Now the warning: do not see Factory Girl, the story of Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick.

I saw it today at that theater on 45th and University in Seattle and let me tell you, the quality of it just from a basic standpoint is low, low, low. If you've ever seen the movie "54", the plotless tribute to New York club Studio 54, that's what this reminded me of, although there was a plot arc, which started with Edie being a nice little art student in Cambridge, going down to New York City to experience the world, meeting Andy Warhol, getting into the "Factory" scene, as his studio with a rotating cast of characters was called, and finally bottoming out as a semi-deluded junkie.

Like we've never seen that before on the silver screen.

Anyways, the writing is terrible, the acting, except for the guy who played Warhol, is terrible, the portrayal of famous figures, like Bob Dylan, and, although she only has a small part, the character of Nico from the Velvet Underground, is so wooden, stiff, idealized, and unrealistic that they might as well be characters from central casting.

They constantly say that "Edie lived life like it should be lived", "She set the world on fire", well, although they repeated this over and over again, I didn't see any real joie de vivre or anything that could qualify as 'setting the world on fire'. Just a perky, enthusiastic, girl. Like many, many, others. Constant testimonies without any supporting evidence are a dead give away that either there was nothing really there, or that the film maker is too untalented to actually be able to show what he or she thinks and feels on screen.

There probably could be a movie made about Edie Sedgwick that would be good and decent, but it ain't this one. Now on to the YouTube.

In November of 1999, Initiative 695 was passed by the voters of WA.  The purpose of I-695 was to eliminate the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, and to replace the sliding scale for license tab fees (which tied the amount paid to the value of the vehicle) with a flat fee of $30.  Before 695, license tab fees had ranged from about $10 to about $200.  You do the math.  People in the top bracket saved big bucks.  People in the bottom bracket got screwed.  30 bucks may not sound like much, but I know at least a couple of people who had to get rid of their cars because they could no longer afford to keep them legal.  The irony of this is that the MVET had been the primary source of funding for public transit in WA.  For IT, the passage of 695 meant the immediate loss of 42% of their total budget.  Other transit systems were hit even harder.  Some of the smaller systems in rural areas were forced to shut down completely.

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GREETINGS FRIENDS!!!!
WTF, another Westside Artswalk? Already?!  in eleven days? That's right y'all, on Saturday Feb. 24 the next artswalk is gonna happen! It will be from 4pm until midnight. Basically, we have about 12 days until artswalk. Things are shaping up nicely, lets talk about it for a bit.

PROMOTION
The most important thing right now is getting the word out about the event.  so spread it! The best promotion is talking to yer friends. Some folks will be making flyers, if you want to distribute flyers/handbills, please reply to this message with subject: 'flyers'... and we will set you up with some in a few days. Promos for the artswalk are gonna be on KOWA & FRO radio stations, olyblog.net. etc... if you are at all interested in promoting, email us with your ideas, or just DIY. direct all promotion questions to Evan: 360-943-0332, or email him thejulianeffect@gmail.com


HOUSES/VENUES:
if you are a house or venue, we need to hear from you so we can put you on the map. what artists are you having at your house? do you need artists?  if so, compose a mass email to everyone in the contact list letting them know. we are still working on a better way to do this, like an online forum, but just bear with us this time... once you got your house all situated, send us an email to let us know whats up.


ARTISTS: (hanging wall art) JUST EMAIL US ASAP!!!
still in need of a place to hang your stuff?  Know a badass artist?  Well, tomorrow we're sending out an email of all the confirmed houses and contact info for those houses. call or email these houses ASAP.  Once you figure out where you are gonna be, email us, or have the house email us with the details of what you are going to do.

This time a blogger from Santa Cruz is talking about us. Check out My Buffalo River Home. He also talks a bit more about causes of houselessness.

Ignorant Movie Review:  Man chang din jai huang jin jai

Response to title:  ...reminds me of a Kung Fu title.

Response to curbside poster:  I was so right!

Response post-credits:  I was so wrong.  To call this a Kung Fu movie would be a major disservice to both this movie and that genre; this film is a cultural myth making epic that has more in common with Lawrence of Arabia or King Lear.   The symbolism in the movie is rich and, unfortunately, often beyond my immediate understanding as I'm not particularly well versed in Chinese symbols and history.  That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this movie from a pure narrative and aesthetic standpoint with my only warning being that the movie contains moments of incredible violence.

I recommend a little pre-film reading:
Confucianism
Traditional Chinese color symbolism
basic Chinese symbolism

Letter of Apology to Wally Cuddeford and An Anonymous Woman from Nikki Miller and Holly Carter

 

In the past month many of you may have heard rumors that questioned the actions of Wally Cuddeford toward a woman who will remain anonymous for many reasons that will remain undisclosed. This rumor originated from us. The reasons for the original concerns are no longer important. The point is that the situation was handled in an irresponsible manner.

Instead of asking Wally or the woman what had taken place on said night, we (Holly and Nikki) took our worries elsewhere. We want to make it clear that it was not Wally’s character that is in question. We failed in our handling of this incident. What resulted was a malicious rumor about Wally’s possible sexual assault of the before mentioned woman. We apologize for the reckless acts by ourselves that led to this. We apologize for the pain, suffering, and anguish that this has caused to Wally and the anonymous woman. We

recognize that no one should have to endure the trauma of being wrongly accused of sexually violating another person.

Wally is an integral part of the Olympia organizing community.  His hard work and commitment is invaluable. It is an injustice that his reputation has been harmed by our irresponsible handling of this situation. We look forward to continuing working with Wally on social justice projects. We feel that the violation of trust that took place due to our actions has been successfully restored over the past few weeks. We are happy to have Wally as a comrade, he is a great person and an invaluable part of our community.