ABOUT. (1) My online journals: journal 01 journal 02 journal 03 (2) I am a stumbler. (3) My favorite day is October 23. (4) My favorite year is 1976. (5) My favorite climate is Oceanic. (6) My portrait. (7) All the photographs to the left were taken by myself. (8) I've never smoked or drank alcohol. (9) As a fan of world cinema I want to experience more films from Africa, but finding a venue can be difficult. (10) I read L'Humanite in English (11) Becoming a vegetarian was a goal of mine, but I generally dislike denying myself food. Than I decided to embraced being a flexitarian with meat only featuring occasionally in my diet. Now I eat all that's placed before me. (12) I'm not a Christian because I associate Christianity with colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade. (13) I tend to dislike tattoos on both men and women. (14) A person is good because of the things they do, and not because they have a pleasant temperament. Your actions, not your thoughts, define your nature. I want to be good, but mostly I just think about it. (15) Code Inconnu (Code Unknown) is the perfect cinematic ode to modern existence. All fragmented, full of feeling, and unfinished. It's Michael Haneke's best film, although Cache (which is also a fantastic film) has attracted the greater audience & academic attention. I was the first person online to compare Code Inconnu to the disastrous American film Crash, but that was several online lives ago. (16) I'm not a Muslim because all Islamic prayer is in Arabic, a language I do not understand, and the room for self expression in Islam is limited because the Prophet Muhammad did everything perfect over one thousand years ago. I find Sufism attractive, but this path is impossible without being a pious Muslim. Universal Sufism is an alternative for the non-Islamic practitioner, unfortunately there is something missing there that cools my excitement. (17) Currently I have no children, but I would be open to starting my own family in the future. For now I'm just happy being alone. (18) I'm not a Jew because neither of my parents are Jewish. (19) I would prefer a border-less world in which people could live wherever they please. The term illegal alien is like a slur to me. None of us has any control over where we're born, and to place so much significance on such things baffles me. (20) Are artificial subcultures such as the Islamic punk-rockers of the Taqwacores as valuable as those found in reality? The created world of the Taqwacores reminds me of the community of artists found within Infants of the Spring, although the characters of Wallace Thurman's novel were based on real individuals. Great Earth shifts in creativity often occur when groups of like minded people converge, but can such a shirt occur through unnatural means? (21) I have my own space. (22) Charlyne Yi is a performance artist, comedian, filmmaker, and musician. I've follow her youtube videos since the first I accidently stumbled across. (23) Jean-Luc Godard introduced me to the wonders of world cinema through the dynamic qualities of his film Vivre Sa Vie. He represents one of my personally chosen prophets. (24) I may be the first African-American Otaku, although my personal obsession with anime ended in grade school. I'm sure to most this damages my creditals to carry the title. My Otaku-ism is more in spirit than actual fact. (25) Why was the music video for Sara Tavares' Mi Ma Bo missing from the web for so long? (26) Vagabonding is my major passion. I've leaped across the United States and the rest of world is the only logical next step. (27) There was a time that I thought moving to Montevideo, Uruguay was a good Idea, but I outgrew that desire. I still wish to eat an authentic chivito. (28) If ever exiled I choose Paris. (29) I'm from Philadelphia, PA - born & raised. There is a part of me that still misses the place. When you spend several decades in a single location living there defines your sense of normalcy. (30) I carry a piece of Chris Marker with me while on my journeys. Namely Chris Marker by Catherine Lupton, Staring Back, and La Jetee / Sans Soleil. It's a compulsion that's greater than my own personal understanding. (31) The creative energy of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land makes me want to create my own poetic masterpiece. (32) I've lived in Seattle from October 2008 to .... (33) Often I think about becoming a Canadian. I greatly appreciate Canada's cosmopolitan culture, excellent standard of living, universal healthcare, and Quebecois French. (Other than the cold...) What is there not to like? (34) Long ago I outgrew wanting to be cool. Now I just want to be me. Cool as a cultural phenomenon, especially as it pertains to African-Americans, does provide some fascination. (35) Occasionally I blog, but over time I've increasing become a twit. (36) I prefer to see Larisa Fox wearing glasses to without. Larisa is one of my favorite models despite her rather short career in adult entertainment. I have a mostly ambivalent relationship with pornography. A sex scene doesn't titillate me as a given. It must posses qualities which I find sexual exciting. If I have an issue with pornography it is in its tendency towards shock value over eroticism. (37) My life is rooted to the middle path, avoiding hedonistic pursuits, or a strict rejections of all worldly things (although I'm closer to the latter than the former). (38) I enjoy drinking Dr. Pepper. (39) Any autonomous actions of an individual must be well thought out in order to unleash any true revolutionary potential. The real question concerning autonomism is what actions are truly revolutionary? Basic actions such as squatting, payment ducking, and work slow-downs are largely self-serving, and do not posses the capacity to challenge the existing order. To sponge off the scraps of capitalism isn't revolutionary. A revolution in its true essence represents positive change that improves the live of those effected by it. Examples of positive autonomism include actions such as communal living, urban agriculture, self-sufficiency, simple living, post materialism, volunteering, and individual activism. These actions undermine the profit driven me-first mantra of global capital. It is through these actions that lives can be improved, and it exposes unfettered free-market capitalism as just another failed grand narrative. (40) My email address is artist dot noir and the rest. The dot between artist and noir blends in almost perfectly with the flakes from a Texas snow storm. Snow on a cactus is a beautiful thing. (41) My Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ, although this has very little real significance. (42) Supreme Mathematics main use is in the beauty of its word play. (43) I celebrate the music of Julius Eastman. (44) I've received an honorary doctorate from Penny University. (45) I've progressively fallen in & out of lust with Audrey Tautou. Currently my feelings are in limbo, but I still enjoy hearing her speak English. (46) My zine had no central message, other than layer upon layer of photocopied images & text. (47) Somehow I enjoy the work of Tracee Ellis Ross despite my general hesitation to view Girlfriends. She provides a sometimes necessary distraction. (48) Yerba Mate can be enjoyable, but I avoid the traditional paraphilia which is a bit much. (49) Someday I'll visit Cape Town, for no reasons other than to enjoy the beauty of that city, and to exhume the Circus Ninja Art Collective. The group now appears to be defunct, with only their profiles, videos, and blogs remaining. (50) I'm a professional dilettante. (51) Noir Artist has no friends, or at the very least few worth mentioning. Perhaps this is my reality because I have so little time for others. Perhaps this is due to my general misanthropic nature. Perhaps I'm just more aware of the futility of modern friendships. (52) I enjoy being alone and hardly every feel lonely. To a large extent I've taken on the outlook found within Anneli Rufus's Party of One, but avoiding the greater masses is impossible no matter how much one tries. The main task in life is to figure out how to transcend the multiple worlds that make up human existence, while always remaining true to oneself. (53) A dynamic individual embraces change as a lifestyle. You must make every possible attempt to improve yourself and to become a person defined by your actions. A dynamic individual is a doer, and to become a doer a person must master the arts of planning & communication. There is no training required beyond developing a mindset dominated by the act of doing. Your grading system will be the ramifications of your mistakes, and constant activity will yield many opportunities. (54) As Juilius Nyerere stated, "We must run while they walk". (55) I haven't worn blue jeans this century. (56) Having a large wardrobe is a commitment that I'm no longer willing to make. There's a definite problem if I can't fit all of my immediate possessions within a carryon bag and be on the road within 24 hours. (57) Women become more beautiful by wearing eyeglasses. (58) I keep certain films locked & loaded for easy viewing: A Huey P. Newton Story (2001); Alphaville (1965); Bob le Flambeur (1956); A Bout de Souffle (1960); La Chinoise (1967); Da Vinci Code (2006); Downtown 81 (1981); The Dreamers (2003); F for Fake (1974); For Ever Mozart (1996) Le Gai Savoir (1969); Grin Without a Cat (1977); Hail Mary (1985); La Jetee (1962); King Lear (1987); The Koumiko Mystery (1965); Level Five (1997); Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004); Matrix (1999); The Mother and the Whore (1973); Mozart and the Whale (2005); My Dinner With Andre (1981); Pierrot Le Fou (1965); Sans Soleil (1983); The Science of Sleep (2006); A Tout de Suite (2004); Week End (1967). (59) My current occupation is starving artist. (60) I read the New York Times: (61) I want to write a New Novel. (62) I've never managed to finish Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, but I'm fascinated by the Battle Royal scene. (63) The BBC is one of my most important sources of information: (64) I don't keep a low profile, I've never been on two-8, and the only Hoover I know is J. Edgar. Fate has blessed me to never become crip-pled, and unfortunately all my blood brothers are anemic. In this day and age it doesn't pay to be anyones disciple, and all my folks are dead. (65) There are many hidden images and links on this page. (66) This isn't the time to escape from reality. You remain opposed to history. Possibly it is your sex (strength has no gender and the qualities of which varies). I've seen your antics on the internet. Cuddling up to friends who aren't really friends. Lovers who aren't really lovers. We all want to be wanted, but for you it is an obsession. Yes, we've all learned about love from films, but in life there is no ending outside of death. I sing a song of love lifted from top 40 radio, knowing that in reality the song isn't about love. It is only about money. Still let us sing for the sake of singing. Fun is most often found within these hidden moments. And when you are alone the memories of these moments will sustain you. Raise your arms to the heavens. Scream out as if in ecstasy. In the United States we have lost all of our passion. True love can now only be found on foreign shores. The men have awakened to this present in their failed attempts at mail order brides and world sex tours. But does anyone remember Paris? Lets promenade up the Champs-Elysées, discuss life in a cafe, or kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower. We must explore all the cliches of this city. Has there ever been a person who has actually read a romance novel? My inspiration is lacking as I write you this love letter. I'm generally disgusted with my lust masquerading as love. Fading quickly from the forefront as I look for a quick escape. Is it only the stupid who drown their sorrows in drink? I've come to realize that only the ugly are satisfied with themselves. To be beautiful is without meaning unless it is placed within a particular context. Also only those that are single truly love themselves. Being single is a form of social masturbation. Divorce is the realization that a weak we is less useful than a strong you. Seattle unfortunately isn't a romantic city, but even in the least likely places romance is possible. Accept in the city of Philadelphia which has swallowed love and flushed it down the Schuylkill River. Love is a commodity that cannot be brought, but as a gift it can be given. Changing hands just as time and the seasons progress. It is during the holiday season when we can really appreciate this change from fantasy to grim reality. For when times are more difficult it is your personal strength that will get you through. Even as the lucid recognition of the moment within our dreams is gone. And all that is left are things that I most likely only viewed on television. (67) I dislike nerd (geek) culture and dissociate myself from it as much as possible. My main objection is its fetishistic attachment to the technological byproducts of capitalism. Nerds aren't satisfied with mere function. Practical use is too boring for them. They declare perfectly adequate technology obsolete in their irrational pursuit of anything smaller, faster, and unavoidably more expensive. And the rest of humanity are carried along kicking and screaming in their wake. (68) It would be interesting to see urban models such as Bria Myles, or Miss Koi, achieve greater recognition. The potential of the urban genre is huge, but real achievement has been elusive. Especially when it comes to transcending national boundaries. Western Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and Asia could provide additional opportunities that have yet to be realized. I believe that in this day opportunities must be culled from the most distant of sources. It just remains to be seen who will be the first to go viral. The urban modeling game unlike other forms of modeling operates completely from the ground up. A career is based entirely on a models own belief in her own success. But who will be the ones that ultimately profit? (69)The Soviet Union was oppressive because all stores were government owned. Women had to stand in one immensely long line for bras, and than go to a separate just-as-long line for panties, only to find in both cases that their size was not in stock. There was only one soda pre-glasnost, Communist Coca-Cola, and you had to drink from the communal cup. [The preceding passage was based entirely on an overheard conversation at a Young Republican rally] (70) Men see women as either objects of desire, or as symbolic reflections of commitment. Commitment can take the form of the life long union of marriage, or the infinite chain of perpetual dating. The female body creates lust in men in ever increasing abundance. Sex is some shape or form is inevitable. What type of body do I wish for in a lover? My true wishes transcends the physical and concentrates on the greater possibilities of the individual. Ultimately there is a need for someone who is worth forming a union with. Ethnicity/nationality is unimportant individually, however I realize the naturalness of entering into a relationship with a Black woman. Race unfortunately still matters and transcends the particular openness of an individual. The real joke is on those who are in love with the idea of being in love. The individual history of the woman is all that really counts. For it is a person's history which truly reveals their true qualities. The questions that everyone must ask themselves are, "What is the relationship history of this person? Who have they loved?" My quest have lead me on an unfulfilled search for the homely, the spectacled, the spinster, and the plain jane. But in this search has something gone amiss? The quiet ones are of the greatest suspicion. The passion of the individual is the real story. What are their interests? What excites them? Are they independent? Loyalty is also very important. A woman without loyalty is a woman who will not remain at your side for long. Unfortunately (from the male perspective) nothing within a healthy relationship falls within the complete control of the man. A man must live with the decisions of the woman. Only by being chosen is love possible. Men must face this truth. What do women find attractive? This can be answered simply or complexly. The obvious answers are physical attractiveness, and the ever mentioned good personality. But most importantly to be chosen you have to actively want to be chosen. A person must place themselves on the auction block in order to in receive bids, although this makes you vulnerable to rejection. Fantasy is all that there is left for those that don't meet expectations. In realization of this I send a non-invite to all women of interest. (71) I'm enjoying how easy google map's street view allows me to retrace steps previously taken: Philadelphia, PA, Manhattan, NY, Santa Fe, NM, and Seattle, WA; and explore places still to be seen: Chicago, Il, Paris, France, London, UK, Barcelona & Madrid, Spain, Milan & Rome, Italy, Melbourne, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand, and Tokyo, Japan. (72) I am teaching myself Esperanto. (73) Reading about the life experience of Langston Hughes made me want to become a traveling poet. I wanted to travel to Paris penniless; tramp on the beaches of Italy; be a part of a failed film in Moscow; and ride the Trans-Siberian Railway. I wanted to be banned from Japan; face the protest of Christians in Carmel, California; and learn Spanish in Mexico. I wanted to live in Harlem; hop a merchant vessel to Dakar; and throw all of my books into the sea. (74) The French New Wave represents the first cinematic period that actual meant something to myself. This creative movement was the launching pad for some of the most important directors in cinema history - Jean Luc-Godard, Francois Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Agnes Varda, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and Jacques Demy. These directors were major proponents of the auteur theory (an idea that essentially championed their own importance). I personally put less significance on stylistic techniques, and innovation than other cinephiles. My emphasis is on storytelling. The stories found within the films of the French New Wave are the greatest testament to this era's importance. Each film being packed full of adaptation, appropriation, conflict, cool, edgy dialogue, youth, and sex. The historic boundaries of what should actually be considered a French New Wave film isn't actually agreed upon. The films that created such a sensation at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival - Hiroshima Mon Amour and Les Quatre Cents Coups - plus the soon after released and equally groundbreaking A Bout de Souffle - are always included. A slim date range would be 1958 - 1963, while broader date ranges such as 1958 - 1967 or 1955 - 1967 also have merit. Some choose to include every film made by the film critics turned directors of 1950s Cahiers-du-Cinema. My Godard-centric nature, and especially my partiality to Godard's earlier work, makes me lean towards the slim date range. There is no real correct answer - the only important thing is the individual enjoyment of the viewer. (75) [FILMS SEEN IN THEATERS / 2009] Adam; American Violet; Antichrist; Audience of One; Baader Meinhof Complex; Beaches of Agnes; Black Dynamite; Black Girl; Capitalism: A Love Story; Chelsea On the Rocks; The Class; Coco Before Chanel; End of the Line; Faubourg Treme: the Untold Story of Black New Orleans; Flame & Citron; Good Hair; Herb and Dorothy; Hunger; Hurt Locker; Il Divo; Inglourious Basterds; Le Combat Dans L'ile; Limits of Control; Medicine for Melancholy; Men Who Stare at Goats; Moon; New York, I Love You; Not Quite Hollywood; Nurse.Fighter.Boy; Oh My God; Paper Heart; Paris; The Road; Skin; Sleep Dealer; Sliding Liberia; Soul Power; Summer Hours; Tokyo!; We Live In Public; A Woman Under the Influence; Youssou N'dour: I Bring What I Love [FILMS SEEN IN THEATERS / 2010] Avatar; Broken Embraces; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Invictus; Police Adjective; Stray Dog; White Ribbon... (76) The true cinematic experience can only be found within a dark theater. (77) I collect Spike Lee interviews. (78) Dejan Petkovic takes all of my corner kicks. (79) I am not a warrior. I believe in peace at all cost. The main problem of this world is institutional acts of violence. (80) Noir Artist enjoys making lists. (81) Individual Activism may be the only true activist option left. I've outlined methods of various usefulness to this end - To Join Activist Organizations // Make Donations to Special Causes // Write a Letter to the Editor // Post in the Comment Sections of Various Media // Volunteer // Call or email Political Representatives // Distribute Activist Information // Network With Other Activist // Take Part in Protests // Commit Random Acts of Kindness. (82) Noir Artist is an unrecognized member of The Youngest Society of Geniuses. Unfortunately the Post-Thaw Generation has completed melted. (83) Noir Artist hasn't joined the Communist Party USA. Currently I am disillusioned with most political parties. The only realistic option for myself is to make my own revolution against Right-Wing hegemony.