hot hot hot"? this was buster. he's even quoted as saying on NPR that the song was "the bane of my life". poor guy, but then if you're gonna waltz around with a pompidor doing shitty lounge music, you're asking for banity (is that a word?)
Most famous acting role: played the ghost of christmas past in Scrooged
Bacon number: 2
David Johansen was in Burnzy's Last Call (1995) with Carolyn McCormick
Carolyn McCormick was in Loverboy (2005) with Kevin Bacon

Busta Rhymes: real name Trevor Smith Jr.
Born: may 20, 1972 (he's 35), in brooklyn of jamaican heritage
Where "Busta" came from: Chuck D of public enemy gave him the name (i must say that would be cool to say chuck D named you.)
Phun Phact: hes a member of the "5 percent nation", an offshoot or sect within the nation of islam. check out this link...it's pretty wild stuff...mystic numbers and whatnot...wu-tang clan also has some members.
Most famous acting role: Rasaan in Shaft (with samuel l. jackson)
Bacon number: also a 2!
Busta Rhymes was in Shaft (2000) with John Elsen
John Elsen was in Loverboy (2005) with Kevin Bacon

and finally...i know whats on your mind: how many degrees seperate Buster from Busta. without further ado:
Busta Rhymes was in Who's the Man? (1993) with Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn was in Crooked Lines (2003) with David Johansen

only 2! i hope you've enjoyed the first installment of "The Ad Hoc Project presents: "Dawn Halterman's Pop Culture 101: Buster Poindexter vs. Busta Rhymes" good day.

"He's not stung, he's not stinging, he's STING!": a review of David Lynch's 1984 shitsterpiece Dune

let me pre-empt this by saying i love just about everything david lynch has touched. if you haven´t already explored the lynchian universe, i can only offer this to convince: his films are pure exercises in mood and atmosphere. plot is secondary to behavior, characterization, and circumstance (much like real life, i would say, even though at first the films appear to have nothing to do with reality). if you think you might be in to this, i would suggest going out and renting every lynch film except:

Dune (1984), based on the novel by Frank Herbert

so last saturday i'm in Saturn at Alexanderplatz (German equivalent of Best Buy) browsing the DVDs and i come across a section organized by director. the last DVD under David Lynch is a 2-disc set of Dune. i was very excited because Dune happens to be the only Lynch project i havent seen and at a sehr, sehr klein Preis of 4,99 Euro, i decided to hook it up. the thing about dune is that lynch ended up inflating the budget beyond belief ("i promise, i just need 50 grand for 2 tons of theatrical mucus, then thats it") and getting into a major creative conflict with those putting up the money. in the end there were several versions released including a theatrical version (endorsed by lynch) and a longer television version (not endorsed by the man).

so, i set up the projector, bought a 0,5L Czech Beer, a falafel im brot, and dove in.

the film starts with a young virginia madsen (paul giamatti's love interest in A. Payne's unexpectedly good film Sideways) as princess irulan explaining the premise of the film whilst fading in and out to star scenes and some pretty sweet graphics showing the planets in the dune universe (let's call it the 'duniverse'). it reminded me of the floating credits at the beginning of star wars. (it should be noted here that lynch was actually given the keys to Return of the Jedi and turned it down! talk about balls...) anyway, then the credits roll over shots of deserts. overall i really dig the intro. i like how lynch's directorial tools are pretty elementary, fading one image over another, in and out.

so basically in the duniverse you got a series of planets, the residents of which can't seem to live in harmony (standard sci-fi premise #3 on the list of the top 5 sci-fi premises). and on one particular planet, you got a precious spice called melange, which is capable of a number things including (although not limited to): causing a heightened state of consciousness, allowing for interstellar travel, and in general making everybody who gets within 2 meters of it a little bit loony. i think its a metaphor for television.

so anyhow the emperor wants to set a trap and pit several of the races in the duniverse against each other so he publicly hands control of the spice mining from the Harkonnens (led by this wacky mutated baron and his wackier nephews, one of which is played by Sting i kid you not.) to the Atreidis led more or less by a potential chosen-one named Paul (played by Kyle Showgirls MacLachlan).

at this point i'm thinking "ok, although the plot is a bit over-complicated and a bit standard really, there is still loads of potential here for the typical sci-fi blockbuster".

where does lynch go with it? somewhere else. after the credits, we're basically taken on a slow paced tour through incredibly detailed worlds where not so much happens but people dress up in amazing costumes and walk through intricately designed palaces and caverns. very kubrick-esque. but it is this characteristic that makes it a textbook shitsterpiece. i even slept a half an hour sometime after Paul meets up with the Fremen. and when i awoke i was able to fold myself right back into the film as though nothing had happened. it was mindblowing, as if i was on melange.

also, evidently the characters in this film have in fact NOT lost their inner monologue (due to the unfreezing process) and therefore periodically we get to hear such insightful voiceovers as, "i wonder why he would do that." or, "why am i feeling this?" i guess they felt Kyle just couldn't pull off a "why am i feeling this?" facial expression.

the thing about all this, however, is that despite its virtual lack of mainstream appeal, i love it because it is chock full of the standard david lynch preoccupations such as b-movie special effects, hideous floating booger-like creatures, sexual ambiguity, fringe behaviors, and rock stars. thats right, lynch likes casting rock stars. from marilyn manson in lost highway to david bowie in twin peaks, and in this case to Sting... so Sting plays one of the baron's goofy nephews and he acts his little heart out and in one lynch-esque scene, the baron is floating around this smoking chamber and giggling gaily about something going on inside. when the baron is distracted, the fun stops and the "object" in the chamber comes out:

we all do things from time to time that maybe we shouldn't have. on the other hand, i might do something like this if david lynch asked me to. in any case, i give the film 3.5 stars. the bottom line is: the film is virtually unwatchable but quite fun to sort of look at whilst eating cheap food. nevertheless a shitsterpiece. plus you got sting in this get-up. and sandworms.

i guess this wasn't much of a film review but rather a review of the experience of watching a film. i'm ok with that. i hope you are too. OR, perhaps it was just a vehicle for posting an image of a hug-seeking Sting wearing an art-deco-wing-tip thong.

a wordological wordism: "shitsterpiece"

so wordological wordisms is basically just going to be a cut-rate version of "nerd words" from Bloda's blog (see link bottom right) where a term that may or may not show up in a subsequent entry of the blog may or may not be defined. anyway...here we go with the first one:

shitsterpiece (auf deutsch: Scheißterstück)

1. the top of the bottom.

2. so bad it might be good.

3. a glorious, shimmering, 4000-story towering inferno of regret and embarrassment.

4. wiping a really dirty ass with a winning $300-million-dollar lottery ticket (such that it is soiled beyond recognition and thus cannot be redeemed)

prerequisites:

1. must be some sort of genius (artistic, scientific, political, etc...)

2. must have either produced a masterpiece or at least have the potential to

examples:

Tim Burton:

masterpiece: Pee Wee's Big Adventure

shitsterpice: Planet of the Apes remake

George Lucas:

masterpiece: Star Wars 4-6

shitsterpice: Star Wars 1-3

United States:

masterpiece: New York

shitsterpiece: Texas

the ad hoc project is conceived (and what the purpose of this blog might be)

so under the premise of division-angst (see first blog entry), the ad hoc project was born. the name itself combines my first name with a term used to describe impromptu and often improvisational processes undertaken to serve specific purposes. somehow this title seems like an appropriate heading for a life, and in this case, a blog.

the life element:
the ad hoc project will encompass all of my various exploits, thoughts, endeavors, experiences, ideas, and interests.

the blog element:
in my search for the ultimate means of internet self-representation i've come to the conclusion that the best solution for me is to create the website that i seek. once again, this can be found here. while this is being developed, i will continue to maintain my other extensions at myspace and facebook, as well as this blog. so, consider this blog the central nervous system of the ad hoc project where i will attempt to register and record my thoughts regarding anything.

the YOU element:
if YOU are reading this, YOU are now part of the ad hoc project. i encourage YOU to further involve YOURSELF in the ad hoc project by leaving comments or complaints about the blog or anything YOU are inspired to say. the broad scope of this blog may or may not make it consistenly interesting or even coherent. the beauty of the ad hoc project is that it really doesn't care.

that said, please enjoy (or not)!

the struggle against division...

i'm having issues. i would like to present myself online using one (1) media-rich website and I don't think a site exists at the moment that can help me pull this off. as of today, i have my own personal website (www.theadhocproject.com), a myspace profile, a facebook profile, and now (which I guess is kind of a step backwards) a blogger.com blog. at first, myspace seemed like the best solution. i can blog, post links, provide in-depth personal information, and provide photos. but what if i make short videos and home-made music too? "adam", says myspace, "you can have a musician profile and/or a film maker profile as well!" but i dont want to have 3 goddamn profiles. i am one person that works in a variety of media and i want to present myself as such. i don't want to be split into parts. i am one (1).

i understand that this phenomenon tends to pervade life in general and might even be in our nature. we are reductive. we like to classify and simplify to make things easier to grasp. now, i cannot commit the fallacy of excluding myself from this behavior. this "breaking down" of life definitely makes it more manageable. i'm even doing it now as i try to translate my thoughts into these typographic characters. however, i tend to believe that harmony exists somewhere as a series of balances. balances between hot and cold, fast and slow, and, in this case, the small and the large scale. so consider my plight as some extra weight in the other side of the scale, trying to hold its own against the massive chunk of stone that is trying to break us into our component parts.