My journey after The Warriors through Van Cortlandt Park

I previously wrote of how I found inspiration in the film The Warriors (1979) for a variation on Apocalypse World's implied setting that I felt more comfortable running with. I have since read the book that the film is loosely based on, also called The Warriors, published in 1965. I will probably not take too much out of the book - it is powerful, and more raw, but also full of content that I would be uncomfortable playing with, and I am glad did not make it into the movie other than through implication.

I was, however, impressed with the further details about the journey itself, from the confab in Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx, back to the gang's home turf in Coney Island. So when, towards the end of my visit to New York City (where I visited MoMA, and did other things besides), I ended up with most of a day to myself, I decided to have my own pilgrimage after The Warriors.

Originally, I planned to simply take the subway up to Van Cortlandt, look around a little, see some landmarks from the film, then take the subway all the way back to Coney Island, then head back to take my bus. However, I realized that this would mean spending most of the day on the subway, with little else to show for it. So instead I decided to spend a little bit more time in the Bronx, and possibly take a detour to Queens to make use of my complimentary MoMA PS1 ticket, and then return to Midtown Manhattan to catch my bus. That is not what happened.

Instead, once I got to Van Cortlandt Park, a short search online showed me that the scene at the start of the movie was actually filmed in Riverside Park in Manhattan. Having already arrived at my destination, I decided I would walk around a bit to get a better idea of the feel of large forested wilderness sliced through by motorways that comes out in the beginning of the book.

So I walked, and walked, and saw some wildlife, and took some pictures, and continued to walk, and had to double back because you could not cross through the public golf course (first in the nation!), and then went down a path that I hoped would eventually let me cross over to a different path down, to continue with my plans.

A long while later, I found the first meaningful map I had seen in the entire park, referring to South County Trail. "South County", I asked myself? Using the GPS-powered map on my phone, I confirmed my suspicions - I had managed to exit NYC and enter Yonkers, a city familiar to anyone who had ever had to fill out a New York state tax return, or used the train through Westchester County, the County of which I was in the Southern Trail. The first way out that wasn't back was into Yonkers.

I started seeking a local restaurant that looked inviting online, when I realized that time was pressing, especially considering how far I was from my starting point now. So I took a loop through Yonkers, climbed one of its famous seven hills, and found another entrance into Van Cortlandt. This led into a bit of a maze of paths, again unmapped, which, with the help of my trusty phone, I followed back towards the subway station, and then down to Midtown, where I had to rush around to eat a late lunch and then to make it to my bus, out of breath, but otherwise on time.

While this wasn't physically too similar to the journey in either version of The Warriors, I unexpectedly found myself emotionally close to this feeling of being suddenly removed and disconnected from my "home", in this case, the area of the bus station from which I had to go back to my actual home Upstate, and rushing back there through parts unknown.

These types of accidental experiences are the ones I treasure most. You can't entirely plan them. You can put yourself in a starting situation, and open yourself catching them as they come. In life, in travel, in role-playing games.

Modern art and computer graphics

Last weekend I spent a long time at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, most of it covering their 5th floor galleries, holding their "Collection 1880s-1940s". Now that I've been in computer graphics for a while, I feel like I get a bit more of an appreciation for what many of the artists were doing, particularly the abstract ones.

Piet Mondrian's works (like this, this, or this), which used to look like a bunch of rectangles, now seem like representations of spatial hierarchies that you would see in computer graphics, like quadtrees or bounding volume hierarchies. Joaquín Torres-García's work here is a bit like a three-dimensional version of this concept, and Irene Rice Pereira's work here is like the visualization of a more elaborate one.

I've always enjoyed Vasily Kandinsky's work, but now pieces like this, this, and this, forming complicated pictures out of simple elements, have me thinking of how real graphical scenes are composed for rendering.

Even Pablo Picasso, that I've always struggled with, has made more sense to me, and I could finally internalize an interpretation I read somewhere, that he was trying to capture a single scene or moving person from multiple perspectives or at multiple times.

I wonder what other art is out there for which I can find a new understanding.

Films I watched in 2023 - Part 2

Continuing the series of short reviews of films from 2023 started here.

Nobody (2021)

Not much for me to say other than it living somewhere in the simplex between Taken, John Wick, and parody.

The Stepford Wives (2004, 1975)

I wish I had not watched the 2004 remake before the 1975 original. Lacking in any force, hateful of it protagonists, too afraid to make any real statement or let any horror linger.

The original, meanwhile, was subtle, focused, and horrific. Highly recommended.

Blade (1998)

A fun little action flick. Like with John Wick, I probably would have enjoyed it more when I was younger, and had I watched it in the cinema. A lot of tropes seen in later vampire media.

Network (1976)

Weird. Surreal. Absurd. Brilliant. A classic even though the kind of absurd, cynical, exploitative television it presaged has become standard.

Event Horizon (1997)

An effective mix of Solaris and Hellraiser.

Barbarian (2022)

Tried to be several horror movies at once, and managed it well.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

A fun thriller. Lets us follow the path of two different protagonists at the same time.

Life After Beth (2014)

A very Jewish-American zombie film, which makes it both close and far for me.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

People definitely had faces! First silent film I've watched in many years. Unpolished in some ways, but definitely pulls you in as you wonder, with the characters, who really is the ripper?

Lady Snowblood (1973)

Dark, slow-paced and contemplative. Watched this with ads, which were quite jarring.

Films I watched in 2023 - Part 1

I watched several films in 2023, but have not really shared my views of them outside of the Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord server. Might as well do it here. This will be the first of several.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

I grew up with the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and moreover, this film was referenced as an inspiration for a sample character in Ron Edwards` Sorcerer, so I was eager to watch this. Or, rather, rewatch it, since I'm pretty sure I did try to watch it once many years ago.

Alas, my past instincts were right. Definitely rougher than the show. Decent cast, poorly used. Writing was not terribly vibrant. I'd also watched the Whedon-written Alien: Resurrection a few months prior to that, so I felt I could safely congratulate the Buffy series writing room for the overall quality of the show. Although maybe it's motivated reasoning due to what came out about his treatment of others, especially on the shows I liked so much.

John Wick (2014)

Felt much more like spectacle than anything with underlying content. Probably would have enjoyed it had I watched it as a teenager on the big screen.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

A childhood favorite, still stands up after all these years. I had also recently rewatched The Terminator, and it was interesting to contrast them. Not many directors can be said to have caught lightning in a bottle more than once like James Cameron did with this and Aliens. The movement from horror towards more action and some levity is similar in both.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

This used to be the Film that Shouldn't Be Named Lest It Be Spoiled By Context in certain online circles I was in. Let me just say that after a strong, unnerving start with abhorrent protagonists who really got me in the mood to watch some psychological splatterpunk, the rest of the film truly disappointed me. A complete disconnect that left me cold and bored.

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

A mixture of tropes and content from H. P. Lovecraft's work, with a protagonist called Harry Lovecraft. The premise of an alternate universe late 40s LA with magic being widespread but dangerous and corrupting was interesting, and built into a compelling world. There were some aspects that really bugged me, which I guess is also in line with the source material.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

This I wanted to watch as thematic background for Apocalypse World. I ended up going in a different direction, but this was a very good film. The 2005 Disney redub had very convincing voice-acting, and I was weeping towards the end. Nausicaä herself was a very interesting protagonist, insisting on fighting for the right ends only with the right means.

Spirited Away (2001)

I thought to continue with Miyazaki works I hadn't watched by choosing this. I wasn't as taken in by it as by Nausicaä, but I did relate to Chihiro, as I used to be this obnoxious, anxious kid who kept thinking his parents and others were doing things that will get everyone In Trouble.

Strange Days (1995)

It's always interesting to look back to the 90s and remember how apocalyptic the transition to the 21st Century was thought to be. In terms of content, it takes a concept that featured in Neuromancer and a lot of cyberpunk media since - of being able to record someone's sense perceptions and then experience them yourself later - into very disturbing territory.

First Blood (1982)

A very somber film. Obviously not as much an action film as the sequels. I might have read too much into it, but I felt like it was built to give a sense that Rambo was bringing the Vietnam War to the people who were trying to suppress him, and through him, US involvement there and its consequences, down to having what I usually associate with jungle sounds in the very non-jungle-like forests of the Rockies.