t-shirt leads to arrest

A teenager (whose name has not been revealed) has been arrested in Helensvale, Australia, for wearing an 'offensive' Cradle Of Filth t-shirt. Amazingly, in news reports about the case, Rev. Matthew Hunt of Helensvale Church is quoted in support of the arrest. I assure you that this Matthew Hunt is not me, because I actually own this t-shirt.

Subversion

Subversion, by Duncan Reekie is the first book to explore not only avant-garde art cinema and film-making collectives but the entire history of underground films, from the 1920s onwards. The book is a strange combination of dry theoretical discussion and personal polemic. Amos Vogel's Film As A Subversive Art, with its frame-enlargements from hundreds of obscure films, remains an essential study of underground cinema [and is probably my all-time favourite film book]; Subversion does not quite live up to its subtitle (The Definitive History Of Underground Cinema), but it does provide an opportunity to consider underground films within their historical contexts.

Deia Juan Carlos case resumes

Spain's National Court has resumed legal proceedings against the satirical magazine Deia, despite the case being dismissed in April. The magazine's controversial photomontage of King Juan Carlos was originally published in 2006. (In a parallel case, two El Jueves cartoonists are appealing against their convictions after they were fined 3,000 euros for their cartoon of Prince Filipe.)

appeal against Jyllands-Posten acquittal fails

An appeal by a group of Danish Muslims against Jyllands-Posten has been rejected. The appeal was launched following the dismissal of a lawsuit against the newspaper in 2006. Jyllands-Posten printed twelve Mohammed cartoons in 2005; the illustrations ignited an international controversy and were widely reproduced.

(A similar appeal, against the acquittal of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, also failed.)

textbook withdrawn for Mohammed cartoon

A new school textbook has been withdrawn from publication in Norway, as it reprints a Mohammed cartoon and makes an inaccurate claim about the Danish newspaper which originally printed it.

Henry Notaker's book, Eksistens, includes the infamous caricature of Mohammed drawn by Kurt Westergaard, which was originally printed in Jyllands-Posten alongside eleven other caricatures in 2005. Notaker writes that Jyllands-Posten also printed a cartoon of Mohammed with a pig's tail, though this is incorrect and no such illustration has been published.

Westergaard's cartoon came to symbolise the controversy surrounding the twelve original Jyllands-Posten drawings. It was removed from the online film Fitna in April, reprinted by European newspapers in February, and redrawn for the BBC last year.

Kaplan students

Here are some of my Kaplan students, whose course finished yesterday. [Thanks to Nuth for the photo.]

Decorative Arts

Decorative Arts: Style & Design From Classical To Contemporary is an illustrated guide to glassware, metalware, ceramics, furniture, and textiles. The author, Judith Miller, has written numerous antiques price-guides, though Decorative Arts is intended as an historical introduction.

Like Miller's other guides, Decorative Arts is published by Dorling Kindersley. I'm not particularly a fan of DK, as I explained last year. However, I can't argue with the 3,000 glossy illustrations in Decorative Arts, nor with its wide historical scope (from pre-history to the present day). There are more detailed decorative arts dictionaries and encyclopedias available, though Miller's book provides a fascinating overview of the subject.

Flat Earth News

Flat Earth News, by Nick Davies, paints an unpleasant picture of contemporary journalism. It's subtitled An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood Distortion & Propaganda In The Global Media.

Davies criticises journalists for their reliance on wire stories and press-releases, and for never letting the facts get in the way of a good story. I'm pleased to say that the Daily Mail, a reactionary UK tabloid, is one of the main targets: Davies criticises the racist scaremongering and distortion in the Mail's immigration coverage.

Newspaper sensationalism and distortion is nothing new, of course. Press baron William Randolph Hearst (the model for Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane) once reputedly told a photographer: "You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war" (a line which was paraphrased in Kane). Famously, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a fictional newspaper editor explains: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".

Davies was initially inspired by the news media's unquestioning acceptance of government spin regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. As a pretext for war, the UK and US governments both claimed that Saddam Hussain possessed WMDs and even nuclear weapons, warning that he could deploy them against the West at any time. The BBC reported that some of these claims were inserted at the request of UK spin doctors, and after the invasion of Iraq, the WMD threat was exposed as a gross exaggeration. (Alastair Campbell wrote about his involvement with this issue in his diary, published last year; Davies claims that Campbell's criticism of the errors in the BBC's coverage was a smokescreen to cover the errors in the government's dossiers.)

Flat Earth News is a necessary book, because media literacy is so crucial in a media-saturated culture. Life truly has few greater pleasures than a quality newspaper, though we should always read actively and, sometimes, skeptically.

if you don't stand up, you're mad!

Another person has been arrested for refusing to stand for the royal anthem at a Thai cinema. Rachapin Chancharoen has been accused of lese majeste by other members of the audience, in a case echoing that of Chotisak Oonsoong (who is facing the same charge following his refusal to stand at a cinema last year). Surely if someone chooses not to stand up, it should be nobody else's business?

Furthermore, the police have speculated that Rachapin may be mentally ill, as if a sane person would never refuse to stand. They should realise that standing up (or rather, sitting down) for your beliefs is not a sign of madness.

El Jueves cartoonists appeal

Two Spanish cartoonists, Guillermo Torres and Manel Fontdevila, are appealing against their 3,000 euro fines and lese majeste convictions. They were responsible for a banned cartoon of Spain's Prince Filipe published in 2006.

A World History Of Architecture

The second edition of A World History Of Architecture, by Michael Fazio, Marian Moffett, and Lawrence Wodehouse, has been published by Laurence King. The book presents a global history of architecture from Stonehenge to the early 21st century. Like Graphic Design: A New History, it is another in the publisher's impressive collection of historical surveys of various artistic fields.

The ultimate authority on architectural history is Banister Fletcher's A History Of Architecture, edited by Dan Cruickshank, currently in its twentieth edition. Fletcher's volume has an almost incredible 4,000 illustrations, while Fazio et al. provide a 'mere' 700. However, Fletcher's text is less accessible, and less affordable.

1,893 websites blocked

According to the Thai government, access to 1,893 websites is currently blocked within Thailand. The figure was provided under the Official Information Act, following a request from FACT. (The Act stipulates that all enquiries must be answered within two months; FACT had to wait for over a year.)

The official total of 1,893 blocked sites is a mere 10% of the unofficial MICT blocklist, leaked by FACT last year. Also, the Computer Crime Act forbids the blocking of any website without a court order, and so far only one such order has been applied for: to block a website selling Beagle Buddha merchandise. (The ICT Minister had previously encouraged hackers to illegally disrupt potentially offensive websites; the Beagle Buddha site is unblocked, as the court order has not [yet] been granted and the site has not [yet] been hacked.)

100 X France

As part of the 4th Month of Photography for this year's La Fete festival, the Queen's Gallery in Bangkok is hosting 100 X France, an exhibition of 100 images from the history of French photography. The exhibition opened yesterday, and runs until 8th July.

The exhibition includes some of the most famous photographs ever taken, and a roll-call of the greatest photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, et al. The exhibition's poster features Theophile Feau's famous images of the Eiffel Tower in mid-construction. The earliest extant photographic image, an 1826 'heliograph' by Joseph Niepce, begins the exhibition. There is also an example of Etienne-Jules Marey's Chronophotographie. Photographs by several artists from other mediums are also included, such as a book cover by Marcel Duchamp and a portrait by Agnes Varda.

Bill Henson photographs not obscene

The twenty Bill Henson photographs removed from an Australian gallery last month have been cleared of obscenity. The gallery's Henson exhibition (Proof Of Age) has now finished, though the controversial images will be on view again in the near future.

essential films (personal lists)

One of my first websites, in 1997, was an alphabetical list of 250 'greatest films', later expanded to over 2,000 entries. Just imagine how many hours I wasted compiling that!

So, after the following (chronological) film lists, I promise not to compile any more in the foreseeable future...

25 Essential Films

• A Trip To The Moon
  
• The Birth Of A Nation
  
• The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari
  
• Battleship Potemkin
  
• Un Chien Andalou
  
• The Rules Of The Game
  
• Gone With The Wind
  
• Citizen Kane
  
• Casablanca
  
• Double Indemnity
  
• Rome: Open City
  
• Tokyo Story
  
• On The Waterfront
  
• The Seven Samurai
  
• The Seventh Seal
  
• The Searchers
  
• Vertigo
  
• Breathless
  
• 8 1/2
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• The Godfather
  
• Jaws
  
• Star Wars IV: A New Hope
  
• Raging Bull
  
• Pulp Fiction

I've allocated only one film to each director, which means that some classics (Intolerance, Rashomon, Grand Illusion, Persona, Touch Of Evil, Taxi Driver) and personal favourites (Apocalypse Now, Dr Strangelove, Psycho) are omitted. Some great directors are unfortunately excluded altogether: Fritz Lang (Metropolis), Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday), and Woody Allen (Annie Hall).

The list has gone through many revisions. Some of the films either cut or replaced at the last minute include Singin' In The Rain, Some Like It Hot, Bicycle Thieves, Out Of The Past, and The Wizard Of Oz.

Finally, a comprehensive list: 555 Essential Films.

Italian Film Festival 2008

Bangkok's Lido cinema will host the Italian Film Festival 2008 later this month, from 18th to 25th June. One of the highlights will be Martin Scorsese's documentary My Voyage To Italy (20th and 25th June at 6.30pm). Scorsese's documentary (in the style of his earlier A Personal Journey Through American Movies) is a four-hour tribute to Italian cinema, from Cabiria to Federico Fellini. Scorsese's most passionate comments are reserved for Neo-Realist classics such as Rome: Open City and Bicycle Thieves.

BBC journalist accused of lese majeste

Thai police officer Wattanasak Mungkandee has submitted evidence against BBC journalist Jonathan Head, after accusing him of lese majeste and, incredibly, of being in league with Thaksin to destabilise the monarchy. Wattanasak identified eleven 'inappropriate' BBC News articles, some of which commit the 'crime' of positioning photos of Thaksin above photos of the King. He also cited a 2007 FCCT seminar which Head moderated; at the seminar, Head broached the unmentionable subject of succession: "the King is now eighty; he will not be around forever". Wattanasak was also the officer who first accused Jakrapob of lese majeste, again after an FCCT speech: clearly, he is either paranoid or angling for a promotion.

The C Word

The C Word, rather cumbersomely subtitled How We Came To Swear By It, was broadcast by BBC3 in the UK on 30th July 2007. The programme, directed by Pete Woods, was an hour-long investigation into attitudes towards the c-word, making Channel 4's A Brief History Of The F-Word (2000) seem tame by comparison. It was a fascinating programme which managed to touch on all of the major debates surrounding the word.

The presenter, Will Smith, was quite annoyingly middle-class; he looked a bit like a young Stephen Fry, and I wonder why Fry himself didn't present the show instead. Smith made the class aspect of the word a major focus, which is something I've always avoided because I feel that it's out-dated. Also, he interviewed the increasingly ridiculous Eve Ensler for far too long, perhaps because more important people such as Germaine Greer had clearly turned him down. (Greer made a ten-minute segment about the c-word for BBC1's Balderdash & Piffle in 2006.) Smith told us that the word's first appearance in a newspaper was in The Independent in the 1980s; this 'fact' has been regularly repeated, though my own research has antedated the c-word's first appearance by over a decade.

[Full disclosure: I was invited to take part in this programme, but I couldn't fly back to the UK at a suitable time.]

Into Me/Out Of Me catalogue

Into Me/Out Of Me was an exhibition conceived by Susan Sontag and curated by Klaus Biesenbach. It brought together iconic works from the past forty years of body art, and was organised into three broad themes: metabolism, reproduction, and violence. Over 130 artists were represented, including Andres Serrano, Carolee Schneemann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Judy Chicago, Hermann Nitsch, and Damien Hirst. The result was an extraordinarily comprehensive retrospective, probably the widest survey of body art thus far.

The exhibition catalogue is arranged alphabetically by artist, rather than according to the three categories of the exhibition itself. It resembles The Artist's Body (from Phaidon's Themes & Movements series), though its images are more explicit and its introduction is more anecdotal.