Straight Line by Not Here No More, ƟE←¤
January 9th, 2011 6:30 PMIt felt like the end of Holy Mountain. Spoilers are going to abound here. The movie has a twist ending of sorts, but it's more than worth watching even if you know how it ends. After a wonderfully psychedelic and surreal journey with Jesus, the descriptions of the most post-real lives of eight amoral archons and shifty businesspersons, all of the characters go on a trip to the titular rocky outcropping. They intend to interrogate nine immortals at the top of the mountain who hold the secret to their infinite longevity. While the eight businesspersons, Jesus, and a mad alchemist move, they are cut down, one by one by various sins and confusions. They come upon a bar (Similar to the opulence of Tom and Terry) where everyone recites awful poetry and does far too much LSD. They move n, further, cut down again and again until they finally see the table of the immortals. They move to the top of the mountain, touching one of the immortals (All of whom rest their heads on a stone table) They are revealed to be husks, white clothing with no anatomy inside it. One of them is the alchemist, who then, right there, states the words "Zoom Back Camera." The camera follows his order, revealing the apparatus of the film, as well as the fact that the mountain shown to be the objective of Christ, the Alchemist, and the other's travels is but in the distance and they have never reached it.
This is what straight line felt like, an unreachable, ultimately illusory goal that was never really meant to be found. When we saw Eureka Street, we were forced to glean something from disappointment. Sutro is meaningless, and will always be just out of reach of the pedestrian.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6308.JPG
Pirate Cat Radio, a tiny transmitter dwarfed by the most titanic final supposed destination.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6309.JPG
One of the many artifacts of Elsewhere we found on a brief segue toward SoEx to visit a comrade of ours.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6310.JPG
Maddie thought this was cool, and dropped it in the task, and I can't get rid it it, but, forsooth! Its' pretty cool!
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6311.JPG
Monotony with his cayenne mocha from Pirate Cat. A glorious beverage of glory. And spicy. Oh so spicy. Painful, painful spicy. But oh so good. Good, good good.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6313.JPG
Everybody should go here! Anna One's gotta piece in this gallery!
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6312.JPG
Something we found. All of these things that we've found around the city have funny names. This one, oddly, matches up to a tag that M. Ruth and M. Claire have signed things with.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6320.JPG
And now, the path. It was straight ahead. We took the left side of the street.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6321.JPG
Glorious murals in our walk through The Mission.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6323.JPG
Closer, closer. People were a bit of a pain in the ass, having to wait, or go extremely slowly until they turned corners and fled into the rest of the world.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6325.JPG
Until we got to the hills, the sidewalk was relatively free of blocks.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6328.JPG
Though the belongings of a shopping cart man proved highly frustrating. The man, when we stopped until he moved it was perplexed. "Yeah man, I know I gotta lotta stuff here...It's heavy man, heavy. So heavy I could die."
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6333.JPG
Jodorowski would be frustrated.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6334.JPG
One of the first problems, a fence of grand difficulty. Maddie, being on the furthest left, was obliged to scale it.
12.21.2010.23.05IMG_6335.JPG
WILL SHE SUCCEED?
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6339.JPG
Smug bastard.
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6342.JPG
One of the turns in the J's line across the city. Unnerving to walk across, feeling as if the train's going to smash into you from a blind corner.
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6343.JPG
And this is where we got fucked. We waited on this block for twenty odd minutes, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do about it, contemplating if we should go under it, jump over it, what in fuck's name to do...
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6344.JPG
But we were saved. A most serendipitous occasion. Some twentysomething hopped in the driver's seat as we moved away from the car, saving the task.
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6348.JPG
We also found this. Tom and Terry are festive, festive men.
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6350.JPG
Who also seem to have a thing for K-Nex.
12.21.2010.23.07IMG_6355.JPG
Spiky plant in Bryce's way.
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6363.JPG
Fire hydrants are pathetic obstacles.
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6366.JPG
Asthmatic climbin' time ahoy!
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6369.JPG
Probably the most unnerving of street signs for a couple of teenagers who look close to the definition of sketch.
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6370.JPG
Down the rabbit hole. Those trees were right bastards to get around, too.
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6374.JPG
And this is where it ends, between two houses. We contemplated climbing the fence and following the lure of Sutro for a while longer.
12.21.2010.22.58IMG_6375.JPG
13 vote(s)
APR dreamlands
5
Ty Ødin
1
Lincøln
3
relet 裁判長
3
Sombrero Guy
4
Samantha
4
LaughingBear
3
teucer
5
rongo rongo
4
Kate Saturday
5
artmouse
4
V M
3
Ryan
I hadn't thought about so many transient but troublesome obstacles, like parked cars or slow people. The city completion of this task is so different from the country version.