Tour de France: When the Second Best Man Becomes the Best (Or: Showdown in Angoulême)

commentary and criticism, sports

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Yesterday, Spanish Boy Wonder Alberto Contador won the Tour de France. The time trail from Cognac to comics capital of the world, Angoulême, was in reality the last chance to change the top in the general classification (GC). Indeed, this was an exciting time trail, in which the three leading riders rode as though they were fleeing from the Devil himself (or perhaps just from the scandals of the Tour?). Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer beat everyone, but his competitors Cadel Evans and fellow Discovery rider Contador rode spectacularly as well, leaving the top of the GC unchanged.

So, later today, Contador will be celebrated on Champs-Élysées, standing on top of the podium, next to Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer. Did the best man win? As a commentator on Danish network TV-2 noted: “Yes. If you’re prepared to accept the fact that the man on top of the podium is the second best“. Rasmussen-gate will probably haunt Contador’s victory in the years to come.

Twenty-Five Years Later – Updated!

commentary and criticism, film, tv, video

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This year, it was 25 years ago that the modern classic Blade Runner first flashed across the silver screen. Just in time for the anniversary, the film has emerged from years of copyright limbo and it has finally become possible for director Ridley Scott to finish a final cut of the film that matches his original vision — as he sees it today – as closely as possible. Blade Runner: The Final Cut comes out in October, but unfortunately won’t see theatrical release, though special screenings will be held in New York and LA, so copies for cinematic presentation will at least exist — important when one takes into consideration the film’s enduring life in theatres worldwide since its original release in 1982.

The official release, however, will be on HD & Blueray DVD, in five different sets (image here), the most complete of which will include all existing versions of the film, except the so-called ‘San Diego Preview’ but including the hallowed, elusive ‘Workprint’ (click here for an overview of the different versions) – which includes a good deal of other material that didn’t make it into the theatrically released versions – as well as copious amounts of extra material, including a comprehensive documentary on the film. This is, of course, great news to all Blade Runner afficionados, but one cannot but worry a little that Scott has tampered too much with it, negating some of the imperfections that made the old Blade Runner magic.

Hype: De Freston & Foulds

hype & linkage, pictorial arts

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Just wanted to plug the blog of one of last year’s students here at Cambridge, Tom de Freston and his friend Andrew Foulds. They are both painters and have now started a blog showcasing their work all the while providing a forum for their thoughts on art and such. There’s some good work there – Tom has an acute sense of saturated, rich colour that I dig. Above is reproduced a riff on Titian’s Danae. Check it out.

Mangismo i betalingsstandsning

comics and cartooning, journal


Mangaforlaget Mangismo meddeler på sin hjemmeside, at forlaget er gået i betalingsstandsning. Forlaget forhandler i øjeblikket med mulige købere, og mener at et salg er sandsynligt. Dermed vil bl.a Hellsing, Samurai Deeper Kyo og Kare First Love fortsætte med at udkomme, så læserne ikke bliver ofre for forlagets økonomiske problemer. I øjeblikket er der dog udgivelsesstop på samtlige serier, gældende for både Danmark, Norge og Sverige.

Her på Metabunkeren håber vi på den bedst mulige udgang på den meget triste situation. En ærgerlig udgang på et ellers meget spændende forlagsprojekt.

Hype: Simon interviewer Kim Fupz!

comics and cartooning, film, tv, video, hype & linkage

fupz.jpgI seneste udgave af sin klumme på Seriejournalen har Simon Petersen scoret sig lidt af et scoop – eller måske rettere: han har tænkt i baner de fleste andre danske tegneseriejournalister har forsømt – og taget kontakt til den frafaldne blad- og serietegner og nuværende filmmanuskriptmaskine Kim Fupz Aakeson. Man kunne godt ønske sig, at Simon havde brugt lidt mere tid på interviewet, men i det mindste har han lavet det. Og det er cool. Læs det.
 
 
 

Tour de France: Exit Chicken!

commentary and criticism, sports

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BREAKING NEWS!
The maillot jaune is out of the Tour de France! As mentioned in the blog entry below, Rasmussen seems to have lied about his whereabouts in June, and his employer Rabobank has kicked him out! Read the whole story on velonews.com!

As I also wrote somewhere below: “Good Lord, when you think there can be no more surprises, there’s always another one around the corner…”

Vive le Tour! I still think Rasmussen was the right winner!

Tour de France: ‘Cycling is War’

commentary and criticism, sports

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Just moments after finishing my last post on le Tour, Alexandre Vinokourov was tested positive for blood doping. Though Vinokourov claims he and his teammates are the innocent victims of a conspiracy, Team Astana has left the Tour (Vinokourov also stated that he has no intentions of wasting time proving he’s innocent…!).

Now, some 24 hours later, Christian Moreni of Team Cofidis was tested positive for using artificial testosterone. Moreni confessed immediately after, and has been arrested by French police. Team Cofidis has now followed the trail of Team Astana, out of the Tour.

The allegations against Rasmussen continue: a former Italian rider claims he met Rasmussen in Italy in June, when he is supposed to have been training in Mexico. We also understand that the French really don’t like Rasmussen, though his riding style has proven spectacular and deeply entertaining. Too bad for Tour-boss Prudhomme and ASO chief Patrice Clerc that the doping sinner of the day is, unfortunately, from a French team. Our condolences go to the Goody Two Shoes of French cycling organizers…

The Spanish Cartoon Crisis

comics and cartooning, commentary and criticism, current affairs

el_jueves.jpgIt never seems quiet on the cartoon front these years. Today cartoonist Guillermo and writer Manel FontdeVila are to appear in court for having depicted Spanish royals, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, fornicating on the cover of last week’s edition of prime satirical magazine El Jueves. Not content to have forced its retraction by the publishers and closed down most of their website, the state prosecutor (apparently, the royals themselves haven’t addressed the cartoon at all) is going all the way. Guillermo and FontdeVila risk up to two years in jail.

That an otherwise enlightened country like Spain – in many ways an exemplar to an increasingly reactionary Europe – still has a law against insulting the crown, and actually takes it seriously, is discouraging to say the least. I’m in no way in favour of insulting people who by default are in the spotlight 24-7, but to actually prosecute those who do it is wrong on the face of it, unless we are talking about outright slander. This is not slander, merely a humorous depiction of a couple doing what most couples the age of the royal couple frequently do, accompanied by a cheeky text referring to a recent law compensating couples for having babies. Perhaps a little humiliating, but totally harmless. Instead of merely shrugging, the state prosecutor has turned it into a freedom of speech-clampdown.

Tour de France: We Few, We Happy Few

commentary and criticism, sports

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At least in the Danish coverage of le Tour, everyone’s reporting that viewing figures are dropping massively throughout Europe, due to – yes, you guessed it! – cycling’s doping-infested image. Danish paper Berlingske Tidende also ran an article claiming that the drop in popularity is exacerbated by the fact that a certain Dane is very close to winning the race. Audiences wants a winner from Germany, France, Spain, USA, heck, even Borat-land Kazakhstan! In the Metabunker, things are different. Firstly, we don’t care about the nationality of the winner, though it’s somehow funny and surprising that the leader of the pack, Mr. Rasmussen, is from around here. Secondly, we like the fact that this year’s Tour is dominated by tiny climbers (such as Rasmussen and Boy Wonder Alberto Contador), rather than heavy muscle guys such as Lance Armstrong or Jan Ullrich (though those guys certainly haven’t been replaced properly yet, riders such as Klöden, Vinokourov, Leipheimer, and Evans do their best). And thirdly, we enjoy being humble spectators with no obligations or responsibilities. Tour director Christian Prudhomme and UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) chief Pat McQuaid are surely not allowed that luxury, as they are probably deeply concerned with the future of cycling.

The Gilding’s Titian

commentary and criticism, pictorial arts

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Despite my initial scepticism, I am now quite convinced that the possible Titian sold for a song at Gilding’s, Leics. last week (pictured, above left), is the genuine article (as convinced as is possible without having actually seen the painting firsthand, that is). I’ve now had the opportunity to examine the enlargable lot image at the Gilding’s website, which is far from perfect but still way better than the muddled reproduction that’s been floating around the web, and which you see here. The picture is obviously of high quality and fits well into the group of portraits of unidentified gentlemen, clad mainly in black and white, that Titian painted in the second half of the 1510s and the early 1520s, before hitting the major league as a portraitist a few years later. A good number of these portraits are still extant – the most famous being the so-called Man with the Glove at the Louvre, but it stands to reason that he did many more. It is not thus not surprising that another one should turn up this way.