Pedro Almodóvar is writing about his new movie Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) which is partly shot in Lanzarote and staring Penelope Cruz. His posts are available in Spanish, French and English. For instance, there are notes on a couple of screen tests (first picture below).
The film is going to be released in spring 2009.

Here is an excerpt about his photophobia:

If you ever find a photo where yours truly appears, in an interior, hidden behind dark glasses and a hat, don’t think that I’ve turned into a jerk in search of glamour, I’m just a director who suffers from photophobia, scorched by hundreds of kilowatts of light.
But, in the cinema, the light is what matters. Without the light with which Von Sternberg lit Marlene’s face, Marlene would never have been Dietrich, she would have just been a sarcastic girl who was verging on chubby. The magic is in the light, so I won’t complain.
Bye for now.

“European porn-start beginning her career in L.A. This is no use either.”
© Pedro Almodóvar

“Lluis Homar (in vintage) fixing Penélope’s Chanel (also vintage) while she’s daydreaming.”
© Pedro Almodóvar

“I apologized to my companions in the photo for my conventional outfit (an always attractive Armani tuxedo). To my relief Alaska supported my choice. After fifty, she told me, you become either a gentleman or Sigfried and Roy.”
© Pedro Almodóvar

(…) I intend to say as little as possible about the story and the characters, I’ll wander around on the fringes, in purely tangential elements. You’ll think I’ve got a real cheek, and I’m sure you’re right. (Anything to celebrate the lack of intermediaries). I’ve been nurturing a dream for some time. I’d like that at least once spectators would go to see one of my films without knowing what it’s about.
I know that it’s an almost impossible dream, but I’m going to try to get as near to it as possible. Still, I am going to show lots of images of the different processes, images that will be transferred directly from my camera to this page. (source)

More pictures after the jump.

Read all of "Gay Pride Frankfurt"

Fuck the Pain Away sung by Miss Piggy. (via exdirk)

Earlier: Miss Piggy almost nude

Gay Pride Frankfurt is this weekend & we’re awaiting Mary Messhausen for the parade tomorrow.

In case you’re going to be about town and still looking for a bag or you just ordered your Kelly and it hasn’t arrived yet, fear no longer: Now you can get your Kelly paper bag from the Hermes website. A couple of styles are available, just cut & glue. (via jocko)

Finally, here is Doc Nancy from the Maths Ship. She’s got a new quiz and is glad to counsel you with your problems. Doc Nancy is in. More pictures after the jump.

As I am a spokeswoman of the Year of Mathematics I am very busy these days to bring the infinite joy of numbers and calculations to the people. The highlight of this noble duty was my visit to the Maths Ship. Going there just felt like finally coming home. The visitors where mesmerized by the exhibition of those wonderful mathematical phenomena depicted in beautiful colors and shapes. They appreciated my further explanations and the crazy patterns of the wallpapers worked great with my outfit.
This experience told me that I am ready for another mathematical life counseling session. As always you can leave any of your personal problems in the comments section. I will give you the answer to your question from the mathematical point of view. No matter if you have problems in your love life, with your styling or whatever: There is always a formula that can help!

One of my dearest readers told me that he urgently needs another mathematical challenge from me. Thus, in addition to the counseling session I’ll introduce to you a famous mathematical problem called The Costume Jewelry Problem:
Imagine you’re on a game show and you have to choose one out of three doors. You know that behind two doors is only costume jewelry and behind the third door is real jewelry plus everything else you ever dreamed of. But you (unlike the host) don’t know what is behind which door. After you made your choice the host opens another door with costume jewelry behind it. Then he offers you to take the other still closed door instead of your first choice.
Now the question is: Is it an advantage to swap your choice or to stay by your first choice in order to increase the chances to win everything you ever dreamed of? Or doesn’t it make any difference at all?
There is no prize to win as the solution might be quite easy to google. But those among you who loved the quizzes might have great fun with this problem and get some insight to the strange world of probability theory.

To sum this up, you can send me all your problems as this is a mathematical life counseling session or you can leave solutions for the Costume Jewelry Problem or any other comment you would like to make. I will gladly respond in any case.

Love,

Nancy

Read all of "Doc Nancy Will Help You"

To sweeten the time until Doc Nancy comes back with her mathematical life counseling session, why not count to 4? Apparently, Feist and the Muppets love it. Watch the clip below.

I guess I can say we had a wonderful night at Parage. Everyone was worried it was going to be empty because of the new Rauchverbot in Cologne. But au contraire, there was dancing at Sixpack.

I wish there were cute pictures of Malo, Bernd, Viola, Michi, Oliver, Herr Krebber, Michael & Peter but all I can give you is me on crutches. What can I tell you? I only wanted to have some fun & now someone said I might have a dancing-sporn. This is just screwed up (verkorkst).

Parage
Thursday, July 10, 10pm
DJ’s Viola Klein and produzentin
Sixpack, Aachener Str. 33, Cologne

I’m very excited for Thursday. Thank you Peter for the invitation.

I’m basically overdosed on Gaudi.

Please send all your broken colorful tiles to my attention and I’ll prepare a turtle world out of them that will rival the Sagrada Familia but gayer. It shall be called “Gay Guell Tortuga (Gay)”. It shall take 77 years to be completed but it will not be finished ever. Think of it as an objet.

The turtle world will provide happiness to all people and will open everyday at 9 am. But the best pictures can be taken before 8 am, before the tourist busses arrive.

The merchandise shop will be open 24 h. The customers will be served free water.

Turtle World (Rendering 1)

Bearcelona: The Gaudi Years

I would love to see a picture of the beheaded Hitler from Berlin’s Madame Tussaud’s. I’ve googled it a bit but can’t find it anywhere… Last Saturday, the second visitor of the newly opened wax museum ripped of Adolf’s head. Amazing.

I’m back in Frankfurt after my Bearcelona vacation.

Here is a greenscreen version of Mariah’s Touch My Body video. It’s perfect. Everything that is not Mariah has been cut out. Thank you Oliver Laric.

(via omgblog and fourfour)

German Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe

Reading the daily newspaper Que the day after Spain won the Euro 2008 in front of the entrance to Sagrada Familia

More on flickr