Wes Anderson Desktop Wallpaper

I remember the first time I watched Bottle Rocket. My roommate said it was one of his favorite movies, and even though I had things to work on, I figured I'd at least sit down and do things on my laptop. Within a half hour, I had shut my laptop and focused solely on this movie - it was just too funny, quirky, and engrossing. I wasn't a huge fan of Owen Wilson at the time (Shanghai Noon?) and I had only seen Luke Wilson in Old School. But the movie was awesome, and introduced me to the world of Wes Anderson.

In this world, there are often stupid, yet life-affirming characters who desperately combat all kinds of psychology-fueled defense mechanisms and depression. In this world, comedy comes from normal people doing slightly abnormal things, and being gosh-darned proud of it. In this world, people wear shorts. After watching one, I had to finish, and watched the rest - Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited. I decided to make a sweet desktop wallpaper with a collage of his films just for fun. They're all there - Bill Murray, the Wilsons, Gene Hackman, Adrian Brody, and the rest of the bunch. I made this before Fantastic Mr. Fox came out, but I probably wouldn't have included the puppetry anyway.

I really tried playing with the flow of the images, and even made Jeff Goldblum wrap his arm around Owen Wilson just for the heck of it.

Trigun/Hellsing Guitar

Before I get too carried away here, it should be said that the guitars below are NOT actually real guitars, they are merely Photoshopped mockups that I did for fun one day. I snapped a picture of my sweet red/black electro-acoustic (3/4 scale) and thought about what I would do to modify it. I made these in 2009.

That first picture is of the original guitar (strings

removed of course) And next is the Trigun version I did. The black and red scheme made me think of the overall imagery of the series, so I thought it was a natural choice. The Trigun guitar was made with various images grabbed from the web, and the "bullet holes" were also just grabbed online, probably from those window decals for your car. I also decided if I were to do this, I would spray paint the inside black to make it extra cool.

After making the Trigun one, I instantly thought of making a Hellsing guitar, since I just got into the series around this time, and thought Alucard (it's Dracula backwards!) was pretty badass, and deserved his own guitar. I used mostly the Multiply layer effect, though some were Darken. I also Colorized a few, to make sure that it was completely monochromatic with red and black. I thought about adding bullet holes as well, but it would have been too busy. I also added the magic pentagram thingy from the show in the sound hole.

I'm not exactly sure how I would go about doing this in real life...perhaps create some transparent .pngs onto sticker paper and then apply some kind of gloss to the whole thing.

The White Stripes Break Up

The White Stripes have won Grammys, made six studio albums, and sold millions of those records. And today, on February 2, 2011, they announced their breakup.

I found out when a Myspace(yeah, I still have a page, mostly to follow a handful of bands) email notification told me the White Stripes had a new blog posting. In it, there was a short, but well-thought out message to the world’s fans that the band had indeed “officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live.” With an elephant-heavy heart, I checked and rechecked the internet for confirmation, and wondered if this wasn’t some hoax.

I know in my heart I saw it coming earlier, but pushed it further and further away from my analytic brain, for fear of the truth. The band’s been on hiatus for a few years now, with their last album Icky Thump coming out in 2007. The album itself was a bit of a stretch for the band and Jack White’s maturation as an artist clashed with earlier aesthetics of the band. Put all six album covers in a row, and pick out the one that doesn’t quite belong – it’s the pearly king and queen of Icky Thump that have a slight air of weariness to them.

Album art aside, the band seemed to understand their position, and in a way to ease the transition they released the 2009 concert tour/documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. It is a beautiful tribute to the band as a whole, and a touching parting gift for fans. If only we realized it at the time.

The band’s farewell message seems all at once too vague and profound, as they wish to “preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way.” What exactly was so beautiful and special about that band in the first place? Everything. The childlike duo’s air of curiosity and innocence fueled their creative process and visual dynamics. What was great was that the band was growing up in the prime of its pre-conceived childhood. What they didn’t count on was the maturation beyond those years.

Jack White’s collaborations within the Raconteurs, and Dead Weather have given him the musical equivalent of studying abroad as a teenager – he’s grown up amongst different cultures and changed. It may not be better or worse; but it is different. He’s no longer the wide-eyed kid with a plastic guitar in a garage.

When I said the White’s had an air of weariness to them, it wasn’t as if they were weary of playing music, of being together. They were weary of pretending and keeping up the act and suppressing the creative maturation they know they have gained over the years.

The farewell letter states that Jack and Meg hope the fans see it as “a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has created.” You have to appreciate the dedication of the band, to forcibly get back into their old mindset, and when they can no longer do it, they call it a day. A lesser band would continue using their name as only a vehicle for music no longer relevant to their original intent.

It should be said that I am relieved the band hadn’t waited til they put out a bad record to announce the breakup. They had six amazing records. I still wouldn’t rule out musical collaborations between the two (I suspect that they would simply say that it was done by Jack and Meg White, as opposed to the band name). Jack is of course always working on the next great project – he’s collaborating with Norah Jones and Danger Mouse for a March 2011 album.

Even though I fully understand it, and even applaud the decision, I’m still slightly heartbroken. I remember watching the electrifying Grammy performance of “Seven Nation Army” in 2004, before I even knew about the band. I remember listening to Elephant on a burned CD-R over and over on a portable CD player during a family trip. I heard the “Icky Thump” single on the day of my senior prom. I have grown up with this band and eagerly awaited each release.

The closing of the letter sums it up nicely. “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you know and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to.”

I agree.

(Read the breakup letter here)

Published in the BU Scout