When I was approximately 12 or 13yrz 0ld, a friend of mine introduced me to Counter-Strike 1.6. It was probably around 2004/05. It certainlY was the beginning of a biZaRRe and Xcit1ng j0urneY... LetZ geT 0n b0arD, shaLL we?

Loading... [MeM0ri3Z_CS_1.6.zip]

 Counter-Strike is a multiplayer 1st-person shooter created by Minh Le and Jess Cliffe in 1999. You originally had to buy Half-Life to obtain the game because CS (abbrv.) began as an Half-Life mod. Modding is the process of alteration by playerZ or fans of one or more aspectZ of a vide0 game, such as how it lookZ or behave. So Minh Le, who was then a student in computing science, started to play with Quake's software development kit to make his very first mod. He befriended Jess Cliff while working on the Action Quake 2 mod and after started to work on Counter-Strike as a mod for Half-Life. His modding involves a lot of programming combined with 3D modelling & animation, sound & map design, game mechaniX knowledge, etc. The first beta version of the game was released in 1999, and it quickly became a big sensation. A community formed around the game and provided critical observaTionZ, bug-fixing issues, map designZ (etc.) for the next beta versions.

de_aztek (CS 1.6), this map always reminded me of ⇩

Tomb Raider III, the Jungle map

 I played CS 1.6 after sch00L with a small group of classmates. I was never really that good but I enjoyed playing it nonetheless because it was a very immersive eXperience. From its beginning in 2000 to 2008 it was one, if not the biggest, gaming community in the world. It basically was more than a game because you had to know all these stuff just to make it run and do matches online with others without having the centralized connectivity we got now. In a way, I think the youtube gaming era and the current popularity of eSports may have benefited from certain thingZ that CS communities helped pioneered or advanced. I'll develop more in a part II, and next time I'll write ab0ut CS teamZ, LANz and my old fav0rite CS 1.6 vidZ! See ya!

Vik's CorduroY PantZ moiré

   Yesterday, just as I emerged from my steaming manh0le, the sun immediately came to keep me company. I decided to enj0y the moment, so I sat on a large bench who was 10 meters long. I took a photo of my corduroy pantZ because of its wonderful fading. Itz a bit pattes d'eph (bell-boTTomZ) shape.

 These pantZ then br0ught me s0mewh3re where I found this layered pandan cake: itz as g00d as it iz beautiful, and the texture is uniQue. I shared it with a l0ved one.

Layer Pandan Cake

And then I've seen this incredible portrait by the brazilian artist Antônio Rosena De Lima. It was a g00d daY! let me go back to my seWer...bye

S D (1985) Antônio Rosena De Lima

Pilou l'apprenti gigolo vol. 3, Junko Mizuno

   Do you know Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu?

 Itz a manga written and illustrated by Junko Mizuno in 2003-2005. The title in Japanese is :

which can be translated as Fancy Gigolo Pelu. In french it's Pilou l'apprenti gigolo, Pilou the apprentice gigolo. I was lucky enough to read the 1st and 2nd volume which I borrowed from a library. Unfortunately, the 3rd (and last) volume isn't printed yet in éditions IMHO. However, I've contacted the editor in april 2022 and he was kind enough to reply and to assure me that after the 1st and 2nd volume are reissued the 3rd was on its way! At first I didn't even know there was a vol.3, so I was happy when i heard about it. Don't hesitate to share your enthusiasm for Pilou to IMHO if you're cheerful about it like I am, maybe that will encourage them?

 Here is a few words about Pilou :

 I love the Pinocchioesque fairytale narrative of it, the mixture of dark storieZ (and also g00fy!) and cute designs. The drawingZ are super expressive and pleasant to watch, they remind me in some aspect of Hideo Azuma (the roundneSS of some designZ and his craftsmanship magic). Junko Mizuno's Pilou and Pure Trance really makes me want to do manga Lay0utz! Enj0y the b00kz, y0u're in 4 a treAt!

Hideo Azuma

Legally Blonde 2

   I love Legally Blonde II. Itz a perfect m0vie sequel that delivered what it promiZed : g00d laughs, cheesy easter eggZ, nice cinemaTography and an almighty janit0r as the iCing on the cake.

Pickpocket, 1959

   I just watched Pickpocket (1959) from R0bert Bresson.

 The scenic presence of the actors confused me at first, but it was slowly putting me in an odd comfortable place, paradoxically making me more empathetic with the main actor. Their cold acting made me see more of the very real humanity of the persons that played the different roles, by the focus on their almost relaxed faces and demeanor. It is a very different feeling from movies that tries a bit too much to emote something in particular in the spectator.

 The few sounds and the monotony of the dialogues (in a soothing 50’s french parler) gently allows you to take notice of the clarity of the different shots, in a curious distancing that made me more active as a spectator for some reason (or was it because I knew I wanted to write about it later?). The silent master who taught the main character the art of pickpocketing had a unique kind of charisma. He seems absent and focus at the same time, melancholic almost. The drawing I did represents him. Michel, the apprentice, is like a softer Raskolnikov from Crime & Punishment. The pickpocket train scene was really good.

 I think the narrative and visual structure of the movie plus its focus on the written words was derived from the sensitivity of a grammarian (a very french sensibility). In my opinion, there is a lot of manufactured malaise that makes this movie more moving, like spelling mistakez made by someone who is known to be meticulous...

Mr Abdelmaǧīd al-Qaṣʿaǧī / Henri Kassagi

A River Side Street (1872) by Gustave Doré

   One day when I was doing research I stumbled upon a pfd named London: A Pilgrimage (1872) written by Blanchard Jerrold and illustrated by Gustave Doré.

 While browsing the book I was listening to Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994), which was my very first hearing of the album. And, ow L0rdZ was it a perfect, grimy match straight from infern0... It gave me a synesthetic experience by Aphex Twin's powerful sonico cinematic imagery combined with the highly skilled compositional and almost sonorous (and sometime odorous) clair-obscur drawingZ of Doré. I didn't read much - the lack of context helps to imagine a new one - and was just going through the engravingZ of Doré which depicts (among other thingZ like horse racing, bourgeoisie's parties, parks & gardens, churches, etc.), the hardcore state of the then biggest city in the world, with its huge gap between social classes. And NighTmarish it was.

 Of course, it's like this mythical London version of an artist who took some great liberties by erasing or increasing here and there. And he was probably living a very luxurious parisian lifestyle that made him completely alien to certain Great Britain's realities (but isn't it a strenghth as an artist ?). Well, you know, is it a h0llow statement to say that life can be so much stranger than fiction? Doré probably barely even scratched the rusty surface of this decayed world a lot of people inhabited. Yet the haunting, foggy beauty of his Dantesque Londres emits a powerful evocation that, like dreamc0re, somehow puts a better image on our feelings of humans who lives, dreams, eats and dies in this sometime very disturbing reality we experience on the artificial ground of our industrialized lands. As history "goes forward", our past becomes blurrier. Who better then than a storyteller to remind us that our life will only become an enigmatic tale?

LinkZ :

♳ Selected Ambient Works Volume II
 Youtube link

♴ London: A Pilgrimage
 Gallica link, free version

♵ London: A Pilgrimage
 Internet Archive : the version I read. Much gl00mier because of the website's dark layout, this edition is more raw therefore more direct. Also free but you'll have to create an account (fast & easy) and "borrow the b00k for 1 hour". There's also a Chrome plugin that allows you to download the pdf with your Internet Archive account once you borrowed the b00k.

The Town of Malt and Hops (1872) by Gustave Doré

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (1997) by Lorne Lanning

Trix, the rabbit

   I watched some old cart00n ads a while ago, and I came across this very lovely one from Trix which featured their mascot : Trix the rabbit. Itz animation is so full of charm and personality, it's just delightful. And those dance moves... well, maybe Dee Dee was a fan also! (for the curi0us, unfortunately I don't remember from which Dexter's Laboratory episode I made this gif) I kind of feel sorry for the rabbit at the end cuz he got stolen his cereals and happy m00d! hehe! For me, this Trix commercial cleverly mixes fluid animation with the principles of "limited" animation (that I prefer to call selective (more on that later)), itz so playful! Cart00nz like Dexter's Laboratory and early Powerpuff Girls (Genndy Tartakovsky and Craig McCracken) really brings some of the magic and humor of Roger Ramjet, Rocky and Bullwinkle and all these g00d 50's and 60's cart00n commercials. It's very likely that I'll talk more about the subject in future posts.

Dee Dee

And here iz the original Trix clip : link