Rescue us Roro

Katie Cruel...

2010-10-02T20:08:00.001+02:00

Roro is being redesigned, but in the meantime here's an amazing piece of music, it's been on endless repeat since I first discovered it...

Love,

Jules

Feathered Love...

2010-09-29T14:36:00.000+02:00

Hey guys, we're still working away at a new design for Roro, now that I finished the design on my new blog www.featheredlove.com, I can focus most of my energy back on Roro. We're about halfway through and hopefully the new design will be online by next week.

Ny new blog Feathered Love is all about healthy and green living, filled with recipes and all sorts of stuff, let me know what you think...

Love,

Jules

New Design...

2010-09-24T23:08:00.002+02:00

Rescue Us Roro will be undergoing design changes in the next couple of days, so updates will be slow...

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: McBess

2010-09-23T11:51:00.003+02:00

McBess drawing live on a wall for one of his exhibitions. I really love how this guy does his illustrations.

He also has a music band called The Dead Pirates for which he combines his style with the wonders of 3D animation.

The Beauty Of Data Visualization

2010-09-21T12:21:00.002+02:00

a really interesting view at approaching data by David McCandless. Definitely worth a moment of your time.

-Brun

Animation Thursday: Concept Art for The Fantastic Mr.Fox

2010-09-16T14:45:00.002+02:00

It's been a while since this one came out, but I personally loved it, so as a reminder of this lovely film here's some concept art. The concept art is by illustrator Chris Appelhans. I think I will dig up some of my issues of Dazed and Confused, there was an article on this film in one of them.

You can check the rest of the artwork over here

Fantastic Mr. Fox from One Scene on Vimeo.

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: The Eagleman Stag

2010-09-16T08:32:00.000+02:00

The Eagleman Stag - Trailer from Michael Please on Vimeo.

An amazing trailer for the the animation film 'The Eagleman Stag' by Animator Michael Please

The Eagleman Stag - Set Instillation from Michael Please on Vimeo.

As well as a look behind the scenes, a little set up for a recent screening

Love,

Jules

It Might Get Loud

2010-09-15T17:46:00.003+02:00

In addition to Jules latest post I would like to add these two small parts from the movie "It Might Get Loud". I really love how passionate and simple Jack is about his music, really inspiring.

-Brun

Sliding Down...

2010-09-14T15:45:00.000+02:00

Stumbled upon this...How can you not love that energy, seriously people surrendering to their art feels honest and true to oneself...

Love,

Jules

Death Letter Blues

2010-09-14T08:38:00.000+02:00

You just have to listen to Son House

He touches your soul

...

Love,

Jules

Balthazar

2010-09-13T15:31:00.000+02:00

Balthazar is a young Belgian group who made a killer debut album, I don't think that there's a track on 'Applause' that I don't like. So have a listen, you can buy their album on itunes...

Love,

Jules

Looking To The Old...

2010-09-13T08:24:00.000+02:00

Hygeia 1900 - 1907 by Gustav Klimt

Current Musical Obsession...Erik Satie

...

Love,

Jules

Someone Left The Bathtub Running

2010-09-12T11:14:00.005+02:00

Grinderman 2, the second studio album by Grinderman (Martyn Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Jim Sclavunos) will be released in a few days. I'm a big fan of of their debut album and can't wait to hear what they've come up with this time. Judging from the absurd video clip above its gonna be a great album.

I'll probably post some more on Grinderman after the CD is released.

-Brun

Let Me In

2010-09-12T08:45:00.001+02:00

I'm not sure about this one, I really liked the original and however much I might like Cloe Moretz as an actress she doesn't come close to the darkness portrayed by Lina Leandersson in the original. I'm pretty sure that the american version left the whole ambiguity over eli's sex and made her a girl. Anyway I won't know for sure until I see it, here's the trailer from the original to remind you of how dark and amazing it was...

Love,

Jules

Hobo Blues

2010-09-11T10:05:00.000+02:00

So very into blues and the roots of...well most music out there

...

First video was found through Teenangster

Second I discovered on the Mojo Compilation Bad Seeds: Nick Cave, roots and collaborations

...

As always Enjoy

...

Love,

Jules

Stephen Jones x MoMu

2010-09-10T08:53:00.000+02:00

Millinery in action: making a hat in the Stephen Jones workroom from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

The Fashion Museum in Antwerp has just opened a new exhibition and it is all about hats and millinery Stephen Jones. The video above shows the remarkable process of how one of his creations are made.

Expect more Stephen Jones, since I'll be researching to prepare for guiding at MoMu

...

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: Le Royaume

2010-09-09T16:24:00.004+02:00

Impressive work from some of the students of the Gobelins School in Paris.

Follow the link for some stills and a making off:

http://aymrc.blogspot.com/

-Brun

Animation Thursday: A Dual

2010-09-09T15:32:00.000+02:00

Another short from bird box studio, love these little sketches

...

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: I'll Get The Ice Creams

2010-09-09T11:45:00.002+02:00

A sketchy look at family life: Daddy's on childcare duty while mummy gets the ice creams

a lovely short by bird box studio

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: The Lighthouse Keeper

2010-09-09T08:13:00.000+02:00

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER from THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER team on Vimeo.

A short 2D animation film to start Animation Thursday with

...

We're looking into creating a proper site for Roro, as well as a complete new design, so things might slow down a bit.

Love,

Jules

Josh x Dazed

2010-09-08T14:01:00.004+02:00

Hey guys, we just got back from France, things will be a bit slow this week, lots of projects to get back to, so be patient...

As for the video it gives an insiders view of the Pink Duck studios that Josh Homme founded...enjoy

love,

Jules

Draw Or Die

2010-09-07T11:00:00.004+02:00

"DRAW OR DIE" MADE SYMPOSIUM JUNE 17th-20th 2010 from SIXMOREVODKA on Vimeo.

A short film documenting the MADE SYMPOSIUM, for more info on this event and all the talented people that were part of it visit:

http://www.sixmorevodka.com/

-Brun

Color Challenge

2010-08-21T21:30:00.001+02:00

Here's a great way to see how good your eyes are with colors!

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

-Brun

Black Swan

2010-08-20T09:56:00.001+02:00

The metamorphosis-like transition has definitely peeked my interest, can't wait for it to come out

...

Love

Jules

The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello

2010-08-19T14:52:00.003+02:00

Jasper Morello is a short feature made in a unique style of silhouette animation developed by director Anthony Lucas and inspired by the work of authors Edgar Alan Poe and Jules Verne.

I've watched this short movie over and over the first time I discovered it about a year and a half ago. I still watch it every now and then simply because of its unique style and the way it manages to surprise me time and time again.

-Brun

Animation Thursday: Alma

2010-08-19T13:24:00.000+02:00

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Love

Jules

Animation Thursday: Nocturna

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000+02:00

Oh this little beauty is definitely worth a watch, the world comes to life when the sun goes down.

Love,

Jules

1000 Tentacle

2010-08-18T17:04:00.002+02:00

Amazing illustration from 1000Tentacle. More on his blog http://behind1000tentacles.blogspot.com/

-Brun

The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died

2010-08-18T13:02:00.000+02:00

Amazing song by Queens of The Stone Age, this version is live and from the dvd 'Over The Years and Through The Woods'

...

The studio version is slightly more intense

Love

Jules

Sympathy For The Devil

2010-08-17T18:20:00.002+02:00

Found on another Mojo Compilation, this one is on Stoned, an anniversary tribute to The Rolling Stones

...

Love

Jules

Don't Drink Poison

2010-08-16T21:43:00.002+02:00

Amazing song, if you like Queen's of The Stone Age, you should definitely check out the Desert Sessions albums. Josh Homme started the Desert Session in 1997, it's a collective of musicians that come together simply for the sake of playing music and nothing else...

Artists such as Brant Bjork, PJ Harvey, Alain Johannes, ... and many others have contributed to the sessions

Love

Jules

Good Times, Bad Times...

2010-08-14T08:13:00.000+02:00

The latest issue of Mojo contains 15 original blues classics that inspired Robert Plant, Nick Cave, Kings of Leon, The White Stripes, .... This one is definitely a good one, just look the Tom Waits Issue it has packed with amazing songs, that teaches you so much about all the music that came after.

unfortunately you can't find everything online, so can't share everything that I want...Anyway go out and buy the latest issue of Mojo, aside from great songs there's an entire magazine filled with interviews and music, definitely worth its money...

Love

Jules

Carnivàle

2010-08-13T08:00:00.000+02:00

Carnivàle had only two seasons and ended quite abrupt, but those two seasons were brilliant and the effort and time that was spent in building the Carnivàle world was definitely worth it.

So enjoy these clips and why not pick up a copy of the show, you won't regret it

...

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: The Secret of Kells

2010-08-12T16:58:00.000+02:00

The secret of Kells from pandaleina on Vimeo.

The Secret Of Kells - This Is My Forest-Uncom from Cartoon Saloon on Vimeo.

This one is just another beauty that not a lot of people know about, but Brun's got a knack for finding good animation...

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: Gluko And Lennon

2010-08-12T13:00:00.000+02:00

Gluko & Lennon ENG from Gluko & Lennon on Vimeo.

Animatic G&L from Gluko & Lennon on Vimeo.

first animation test animatic from Gluko & Lennon on Vimeo.

Great animation found on Vimeo

-Brun

Animation Thursday: Hungu

2010-08-12T08:00:00.004+02:00

Hungu

Nicolas Brault

To start of Animation Thursday, I thought we'd begin with this little gem by Nicolas Brault. The film was made by using a combination of sand animation and digital 2D, you can watch the process below.

Love,

Jules

Buck Antlers

2010-08-11T20:09:00.002+02:00

Some photos I took at the rehearsals for Buck Antlers, Brun's band, you can check the rest at my Diary page on my site...

Love

Jules

Out of Sync

2010-08-11T08:05:00.000+02:00

Out of Sync and Out of Place

...

Twisted and surreal-like

...

www.barbaraigongini.dk

Love

Jules

I'll put a move on you...

2010-08-10T09:47:00.000+02:00

UNTITLED 2009 from Rohan Thomas on Vimeo.

Love,

Jules

Happiness is...

2010-08-09T16:26:00.004+02:00

A four-year-old dangling from your arms

...

Meet Charlie, super cute, super active and innocent. He laughs and giggles non stop when you play with him, which is very infective, you can't get in a bad mood with this little guy, you can however get very very tired.

A day at the park with a Holga, a roll of film, Brun, Erin and Charlie

Something that brought a smile on my face today was lunch at Le Pain Quotidien with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while. Lunch was grilled vegies with quinoa, humous and red beets, delicious, I savored every bite.

Saw True Blood and my, things are stepping up, last couple of episodes have been getting really good and the end is getting near. I will probably write a review at the end of the season.

Love,

Jules

La Cité Des Enfants Perdus

2010-08-08T15:19:00.001+02:00

Before I discovered my love for illustration I was always looking for a good story. I loved good stories because I was always able to see them happening thanks to my imagination. After seeing La cité des enfants perdus and its amazing art direction I felt the need to show other people the pictures I saw in my head when I was reading or when I heard a story. This eventually led me to making my own illustrations. It goes without saying that the visual art direction of La cité des enfants perdus played a big role in my own illustrations and the style that I try to develop.

I would like to recommend this movie to everyone remotely interested in being creative, for more info on the movie click here.

Trailer

Main Theme

-Brun

Heart Shaped Box

2010-08-06T08:26:00.000+02:00

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: Electrabel

2010-08-05T17:00:00.000+02:00

A commercial by Electrabel that ran around New Year 2009, below is the making of, it's in french and dutch, with french and dutch subtitles, even if you don't understand what's being said, it's still quite interesting to watch. They used a total of 288.000 candles.

Love,

Jules

Animation Thursday: a record of life

2010-08-05T13:00:00.001+02:00

A Record Of Life from Owen Gatley and Luke Jinks on Vimeo.

A short animation loosely based on the scientific recording of life's great species. And how this has given us clues that piece together, for us to discover the secrets of the evolution and diversity of life on Earth.

Love,

Jules

The Dreamers

2010-08-04T08:59:00.000+02:00

The Dreamers directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

Love,

Jules

It's kind of a funny story...

2010-08-03T13:21:00.000+02:00

Looking forward to this little one, it's nice to see Keir Gilchrist, outside of United States of Tara. I like Emma Roberts, because she's made a nice mix of movies (some blockbusters, some alternatives one, as well as a bit more teen oriented movies) and after watching Zach Galifianakes in several movies, he's sorta grown on me...

Lymelife, one of the alternative movies Emma Roberts was in

Love,

Jules

Milk It...

2010-08-03T09:09:00.000+02:00

Love,

Jules

Hussein Chalayan

2010-08-02T11:15:00.003+02:00

Interval from FLY16x9 on Vimeo.

Read an article on Hussein Chalayan recent exhibition in Tokyo 'From Fashion and Back'

Love,

Jules

Timothy J Lamb

2010-08-02T08:55:00.000+02:00

Art Work by Timothy J Lamb

Love,

Jules

Chariot Choogle

2010-08-01T22:04:00.002+02:00

Rehearsal version from 1974

Love,

Jules

Dancing Days

2010-08-01T08:45:00.000+02:00

When I first heard this song, I thought wow Queens, well more along the lines Queens loves Zeppelin as well

...

Love,

Jules

Skhizein

2010-07-31T12:16:00.002+02:00

It took me over half an hour to find this little film, I saw it months ago, somewhere in winter and yesterday close to midnight I started thinking about it and I just had to find it. All I could remember that it was french and animation, not a lot to go on, but close to that half-hour in, I remembered the meteorite and than I found it almost instantly.

It won the Kodak Short Film Award at Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Skhizein was animated, directed and written by Jérémy Clapin.

Love,

Jules

Allan Sekula at FoMu

2010-07-30T14:10:00.002+02:00

Ship of Fools

The M HKA Platform

at FoMu

Allan Sekula - Ship of Fools - interview by Grant Watson (M HKA) from M HKA on Vimeo.

I have to say in the beginning I wasn't very interested in the exhibition, however I have to guide over 20 people in the Allan Sekula exhibition, so I thought it best to get interested. It's not that I don't like the exhibition, it's just that it doesn't lie in my immediate field of interest. But after reading the essay and watching the video, I can look at the exhibition in a different way and appreciate it more. I did meet Allan Sekula, but unfortunately there had been a major fight between the guides at the meeting before and tensions where too high to really focus on what he was saying. Anyway I hope my guiding on sunday does his work credit.

Love,

Jules

This Lullaby

2010-07-30T08:23:00.000+02:00

I've always preferred this version over the cd one, kinda wish Josh sang on the cd version as well

...

Love,

Jules

6 Breaths

2010-07-29T12:17:00.000+02:00

Love,

Jules

Mikaylah Bowman

2010-07-29T09:04:00.000+02:00

Photos by Mikaylah Bowman

Love,

Jules

I never came...

2010-07-28T21:03:00.002+02:00

Lullabies to paralyze is by far my favorite Queens cd

twisted fairy tales and haunting lullabies

...

Love,

Jules

Hedi Slimane

2010-07-27T10:23:00.000+02:00

Found on Hedi Slimane's Diary

Love,

Jules

La Cité Des Enfants Perdus

2010-07-26T19:00:00.003+02:00

-Brun

Someone's in the wolf...

2010-07-26T18:29:00.000+02:00

When I first heard this song I got so much ideas and a story that flowed out of it, I ended up putting that story into a bigger story I'm working on called 'The Others'

...

Love,

Jules

Kint

2010-07-24T18:56:00.000+02:00

Brun joined Roro again, thought it was a bit slow with just me, I also didn't really know in which direction I wanted to take it, so I reckoned 2 heads are better than one...

So first couple of posts will probably be us trying to figure out what to post about. I don't know if you guys read something on my blog about the name Brun and I chose for our collaborations, but if you didn't here it is again.

Kint

We'll be designing tattoos, comics, short stories, jewelry, ...

We got a few people together who want to get inked with our designs, which is lovely as soon as we got some designs and final results, we can share and you can drop us a line for your custom tattoo as well.

One of those people is a lovely girl named Zoé, we met today at one of my favorite shops 'Step by Step' she works there and designs clothes (which is awesome)

Love,

Jules & Brun

Summer Leisure...

2010-07-08T14:28:00.000+02:00

What I have been doing lately

...

Tearing down wallpaper, pulling back carpet and bashing away at furniture

and

finding a few old treasures in my dad's old place

...

Love,

Jules

Soliloquy 88

2010-06-20T12:37:00.000+02:00

Soliloquy 88 from Hintmag.com on Vimeo.

Found through TwistedLamb

...

Love,

Jules

My Death...

2010-05-23T11:02:00.000+02:00

I'm working on 'The Journal of Samuel Blackburn' and music is always a good inspiration source. Here's a small excerpt of my playlist

...

Love,

Jules

No Barrier Fun

2010-05-16T14:30:00.000+02:00

I really liked the Rodarte - Spring/Summer '10 look, it had this very post-apocalyptic feeling to it and a very nice mix of materials and the way they were put together. That put together with the tribal tattoos MAC provided made it complete for me. Some photos of the show made it's way into my sketchbook as you can see above.

I like the abstract colour in the beginning and the ending, as well as the water scenes

...

One of my latest music discoveries are Liars, I found them through the Dazed March issue, their music takes a bit of getting used, but I like it

...

Love,

Jules

A place to call home...

2010-05-10T11:57:00.000+02:00

Today, I want to show you some bits and pieces of my place, maybe it will help to speed up my spring cleaing, so I can actually show the rest of the place. I'm really proud of my place, I do complain a lot about the lack of space (I do own a lot of stuff), but all in all it's a great place, filled with tons of inspiration...

The first photo is of my hallway and stairs, the radiator is plastered with images, Inspiration is more important then having heat in my hallway. Some masks from south Africa, that my mom brought back with her a couple of years ago, some booklets and little things and a book with work from Richard Avedon.

My place is filled with plants, the one in this picture is one that needs little care and very unlikely to die on me. I have a rooftop and a kitchen filled with growing herbs and vegetables, it is a great feeling to pick your own salad and herbs straight from the container.

I've been living here for almost two years and I'm almost finished with buying everything my little place needs. One of my latest purchases are these towels, napkins and placemats from Kathy Mellor. They have a very homey and warm feeling to them.

And as soon as I get the rest of my place sorted out a.k.a. spring cleaning I'll put pictures up

...

And Some more music from Charlotte Gainsbourg

Love,

Jules

Roro's changing + Black + Charlotte Gainsbourg

2010-05-08T18:20:00.000+02:00

I've decided to take Roro in a slightly different direction, mostly with the function of updating more often. It will be things that inspire + reviews, instead of just reviews.

First of I wanted to share a film by Gareth Pugh and Nick Knight that plays on repeat in the MoMu exhibition Black: Masters of Black in Fashion and Costume. Before I post my review on the Black exhibition I feel like I need to think about it some more, I mean I know a lot about the exhibition, otherwise I wouldn't be able to guide at the MoMu, but I haven't figured out yet how I feel about it, just need to absorb it some more.

I can keep looking at this video of Gareth Pugh, stills of this film in the april (I think it was april) issue of Dazed and Confused 2009 are the reason I fell in love with his designs in the first place.

The other film is a collaboration between Gareth Pugh and Ruth Hogben, the inspiration was ink

I am totally in love with Charlotte Gainsbourg latest record, IRM, so I leave you with some of her music.

...

Love,

Jules

Lomo Workshop at FoMu

2010-04-17T14:49:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, we gave the first Lomo workshop at FoMu. Lomography gave us several Diana F+, Diana Mini and Fisheye II to experiment with. Sabina and I gave the workshop and in total 20 people attended, which in hindsight is a bit too much people for a workshop if you want things to run smoothly. We started of by introducing Lomo and what the benefits of each camera were, after that we gave everyone their cameras and the grand adventure of loading film, especially 120 film can be difficult if you're using it for the first time.After everyone had a camera loaded with film we went outside and gave everyone their assignments and most importantly to just shoot and have fun.

The assignments

- First Picture had to be an identification photo, so everyone could recognize their developed photos right away.

- For their second assignment everyone had to go looking for a special place (the idea behind this assignment was to look where you normally wouldn't look)

- Third assignment was a series assignment, we told them to look for a specific colour or object and make a series of photos of their chosen subject.

- Fourth assignment was all about action, either take a photo of someone or something moving or move yourself or the camera around.

After the assignments and lunch I took the photos to the developers and then we had to keep everyone busy until the photos were ready. We did this by guiding in the exhibition, Sabina thought them how the dark room worked, while I thought some ground rules on visual art and the evolution of photography.

Around the afternoon we took the whole group to the developers as we got to see the result of our endeavors. All in all we had loads of fun, we learned a lot about how to improve the workshop as well. Only thing that we were really disappointed about was the fact that 5 cameras were stolen, as well as a couple of accessories.

We're repeating the workshop in the summer vacation, I'll post the dates and details as soon as I get them.

In the spirit of our Lomo workshop, why don't you go out and snap away

...

Love,

Jules

James Jean signing at La Librairie/Galerié Brüsel

2009-11-21T13:27:00.000+01:00

Maze. Mixed Media on Paper, 29 x 41", 2008

On Wednesday Brun and I went to Brussels to go to a James Jean signing at Brüsel. We arrived a bit after two, walked around for a little while, grabbed something to eat and proceeded to Brüsel. The signing hours had changed instead of signing from three till six, he’d be signing from four till seven.

Artist Edition of Hint Mint by James Jean.

So we looked around for a bit longer, till four o’ clock rolled around, bought the Kindling print book, got a number and waited for our turn, even though about thirty odd people showed up we had to wait for a long while. Lucky for us some friends of ours were there as well, so the time went by pretty quickly.

Then it was my turn to get my book signed, I talked a bit to James Jean, about where I was from and what I did, asked him some stuff in return and wanting to say something not art related I told him that I liked his hair, he’d grown it out, which looked a lot cooler then his short hair. I guess the hair comment was something he didn’t get on most occasions, because he acted a bit shy in response. All in all it was a fun day and really nice to meet one of my favourite artists.

Hare/Bindle. Oil on Rives BFK, 22 x 30" each , 2008

James Jean used to design the covers for the Fables Comics, he quit the project after designing 81 covers for the comics and several covers for the collected volumes. Fables is a comic book series about fairy tale characters living in our world after seeking refuge from their own world which has been taken over by The Adversary.

He worked for several other brands including a collaboration with Prada (see video below) he started out by designing several illustrations for the brand which ended up on clothes and accesoires. Other brands James Jean has worked for include TIme Magazine, The New York Times, Hint Mint, Rolling Stone and many more. After working as an illustrator James Jean is now working more for himself and has drifted over into fine arts.

Love,

Jules

Michiel Hendryckx - Rambling across Europe

2009-10-11T21:11:00.000+02:00

"Only by wandering do you get to know a city, a country, a continent."

The exhibition of Michiel Hendryckx at the FoMu is the result of three years of travelling through Europe. He undertook the journey on his own mostly by car and on foot, going back to places he had discovered earlier and discovering new places.

All of the photos in the exhibition are black and white, they were taken with a Nikon camera, he used a Nikon D200, D300, D700 and most of the photos were taken with a 50mm lens. He used this kind of lens because it’s closest to representing reality and also tells something about the way a photographer sees his subject.

Although he likes the Fomu, what he doesn’t like is the big open space it provides, he prefers to show his photos on a small format, because he believes that the format can sometimes take away from the photo itself, therefore the room in which his photos are presented was made smaller by building several smaller rooms in the middle of the exhibition room. The rooms were painted in colours that are based on Goethe colour theory. By creating these smaller rooms he hopes to create a more intimate atmosphere, which suit his photos more then a large room could ever do.

I personally feel that by taking a subject such as a daily life in Europe, he was able to create very intimate portraits, true to the place where they were taken. He explained something about the several layers that are present in a photo he took in Norway. The photo is of a mother and her daughters celebrating their national holiday. One layer he described was the very profound pride these people carry for their country and how it was very honest and beautiful in a way.

He also talked about his own love for his country, like the love you feel for a child and how he loves the strange and quirky things that make our country unique.

One of the photos he took was of a man he met in Settle, England. Hendryckx was fascinated by the tattoos he had on his back. He asked the man’s permission to take a photo of his back, assured him that no one would recognize him, to which the man agreed. The man became a tad bit uneasy when he noticed that Hendryckx wasn’t just an amateur photographer. After taking the photo, Hendryckx wanted to know more about the tattoos and their meaning, the man responded by telling Hendryckx that he was a soldier, but refused to divulge on the origin of the tattoos. The photographer decided not to push the matter, afraid that he might lose the photo. Feeling somewhat unsatisfied that he didn’t know more, he decided to look the names up, he found out that they are all names of places. Probably the names of places the soldier was stationed, he didn’t find out much about the dates, but after asking a friend, their most likely conclusion was that the tattoos were hunting trophies, although not everyone has such a horrid view on it. When asked what some of the students thought, most went in a complete different direction, suggestion that he might have lost a friend in battle that day, in the end none of us really know and in a way that makes the photo even more interesting.

All in all it’s a beautiful exhibition and if you’re in the neighbourhood you should definitely visit. The exhibition is running till 10.01.10 at the Fomu.

Love,

Jules

Listening to: Kasabian

Roro is Changing Its Ways

2009-10-11T15:24:00.000+02:00

I've decided to continue Roro on my own, I think it will be more productive that way. I'll post reviews on all sorts of things art exhibitions, movies, music, ... some of my own work and some random stuff.

Love, Jules

Wandering Roro Has Been Found...

2009-09-30T20:38:00.000+02:00

It’s been ages since we last updated Roro, so we thought it would be a good idea to make a slightly larger post about all sorts of things to get Roro going again.

To start of, here’s where we are Brun just started his third year of Illustration at the Royal Academy of Arts and although his thesis project is still months away he’s already spent most of his summer working on it, but more about that in the following weeks and months to come.

I on the other hand dropped out of school, preferring to learn and work on my own. I do however got a job as a guide at the Photography Museum, so expect updates on the current collections and just photography as a whole, but enough about us.

Music wise we just discovered Kasabian and are completely taken with them. but I'll let Brun explain a bit more about them.

Recently I rediscovered a band, which I haven’t heard in over 3 years. There music is being described as music made by people for people.

Kasabian is their name. Their sound just screams England and is definitely influenced by the music scene better know as Madchester. What I love about these guys is their approach to music. Not that it hasn’t been done before, but they use so many tricks in new and improved ways, which result in a unique sound.

I won’t start making resemblances with other bands, cause I hope that when u listen to these guys, u will take the time to observe their music and their point of view.

The lovely Noel Fielding plays Vlad The Impaler in this low-fi kind of quality music video. Talking about low-fi, this summer I discovered my love for analogue and Lomography, toy cameras are truly brilliant and give some amazing results.

My favourite one has to be the Holga, it comes in sturdy black plastic, it’s a bit ugly actually, but when you see what it can do, you’ll fall head over heels for this little baby. I took the photo above with my Holga on Fuji Pro Medium Format Film. The one below was taken on Agfa Portrait 160. I have to admit, though, after getting the Diana Mini delivered to my doorstep last week, with it’s ability to switch between square and half-frame and taking 35mm film, it’s quite quickly winning me over and might replace the Holga when it comes to first place.

Film wise I saw The Brothers Bloom a couple of weeks ago and was completely in love with the quirkiness and the clothes. The clothes were brilliant, I especially loved Adrian Brody’s Black and White look the most. I’ll probably re-watch it one of these days and write a more detailed review.

Love,

Jules & Brun

P.S.: The Kasabian segment was written by Brun, the rest was sort of a collaboration, trying to decide what to put in here and written by myself.

Currently listening to: Kasabian mostly, counts for both of us

Currently reading: I'm reading Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Dazed And Confused Magazine and Brun is reading Many Lives Of Tom Waits by Patrick Humphries.

Currently working with Diana Mini as my main medium and my ever-present diary filled with ideas and visual inspiration. As for Brun, he's currently working with digital drawing and painting, as well as experimenting with aquarelle and pencils.

I think I slept on my ear wrong, Do I look asymmetrical to you at all...

2009-06-05T19:40:00.000+02:00

Wristcutters: A love Story

"Once upon a time there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. And they grew next to each other. And every day the straight tree would look at the crooked tree and he would say, "You're crooked. You've always been crooked and you'll continue to be crooked. But look at me! Look at me!" said the straight tree. He said, "I'm tall and I'm straight." And then one day the lumberjacks came into the forest and looked around, and the manager in charge said, "Cut all the straight trees." And that crooked tree is still there to this day, growing strong and growing strange"

The film starts with a Tom Waits song, which immediately sets the tone for what is about to happen. Zia, one of the main characters offs himself and ends up in a world not unlike our own, except that it’s just a little worse. Everything is washed out and kind of bleak looking. Zia meets Eugene, I remember that I kept thinking through out the whole film that the character was so much like Eugene Hutz, they also used his music, and maybe Eugene would have been a better Eugene.

The trailer from Everything is Illuminated, just wanted to show you the real Eugene Hutz

When Zia finds out that the girl he killed himself over offed herself as well, he decides to go look for her. He convinces Eugene to go along with him, on their road trip they meet Mikal, played by Shannyn Sossamon. I think their little roadtrip takes up a third of the movie and it’s just a nice part, to see them bonding and singing along with Gogol Bordello Songs.

In the third part of the movie Zia, Mikal and Eugene nearly run over Kneller, wonderfully played by Tom Waits, in doing so they crash the car. Kneller takes them to his camp, where they stay for a while, Zia and Mikal grow closer to one another and Eugene meets a mute girl called Nanuk, who does this weird amazing like throat signing. In the end Zia finds Desiree, the girl he killed himself over and Mikal finds the people in charge. Kneller turns out to be one of the people in charge, Mikal gets the mistake they made sorted out and is sent back to the world of the living, Eugene and Nanuk go off together to visit her family leaving Zia is on his own. He feels lonely and even more depressed then before, because he lost Mikal, the girl he loved. Kneller does Zia a favour and sorts things out. The movie ends with Zia waking up in the hospital and realizes that Mikal is in the other the bed, they smile and the end credits follow together with Through The Roof ‘N’ Underground by Gogol Bordello

I think the black hole in the bottom of the car was the only thing that visually annoyed me, for the rest I loved the washed out feeling and colours of the place. When we first meet Tom Waits, you barely get to see his face, but then he grunts and even Tom Waits grunting is very Tom Waits like, you instantly recognize it. This is the second time I’ve watched this film and there just so many little things that make you smile, because even though the film is about suicide, it is a comedy and in a way it’s about the little things in life that make it worth while.

Listening to Ziggy Stardust, it's on high rotation, so much even that I haven't listened to any of the other records I bought...

Finished reading "This Book Will Change Your life" by A.M. Homes and started reading a little french book that plays out in a museum...

Other things I'm doing...Taking a shit loads of pictures...working on my very large collage...and turning my studio into a mess, which is nothing unusual...

Love,

Jules

Short Movie by Sam Kroes

2009-05-30T10:51:00.000+02:00

Brand New Roro

2009-05-22T19:30:00.000+02:00

As you can see Roro got a shiny new look, there will be some minor changes going on in the next couple of days, but nothing that will interrupt you from enjoying Roro. The left column is filled with inspiration and links. If you click Roro's banner under The Whole Shebang you'll be redirected to Roro's Tumblr for some daily inspiration. Hope you like it...

Love,

Jules

ERWIN OLAF - EYECANDY 1984 - 2009

2009-05-10T12:15:00.000+02:00

On saturday Mattia and I went to an exhibition at The Museum of Photography in Antwerp.First order of the day was visiting the gift shop, where I contemplated on buying a Holga or a Diana, we decided to see the exhibition first and come back to the gift shop afterwards.

There were three exhibitions, but for the sake of not making this blog post to lengthy, we’ll focus on just one of them. More precisely Erwin Olaf’s retrospective exhibition ‘Eye Candy’ 1984 – 2009.

Royal Blood, SISSI +1898, 2000

Personally I found the collection ‘Royal Blood’ the most intriguing. The collection is about persons of royal blood who have been murdered or killed themselves, the only exception is the picture of Jackie O. where it’s the remains of her husband that stain her immaculate beauty.

JACKY O. 12:29 PM, 2000 & JACKY O. 12:30 PM, 2000

Mattia and I spend several minutes trying to figure out who was who in the portrait, because there were no separate titles. I love how, even though some of them have been killed in horrible ways, they all keep a strong and royal composure. They look straight at you, daring you…something that fits perfectly for a series on persons of royal blood.

JULIUS CAESAR +44 B.C., 2000

Even though I really like the portrait of Caesar, I don’t quite understand why he picked a young boy to represent him, maybe because some sort of idealism died with Caesar.

TSARINA ALEXANDRA +1918, 2000

When I first saw the collection ‘Hope’ by Erwin Olaf in his latest book I had a mixed feeling. There were pictures were you could clearly feel what was hoped for. For example ‘The Practice’. The woman in the picture has a sad expression, which is understandable because she’s probably awaiting test results. In this case a picture says more than a thousand words.

THE PRACTICE, 2005

But if you look at ‘The Classroom’ there’s no sign of hope. It’s more like a filthy professor lusting after his student, while she’s just standing there like a doll, without emotion. For me hope portrays a unique feeling, a feeling that I feel is absent from this picture.

THE CLASSROOM, 2005

After seeing ‘Hope’ I was quite disappointed because his exhibition in FoMu was quite impressive, especially ‘Chessmen’.

HOPE 5, 2005

His ‘Grief’ collection contained a lot of inspiring images. I really liked the way he sees grief and how he plays with the notions of action and reaction. The images are simplistic and well put into frame.

To conclude I would say that Erwin Olaf is a gifted photographer who is clearly capable of portraying certain human emotions in all their integrity.

Visit Erwin Olaf's site here

Some Pictures from the exhibition

Stills from the short film ROUGE

Royal Blood and Blacks

Fashion Victims

We ended our trip to FOMU in the same place we started, the giftshop, we spent close to an hour there, talking to a lovely woman that worked there and trying to decide which camera I would buy. I ended up buying a DianaF + and I just picked up the rolls of film I ordered, so expect pictures soon …

This review for Erwin Olaf was a joint effort between Mattia Lampis and myself, Julie Smits. Mattia focussed more on the book we both bought and the series Hope, Grief and Rain and I more on the collection Royal Blood.

Love,

Jules

The music is all around you, all you have to do is listen ...

2009-05-05T21:38:00.000+02:00

August Rush

Listen. Can you hear it? The music. I can hear it everywhere. In the wind... in the air... in the light. It's all around us. All you have to do is open yourself up. All you have to do... is listen

From the first moment I saw the trailer of this film, I knew that I had to see it. The music is what caught me first, which I think is normal, because music is the essence of this film.

Another thing that made me want to see this film, was Jonathan Rhys Meyers being in it. I first saw Jonathan in Bend It Like Beckham and I thought my god who is that gorgeous guy with those piercing blue eyes. That was a couple of years ago and in that time I’ve seen several films with Jonathan in it and he has more than just piercing blue eyes, he’s got talent and tons of passion for what he does. My absolute favourite film with Jonathan in it has to be Velvet Goldmine and I don’t know if you noticed but several things on this blog are inspired by that film, figure it out for yourself which ones …

But more about the movie itself, it takes you on this amazing musical adventure of a boy trying to find his parents. He believes that the music he hears all around him is his parents trying to reach him and if he could only play music, then he could reach them as well. He runs away from the orphanage to New York City, there he meets all sorts of people, but most importantly he meets Wizard. Wizard played by Robin Williams gives refuge to all sorts of musical prodigies in return he asks for their tips and their loyalty. One night the police raid the place and the group splits up, August finds refuge in a church and is taken in by the people there. The reverend discovers his talent and takes him to Juliard. August is given the change to learn all about music and one of his teachers discovers that August has written a rhapsody, they suggest that he play the piece at The New York Philharmonic in central park. Wizard finds August once more and asks him to come with him, August does. While August is playing on the streets again, he meets his father, Jonathan’s character, although neither of them know who one another is. They play together and Jonathan’s character tells him he should never give up on his music and that he should do the concert. August runs away from Wizard and arrives just in time to perform his piece. His mother is there, as well as his father and the film ends with August turning around to the crowd and smiling as he sees his parents.

Truly a beautiful film and if you get the chance to watch it, well just do …

Love,

Jules

The Road

2009-05-04T13:12:00.001+02:00

Click the image to enlarge

You can visit my teacher's blog at www.frankalbers.blogspot.com, unfortunately it's in dutch, so not all of you will be able to read it. He's an amazing teacher, very passionate about the things he talks about.

Currently listening to Jeff Buckley (bootlegs, rare tracks, ... hehe the good stuff, Expect a post about him very soon) and Tom Waits (Alice and you can expect a post about this musical genius very soon as well)

Love,

Jules

Follow my blog with bloglovin´

Object-ion

2009-04-20T23:22:00.000+02:00

Dear you,

I would like to tell you about my objects...
Do they define who I am as a person?
Like they define themselves as objects?
Do they have alter-ego’s?
Who or What is the most influential... we or they?

Do they see themselves as we see them?
I live and walk trough a museum of objects every day...
I couldn’t live without them
But why do they make me feel like this?
(Or is it what I reflect on them)
Even if we take them for granted are they the ones who control us
The borderline between humans and objects fascinates me

If you could be an object for one day what would you like to be?

some picknick images of objects of mine...

Do you know Mark Manders?

‘Mark Manders places his self-portrait as a building actually between two world views: the world as constructed from atom-like semi-truths and the one in which these truths are accepted as facts. Often, we are not afraid in our materialized projection, the world itself has been confided to us...
...Walking through my building, I get confronted everywhere with deep arrest, it is terrific, the things over here surmount my momentaneous thinking and are familiar to me, I never get bored. ‘

There was an exhibition of him in the S.M.A.K. a while ago and this was maybe the smallest but the most charming piece of all ...

‘I think it’s so beautiful how both of them, powerless and armless, hold the sugar cube.’

A Place Where My Thoughts Are Frozen Together (2001)

+
Some time ago a friend told me this amazing story about a bird...

it reminded me a bit of Mark Manders..

~The bowerbird ~

The male spends up to 9-10 months each year working on his bower in an attempt to attract females to mate.

They have like obsessions/fetishes whit a typical material or colour

And the females fly by and play the judges of the techniques and the choices of material...

This Mister has decorated his bower with green moss, red berries, silver snail shells,a bit of decorative film casing and some batteries..

So far this is what I wanted to tell you

We will meet again,

Sam

Paris, Je t'aime

2009-04-11T21:45:00.001+02:00

What to do when in Paris? If you’re anything like me you buy a shit load of art magazines and art books.

I saw three exhibitions in total, two at Centre Pompidou and one at le Monnaie de Paris. I saw Kandinsky and Calder at Centre Pompidou, I only liked one of Kandinsky’s works and it’s the one they used for promotional purposes, somehow I remember Kandinsky differently from my art history classes. I liked how Calder’s iron wire sculptures created shadow drawings on the wall, It looks like two different works, one is the sculpture and the other one the shadow, they both look different, because of how the light hits the sculpture. My favourite exposition was David LaChapelle at le Monnaie de Paris. I love how grotesque his works are and how he handles certain themes. The only thing I was a bit disappointed by was the size of the exposition, in my opinion it was a bit too small.

David LaChapelle, Milk Maidens, 1996

This is a picture Mattia took of me while I was sketching

A picture of Mattia

A picture of a cool wall next to the Kusmi Tea shop

I tried something new, a magazine like review of a gallery, click to enlarge

I’ve know Kusmi Tea for over a year now, they sell the teas in a bakery called DOMESTIC close to where I used to live. So lucky me when I found out that there was a Kusmi Shop near to where my hotel was. Even though it wasn’t all that far away from my hotel, it took me a while to find it. The reason for this was simple, I saw the shop from the car, but I had no idea what the street was called, but the most important thing is that I found the shop and bought almost a years supply of tea, which sounds a bit crazy but when you’re only one person and don’t drink anything but tea (about 6 cups a day), water and organic juice, you’ll understand why tea doesn’t last long in my household.

Founded in 1867 by P.M. Kousmichoff and established in Paris since 1917. Kusmi Tea has been carrying on the same activity to offer connoisseurs and gourmets exclusive blends and high quality traditional teas. Distributed all over the world, Kusmi Tea blends are well known for their pleasant and the smoothness of their flavours.

The reason why I love Kusmi so much is their unique blends, high quality and colourful boxes. And I always appreciate a brand, idea or shop that has a unique feeling to it.

All in all I had a good time in Paris, bought way too much stuff and before I left for Antwerp, the city I call home, I made a quick stop at Ladurée for macarons.

So, Au Revoir Paris, until we meet again in fall.

P.S.: My next post will probably be about 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy, other posts to expect in the near future are posts about Jeff Buckley, Queens of the Stone Age and Tom Waits.

And something extra, this is the link to a new project Joey Rubin is working on Nothing in Your Sleep Can Hurt You

James Jean :: Kent Williams :: Joshua Hagler Show in Brussels - part 3

2009-04-08T22:17:00.001+02:00

A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTIES
4/04 >> 12/04
Brussels

Artwork by Joshua Hagler.

James Jean :: Kent Williams :: Joshua Hagler Show in Brussels -part 2

2009-04-08T22:12:00.000+02:00

A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTIES
4/04 >> 12/04
Brussels

Artwork by Kent Williams.

James Jean :: Kent Williams :: Joshua Hagler Show in Brussels

2009-04-08T22:04:00.000+02:00

A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTIES
4/04 >> 12/04
Brussels

THAT was inspiring guys !

Artwork by James Jean.

A Sign Of Things To Come

2009-04-07T01:48:00.000+02:00

People of the internet

This is a sketch picturing 3 characters of the “Alice In Wonderland” Tale. They are character designs. I use them to make myself familiar with the main characters before doing the final illustrations. They don’t look finished because I change their looks every 5 minutes.

It might be interesting to note that I work on them simultaneous, switching back and forth between them to maintain the same visual style.

(Click the image for a larger resolution)

Sketchbooks, Moleskine and other objects

2009-03-19T00:34:00.000+01:00

Always in my pocket...

The tiny one is a present from my friend Rachel, she sent it from Tasmania.

I love to have many of these pretty objects and sometimes feel a bit intimidate to draw in it, but that's just before I start... then they become familiar.

(Clic to enlarge)

My Trusty Companion

2009-03-14T16:08:00.000+01:00

Hi guys,

First of great posts everyone, I really love how this blog is coming along.

Mattia, thanks for dropping by and please feel free to share your thoughts with us any time.

I must say when I spoke with Julie the other day I could tell how proud she was about this blog, and she should be. Speaking about Julie, I think I got infected with her Moleskine fever.

Ah Moleskine, where art thou...

Oh yeah ... you're right here, lying next to me on my desk, never too far away from my side serving as my trusty companion.

My brother in arms when we flee trough the streets on a stormy morning or on our way to an unknown force that seems to be pulling me down every single day (A.K.A school).

Your paper soft to the touch, ready for any medium my vicious mind dares to throw at you. Moleskine, darling, I love you, in fact I love you so much that I fantasize about how you would taste if I could eat you. Would you taste like chocolate or something more exotic maybe even alien...

Really though,

Moleskines are great, I have loved them ever since I put my first pencil stroke in one of them. The paper is smooth to the touch, great for vast pencil or ink lines, and thick enough to handle all kinds of paint. It has an expandable pocket inside the rear cover, where you can put some reference photos or a cool flyer that you picked up somewhere. It even has an elastic band to hold everything together.

Really, top notch

The only thing bothering me about Moleskine is the stupid little history book I find in them every time I buy one and they’re also kind of expensive so you don't want to screw up the pages, but thank God for Gesso.

Moleskine, my darling, you and I are forever.

Express Yourself

2009-03-13T17:21:00.000+01:00

For a student, majoring in languages and literature, it's really important to have decent notebooks. That's why I love moleskine. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and can be used for so many purposes that everyone can find a perfect match.

I also like its simple black cover. But if that isn't your thing you can also give it a personal touch. Moleskine also encourages creativity so make sure you also visit their website and in particular 'Mydetour'. It's a webpage where you can post your own moleskine and look at what others do with theirs.

To all the owners of moleskine: Express Yourself!!!

Mattia Lampis

I Heart Moleskine

2009-03-12T11:20:00.000+01:00

I absolutely adore Moleskine because they are just fuckin’ perfect. There isn’t much more to say really, they just have a certain thing about them. They come in different sizes and each book has it’s own purpose, all in all bloody brilliant. I think the only negative thing about Moleskine is that when you go through a lot of them in a short period of time, you kind of get fed up with the little booklet that tells the history of Moleskine.

Some pictures from my sketchbook

My own collection of Moleskines consists of a small red diary, several notebooks, a small watercolour sketchbook (which I don’t use all that much, because frankly I think it’s too small), a standard Moleskine sketchbook in which I experiment with all sorts of mediums and a slightly bigger Moleskine with a soft cover in which I write all my ideas down for stories and projects. I recently started a new Moleskine, because I used to drag the old one everywhere I went and it was so full with pictures, that it was twice as thick as the normal ones, all in all I started a new one because I just completely wore the old one out and I couldn’t use it anymore. In my new Moleskine I started developing a new idea for a graphic novel, the current working title is ‘The Others’ and I’ll probably post something about it someday …

Oh and fellow bloggers, if you'd be so kind to share your opinion about Moleskine
...

2009-03-08T21:23:00.000+01:00

Hi, my name is Roosje. I'm studying graphic art and I also paint. Some artists who inspire me are Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Sam Dillemans and Dave Mckean. I'm glad to join this blog and hopefully we can inspire a lot of people.

Recently I've been working on abstract images in painting and lithography. Some of them are based on the work of Richter.

Currently listening to: In flames, Lamb of God, Korpiklaani, Opeth, Sigur Ros, ...

Currently reading: The Reader by Bernard Schlink

Let's go !

2009-03-06T22:58:00.000+01:00

Hi, I'm Aurélie, but people often call me Clo. I'm a 25-year-old freelance illustrator, and I'm glad to share inspiration and ideas here. I hope interesting things will pop out of those different pictures, music, movies, etc we'll propose.

So, my first post will be a kind of tribute to Hugo Pratt, who is a true inspiration for me.

Yesterday I was working on a collab I'm doing with Tom Scholes, and have been inspired by Hugo Pratt travel memories. I decided to make a line work thinking of these awesome books he made. Clic to enlarge it.

Currently listening to : Square Pusher, Aphex Twin, The Pogues...

Currently reading : nothing at all

And a video i just find pretty cool.

The fiddlers tune is far from over…

2009-03-06T20:42:00.001+01:00

While staring at myself into the mirror last night.
I couldn't help my mind from wandering in to my pool of imagination. Seeking answers for soon to be asked questions. Hoping to find a spark of an idea that will serve as the footnote for a new song, a new illustration or perhaps a new story.

However, nothing is as easy as we all hope it would be.
The spark quickly becomes a million other things, all of them equally interesting.
Chaos roams freely my head, as demons take over the newly born ideas and transform them into bricks of a soon to be wall, blocking my path to inspiration.
My devils dance with these demons and the fiddlers tune seems to be far from over.

This is where this blog comes in:
Rescue Us Roro is all about being creative and inspiring one another.
I hope that u (our readers) will find inspiration here among other things while having a bad day, an artist or a writers block or when u just feel the need to be inspired.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

These are a few of my anatomy sketches.
Most of them are done within 3 minutes.
They serve as background information while I’m working on a new illustration.

(click for bigger resolution)

I’m also working on some new illustrations based on the “Alice in wonderland” story. Here are some thumbnails which will hopefully soon develop to become full blown illustrations.

(click for bigger resolution)

(click for bigger resolution)

This is a somewhat older piece I did for a school assignment about an old pencil sharpener.

(click for bigger resolution)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

currently listening to:
Kings of leon, Elbow, The Fountain soundtrack, Tom waits, …

Currently reading:
Robin hobb’s Forest Mage

And some interesting Tom waits videos:

If u want to see more of my work visit my personal blog:
Brun Croes

No Joke, This is Going To Be Wonderful

2009-03-06T14:09:00.000+01:00

Hey there. I'm Joey. Recovering journalist, expatriate Yankee, perennially under-employed writer. I've been in Buenos Aires for the past year abusing the Spanish subjunctive mood and trying write about something other than myself.

The above is one of the most intense and lyrical things I've read in Spanish, an evocation of sexual intensity read in the lilting, accented the voice of the great Argentine writer Julio Cortázar; it's Chapter 7 of his epic Spanish-language novel Rayuela (Hopscotch, in English). (If you're not content getting lost within the folds of his eccentric Spanish, here's a translation into English and a copy of the original text)

Here's a story I'd like to have written (follow the ellipses link to read the rest):

We called them ice fights. They made things weird for a little while.

I had moved to Coalfield earlier that summer, after I lost my job as a checkout girl at the Bates supermarket in Mount Juliet. It wasn't a huge deal. I was stealing small amounts of money every once in a while and then I got caught and they didn't have any choice but to let me go. If they could have kept me, they would have. It happens.

I was living in a room above my sister and her husband's garage, just my computer, three fans, and a futon we found at a garage sale. For a few weeks, I just sat in that room, nothing but the hum of the fans, no friends, no money, not a thing to do, wishing I was drunk. It was not, truth be told, an uncommon situation for me...

(from "No Joke, This is Going To Be Painful" by Kevin Wilson)

And here's a poem I'd like to claim (again, the ellipses link gives you the end):

Before the days of self service,
when you never had to pump your own gas,
I was the one who did it for you, the girl
who stepped out at the sound of a bell
with a blue rag in my hand, my hair pulled back
in a straight, unlovely ponytail.
This was before automatic shut-offs
and vapor seals, and once, while filling a tank,
I hit a bubble of trapped air and the gas
backed up, came arcing out of the hole
in a bright gold wave and soaked me—face, breasts,
belly and legs. And I had to hurry...

(from "Fast Gas" by Dorianne Lux)

Today I'm working on a story about a guy who gets lost in New York on his way to his mother's funeral. Maybe I'll toss you a clip in the coming months.

Or maybe I'll hoard it all for myself.

Currently reading: Tobais Wolff, Richard Yates, The Internet

Currently listening to: Paco de Lucia, Josh Ritter

Currently eating: My fingernails (with tea)

Take Your Time, She's Only Burning

2009-03-06T10:39:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Rescue Us Roro, This is my first post and the rest of us will be posting in the next couple of days. Our first posts will just be short introductions to who we are and what we're about. So Hi, I'm Julie and I study Fine Arts and I'm the one who came up with the idea for this blog.

This clip from the movie Velvet Goldmine is what inspired the title of this blog. It's a cover from Brian Eno’s ‘Baby’s on Fire’, but I like the cover better.

This is my wall, well one of my walls, of inspiration

I'm currently working on a project focussing on Playmobil, a project about hybrid mixes between birds and humans, some other things for school, two graphic novels and one novel.

If you want to see more of my work, visit my blog at www.juliesmits.blogspot.com

Currently Reading: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

On The Record: Elbow, Iggy Pop, Arctic Monkeys and The Soundtrack from Velvet Goldmine