Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas.

"There are two kinds of Christmas people, those who like their Christmas lights to stay on solid and those who like them to blink. As a kid, I always had a thing for sitting in the dark and watching the lights blink on and off at random. In the end, what we have are these little, great moments. They come and they go. That's as good as it gets. But, still, isn't that great?"

Thursday, December 15, 2005

It's back.

I just read an article by new york times film critic a.o. scott. He's writing about the criteria one has to make and observe in order to successfully gauge the pick of family films this season. He mentions the reaction his 9 year old son had this past summer...

"After I took my 9-year-old and a friend of his to "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" last spring, for example, they kept coming back to the awful final battle, in which Anakin Skywalker's limbs are severed and his face horribly burned. This was a more intimate kind of violence than they were used to encountering, and they needed to make sense of its place in the movie's narrative. They were disturbed as well as fascinated, and what fascinated me was how seriously they took the scene, which is a grisly confirmation of Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader and a punishment for his allegiance to the dark side. In some ways I wish that George Lucas and I had spared them such a gruesome spectacle, but at the same time their reaction to it confirmed the integrity of Mr. Lucas's story."

Damn right, and that's why it's still the best of the series.

Monday, December 12, 2005

'Splosions

I'm on a record pace here, two blog entries in one day.

Real exciting...

Anyway, just got back from the Explosions in the Sky show at the bowery ballroom. One of the best flat out rock shows I've ever seen, it was a short set yet but it was so focused and executed to perfection it's hard to complain about the length. These four guys from Texas don't so much play their instruments as beat them into submission. You get the sense that they own every single guitar string, every inch of the crash cymbal, and every thrash they indulge us with. This music is not created, it is channeled through these four guys and flows through them like electricity. It's this intangible thing that you know is amazing but you can't get a hold on it. It's what I was talking about last week with the images in Malick's Thin Red Line, it's so much about the environment and the place of that exact time and moment. This music isn't about steadfast answers, or knowing every single goddamn thing on the planet. It's about asking the questions, the yearning of that journey. It's about staring up into the sky to see a cloud unfurl, or a star stand alone. It's bliss. So please, if you can listen to some of their music, please do. I think they are one of the best bands on the planet and this show tonight was the reason people go to rock shows. To be reminded that some of the most beautiful music on the planet can come from a place like four guys banging away on their instruments, I think I might just be inspired.

The Only Moment We Were Alone was my First Breath After Coma then With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept. I awoke and I took Your Hand In Mine to Greet Death, I asked it Have You Passed Through This Night? It said I have a A Poor Man's Memory but it appears that The Moon Is Down. I thought that was an An Ugly Fact Of Life and that these were Our Last Days As Children I looked up at The Sky Above, The Field Below and I thought Inside It All Feels The Same. You said Remember Me As A Time Of Day and we had A Slow Dance on this Lonely Train.

so long, so long...

I know in the past I've avoided "personal" issues in this blog. Although the stuff I've revealed about my unhealthy relationship with star wars is enough fodder for embarrassment.

Things have changed with me recently, I didn't want them to but they did. And there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sorry this sounds really cryptic and vague, I guess behind all of this I'm just not comfortable talking about these kinds of issues on an internet blog. I'm not here to piss and moan. I'm sure lots of eyeballs will roll when this post. I do admit i'm being whiney, self-indulgent and just flat out mopey. I don't mean to be, but it's hard to avoid, and everything is sort of fresh. Which then raises the question of why not give it some time and maybe I can sift through the immediate malaise and write something more thoughtful. My answer to that is, if I wait too long, I won't write about it at all. I want to get this down, because it just feels like the right thing to do and it feels good (at least I hope it will).

This is really lame I know (remember the whiney self indulgent defense I gave earlier) But I've been listening to this song a lot and rather than attempt to sort through all of these emotions and splatter them onto this blog, I'll let it speak for me. This has proved far more difficult than I previously expected it to be. I'm not ignoring these emotions, I just can't organize them in any rational way. That's the great thing about songwriters, poets, and all writers in general: they have the ability to speak to and for you. A great song can be personal and universal all at the same time, so I don't feel like this is a cop out.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a bummer. I'm going to try and continue to write about all kinds of things here at bi-mon-sci-fi-con. I'm going to see one of the greatest bands in the world tonight. I'll let you all know about this amazing show later on, although I think nate will do a better job than me. He'll definitely take better pictures, see you guys later...

so long, so long

Hand out the window
Floatin’ on air
Just a flip of the wrist
I’d be wavin’ you goodbye

Drive past the lifeguard stand
Where I sit around waiting for you to remember
Well past the beach hotels
Where the girls are getting’ bronzed on their monogrammed towels

I drive this ocean road
And remember

How the girls could turn to ghosts before your eyes
And the very dreams that led to them are keeping them from dying
And how the grace with which she walked into your life
And stay with you in your steps , pace with you a while
For so long, so long
so long so long

The speaker in this door is blown
So nothing sounds quite right
And I drive this ocean road
And I remember
The small of your back
And the nape of your neck
And the soft way you’d hold me in the night

I remember

How the girls can turn to ghosts before your eyes
And the very dreams that led to them are keeping them from dying
And how the grace with which she walked into your life
Will stay you in your steps, and pace with you a while
So long, so long,

so long, so long

And I will leave under the cover
Of summer’s kiss upon the sky
Like the stone face of your lover
Just before she says goodbye
I was thinkin' that the season could be held between my arms
But just as summer’s hold is fleeting
I was here but now I’m gone
I’m gone

I'm gone, I'm gone

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

say nothing...

The people have spoken
I understand their complaints
I will keep this one short and sweet
For I have nothing more to say...

I came to a horrible realization tonight that my dreams for an epic teen romance to end all teen romance movies have been dashed. say anything... was made 16 years ago and it accomplished everything that could be accomplished with the teen romance genre. Where will I turn? Maybe my unfinished wesley snipes script, or maybe a sitcom about a sassy robot.

Only time will tell...

Seems like a long, long time
Since I've been above you seen and loved you so
You pick a place that's where I'll be
Time like your cheek has turned for me

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Can you still do good with it?

I know, this is going to sound all humanitarian and preachy and what not, but this story really got to me when I first read about it. And I got an email claiming there was something I could do, so instead of clogging all of your email boxes with this message, I will instead post it up here and allow you all to do with it what you may. Just one of the many horrible things going on in Iraq right now, and maybe we can do something about this one...


To those who are holding the Christian Peacemakers Team in Iraq, and to people everywhere of all Traditions of Faith and Peace:

We who write you affirm what all the traditions teach that trace their spiritual origin to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach explicitly that to kill even one human being - even more strongly one who is doing no harm, most especially one who is seeking peace and nurturing human bodies and communities -- is to destroy a world. All other religious traditions agree about the holiness of human lives.

This teaching applies to all innocent Iraqis and foreigners who have been killed or taken away in Iraq out of anger against the US occupation - and it applies with special clarity and strength to the members of the Christian Peacemakers Team who are being held in Iraq. Like us, they too opposed the US attack. They came to serve the Iraqi people. They came not only to urge peace but also to live peace.

We who have opposed the US invasion and occupation of Iraq call on all who live in Iraq to seek the release of these people into safety and freedom. And we call on all people of good will everywhere to join in this call.

No doubt, those who planned and executed the US invasion and occupation of Iraq will cite this action as evidence for the rightness of their action. We utterly reject this logic, and affirm that the war undertaken by the US has multiplied the violence it pretended to oppose.

We hold morally responsible for the lives of these Christian Peacemakers both those in Iraq who have taken them, and those who have brought about the deaths of thousands of Iraqis and Americans by pursuing this war.

Once again, we call for a swift end to the US occupation of Iraq and for peaceful action by the entire human community to assist Iraqis to achieve their own self-government. And we send our loving prayers to those who have become victims of their own loving commitment to peace, justice, and healing.

(Signed by the initial emergency list of signatories below)

Dr Sayeed Sayyid, Secretary General, Islamic Society of North America;
Sheila Musaji, editor of The American Muslim;
Abdul Malik Mujahid, chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago; that Council as a body;
Anwar N. Haddam, elected Member of Parliament of Algeria (Dec 1991), chairman, board of trustees, Education for Life, Northern Virginia, and member, executive committee, Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations of Greater Washington Area (CCMO);
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad of Bethesda, MD; Muhammad Ali-Salaam of Boston; Abdul Cader Asmal, MD, PhD;
Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches;
Rev. Osagefyo Sekou, Director of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq;
Rev. Peter Laarman of Progressive Christians Uniting in California;
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbinic Director of The Shalom Center.

Click here to sign the online petition.

"When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have peace."

Sunday, December 04, 2005

If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack...

I guess I've kind of given up on this blog in the past couple months or so. I don't know why but for some reason, I get the inspiration to write about something, and then as soon as the physical action of the thing starts up, all my energy gets sapped. It's the damndest thing, I think what I've come to realize is that I need to write as soon as my mind conjures up a thought. That way, I could write like a billion blog entires a day ( I wish, most of the time I'm just doodling or mentally un-dressing the female parishioners...Homer said it). The point being, I found something to write about, and I'm going to do it, that's the way it's gotta be and that's the way I gotta do it.

The Thin Red Line is the most gorgeous movie ever made, it's definitely one of the top ten films of the 90's and maybe even the last half century. It has an absorbency unlike any other movie ever made, on no matter what size screen you watch it, you become enveloped by the images. The jungle swallows you up, and your fate is the same as the soldiers. It's the kind of film you know that if you had half the talent, visual bravado, and confidence as these people do, you still wouldn't be able to come up with a tenth of their achievement, although you still really want to try.

So much has already been written about this film, it feels somewhat futile to try and add anything new. I think it's a shame it was overlooked the way it was back during it's initial release, sure it was overshadowed by Saving Private Ryan ( a film I refuse to bash because it is brilliant in it's own way). But I think even without the burden of Ryan, Line still would have been forgotten because it's a war film where soldiers wander into war rather than fight it. It's a war film where giving another soldier enough morphine to kill himself after a fatal wound is the closest anyone gets to an act of courage. And it's a war film not so much about characters and individuals, but about some kind of collective unconscious that floats through the air and intersects through the entanglements of a mind induced to violence, and a nature that has to watch itself be destroyed. That doesn't mean it takes some kind of scholar to appreciate a film like The Thin Red Line, and as much as I don't want to dissect, analyze, or do any of that other cinema studies stuff, but for me, this film works on every single level of aesthetic, content, and execution. Malick has a method of finding the film while it's being shot, and some critics have complained that Line feels incomplete, (it's original cut was 6 hours long, god I hope they release that on DVD some day). I couldn't disagree more, to me there is not a moment in the film that feels wasted or from some other far away part that was never properly developed. Every emotion is earned, every death is felt, and every image is a perfect representation of not a clear and distinct message, but of a feeling or a state of mind that makes the experience of the film so much more enjoyable because it is yours and yours alone. Very few directors can do that, Malick is one of them and forget about all the mythology around the guy, the mystery and all that other bull shit. Just watch Badlands, Days of Heaven, and (hopefully) The New World, and you'll see an artist who has such control over his craft that it no longer becomes his, it passes through as a kind of transcendence between artist and observer and only the best art in the world is capable of that.

One last thing because there is only so many times I can gush about a film, but The Thin Red Line, as previously stated is the most beautifully shot film ever made (for me). Malick has a such a delicate touch that even a shot like that of a jungle leaf penetrated by gun fire being illuminated by the mid-day sun never feels arty or self-conscious. There is one shot in this film that always confounds me with its simplicity and earth shattering profundity. It's an empty hill side, the hip-high green blades of grass gently swaying with the wind. The frame is empty and all of a sudden, the field becomes illuminated by the sunlight, inch by inch, blade by blade. I have no idea how in the world they planned for that, how they executed it, maybe it's all fake but it sure doesn't look like it. I think it may be one of my favorite shots ever, and I could go on and on for this movie. I have to mention the gliding camera movements tracking the battalion's movement over the insurmountable hillsides, the eloquent encircling of a tree trunk, or the peaceful destruction of Witt. It's so hard to convey the exact feeling these shots extract from me, but I can say it's quite close to a state of bliss.

Okay I've yakked enough, it's sunday and it's snowing outside, get out and enjoy it.

"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your suffering will be any less because you loved goodness and truth?"

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Pray for Michael Sullivan

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and all the usual shit people say to each other.

All I got today is a nice little tune, it's so good not even the famous "Conor" himself could screw it up...

i'm waiting for the train
the subway that only goes one way
the stupid thing that will come to pull us apart
and make everybody late
you spent everything you had
wanted everything to stop that bad
and now i'm a crushed credit card registered to smith
not the name that you call me with
you turned white like a saint
i'm tired of dancing on a pot of gold flake paint
oh we're so very precious, you and i
and everything that you do makes me want to die
oh i just told the biggest lie
i just told the biggest lie
the biggest lie

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

all our fears fall on deaf ears tonight.

I went to see the USS Intrepid, or maybe it's just the intrepid, I'm not sure. It's a retired naval battleship if you couldn't guess from the name that enjoyed a rather notorious run during world war II when it sustained five kamikaze attacks and several torpedos during a battle which was not named specifically at the museum. I went because I had to, before you all start assuming I'm into world war II which would be the worst assumption anybody could possibly make about me. I have to write a paper on it now and turn it in the monday after thanksgiving, shouldn't be too hard and I was looking foward to going until I got there and they had a piece of paper on the window to the main entrance indidcating that the flight deck was closed due to inclement weather.

That's just great. The whole reason I wanted to go was to see that stupid flight deck, to stand on its mighty surface and take in the majestic view of the city would have been something nice right? Instead I got gray skies, lots of rain, and a museum with dummy soldiers that really freaked me out (more on that later). Or maybe I'll talk about right now, as soon as I stepped into the museum (which is sort of located in the vital organs section of the ship itself) I felt like I was walking into a graveyard. I got the eerie feeling that this was a ship of ghosts, everything felt very much lived in, even though no one has seen the inside of this ship during battle for well over two decades. The replica/original air craft they stowed inside the museum had these dummy soldiers re-enacting bomb loading procedures, and while they were by no means life like they had a supernatural quality to them that could only be described as someone being turned into a statue by a spell. The memorial inside the ship with all the names of the men who died while serving on it, did not feel like it was honoring the end of their lives, but rather honoring the lives they had on the ship. The warm yet distant nostalgic memory photos of the men living their routine lives on board were so heartbreaking because you forget sometimes that these men lived with each other and not just the enemy for years at a time.

I swear it felt like their voices still echoed through the engine rooms, then I looked up and saw that it was just chatter coming from the mess hall sponsored by McDonalds. Yes, those brave souls certainly fought and died protecting our freedom, our freedom to eat toxic chemical sludge. I'm sorry that's very simplistic and general, but I can't help myself, couldn't they have hired some mom and pop store to be their lunch supplier, did it have to be mcdonalds? It's just a little hard to swallow when you're walking around this historic and epic battleship only to see a sign suggesting that I "Eat chow just like the soldiers did in the McDonalds mess hall." It really took me out of the whole experience, and it cheapened the museum a little bit. Besides aren't there like ten mickey d's in times square alone? DId they really need to spread the seed of their evil empire all the way out to the west side highway? I guess they did and they must have known that history buffs get extra hungry when visiting naval landmarks.

Something else that I found really interesting about the musuem, was the small but nicely ogranized section examining the lives of the Japanese soldiers (no Germans were profiled but I guess that's because Americans did most of the naval battling with Japan). It didn't really examine their lives actually, more like what they were like when they were bombing the American ships. They talked about the Kamikaze pilots and how the idea behind it was not only complete and utter anihilation of enemy combatants, but also that coupled with the glory of self sacrifice for the Nation of people you were defending. It's an interesting paradox to consider, on one hand there's the idea of a shared sacrifice, that your death will be felt by every single person living in the nation you have sworn to protect for the rest of their lives. On the other, your sole desire is to kill and destroy every living thing that is unfortunate enough to be in the closest shade of existance of your enemy soldiers. It's like you have your noble purpose and your kill crazy psychotic purpose and which was the motivating one? And when I say noble I just want to clarify that while I think there is some nobility in sacrificing one's life for the lives of others, that nobility (in the case of the kamikaze) is earned as a battle sacrifice. I don't revel in battle or war of any kind, but if you are engaged in one and you act heroically it should be recognized. The point of all this was that its hard to make the distinction between a noble sacrifice and a senseless slaughter even if it is in the name of protecting the freedom of a nation. How do you justify it to yourself? Do you even have a choice in the matter?

Something else about the Japanese portion of the exhibit that troubled me a little bit: There were two items housed on display, one was a mock business card that read "Official Jap Hunter" with a sub head line that read "Open for Business" or something along those lines. In the little description panel next to the item the words read something like "This card represents the dehumanizing effects of war and the animosity that existed on both sides in the fight for the pacific." Those weren't the exact words but you get the idea, then I walk over a few feet to see a japanese flag, completely unfurled and six different stains each with a hole through them adorning the permiter of the flag. The inscription next to it read that it belonged to a japanese soldier who met his end during the battle for Iwo Jima, the flag had the stains on it because the bullet pierced through it on the way to the Japanese soldier's heart. The flag must have been folded up several times, which is why the stain repeats itself over and over again. I hope that makes sense because it was a really haunting image, this piece of cloth was the last thing that bullet past through on its way to a human body of a Japanese soldier. Anyway, an American took it off the body and wrote with a pen "stolen from a dead jap" and put the date. I was struck by this only because on the inscription next to it, after explaining where the flag came from, it read once again This flag represents the dehumanizing effects of war and the animosity that excisted on both sides in the fight for the pacific." It just made me think to myself that if they have this standard boilerplate response to two completely different representations of war time racism. Then do they think those feelings of hatred are not only natural but expected of a soldier during war time, that it's just this blanket phenomenon that happens whether you want it to or not? During world war II I definitely believed that kind of thing happened to a lot of soldiers, but it is troulbing to me that this musuem dealt with it in a slogan rather than any kind of real insight. They didnt' bother to explore the roots and causes of this problem, they just wrote it off as part of the dehumanization of war. You rarely read about men who fought in the war who were real bastards, everyone sort of becomes these saintly do gooders when they strap on those boots.

There is plenty more to talk about, I have some pictures but my flickr account is full and I don't know how to put pictures just on blogspot by itself. And I don't feel like learning either. It's getting dark now, and I'm reallly gonna try...

"The rungs torn from the ladder can't reach the tumour
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer

Just a quiet peaceful dance!

Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we'll never have."

Monday, November 21, 2005

Corruption is why we win.

Getting back to the matter of things, this being the anti fanboy blogspot, I feel should report on the latest Harry Potter release. Now, before I continue with this critical in depth analysis I should warn you all of something very plain and simple: I don't care much for Harry Potter and the rest of Rowling's crap, in fact I don't care for it at all. It's rubbish mate, and I know, I haven't read a single word of the text so how am I able to make such a critical assessement.

There are some things man was not meant to know.

But I have seen the movies and after checking out the third and fourth installments by two real directors, I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to the first two movies, I've seen better film on teeth. The first two harry potters had no imagination, no visual energy they were almost like re-enactments of the book. Which I guess is all well and good if you love the book, but for the rest of us, I already used up my film on teeth line so I'll let you guys figure this one out. Things improved a little bit with the third film, at least it looked good but I remember being totally disconnected from the story. Nothing about it held my attention for more than three minutes, plus they did this thing at the end with time travel that was utterly ludicrous and amounted to nothing more than showing the same ending twice. Alfonso Cauron didn't just ape off of Rowling's world, he created his own and it resulted in a really gorgeous if emotionally distant film. I feel like he set a precedent with that film and Mike Newell's latest interpretation is pretty much more of the same. That being said, this time I am surprised to report that there were sections, sections mind you, of the story where I was actually involved and I cared about what happened to the characters. That's how the film was for me, it worked in spurts, for about twenty minutes, the film focuses on the jealousy, puberty, adolescent love triangle involving harry, hermonie, and ron, that shit was reallly really good. Steeped in embarassment and mis-understandings, it was like a good angsty drama being played out. Then that part would go away and oh look harry gets chased by a giant dragon, whoopeee, now I'm really back into it. Then at the end harry enters a horrific maze, at the end of which he must confront his mortal enemy and the man who killed his parents: the nazi from Schindler's List. That scene has fear, tragedy, and the kind of mythic scope that makes the story seem more important than it actually is, plus it's accompanied by a really powerful death of a fellow student scene, really potent shit. Then it goes back to this nonsense about magical biting candy and the tri-wizard tournament and I am bored to tears. So I realized what it is I don't like about these movies, the magic. I feel like (and I wonder if rowling's shit is like this too) the makers are too wrapped up in the glory of their own imaginations and they operate entirely on hyper drive when it comes to the whimsical litlte touches displayed in each movie. It gets to the point where I just want to shout, okay I get it paintings come to life, candy can bite you, everything is something in this castle, move the fuck on. I'm not sayinig these movies should be flat and boring (we already saw what that can do when Columbus sailed the ocean blue) but they need to get off the self-satisfied magical nonsense. There should be magic, don't get me wrong but they don't need to underline hightlight or spotlight it whenever it happens. To wrap up, the same issues I had with the first three films were still prevalent here, lame story, bland lead performance by Radcliffe, and the fact that I just don't give a damn about this stuff. But at the same time there were moments and it's a well made film so I guess I'm in the realm of I'll see the rest just to see what happens, but I still don't want to touch a page of Potter. That may sound harsh but look at this way, I didn't even make it all the way to the third lord of the rings movie, I gave up at two. And I don't plan on going back, ever.

In other news, there's a really interesting article up on Rollingstone.com, check it out here
I heard the guy who wrote it on Democracy Now! today, he was pretty interesting, I didn't get to hear all of him because I was working at the time, that's right, I'm in a wheelchair! The article is basically about the lengths to which the Bush administration went in organizing a specific group to spread misinformation and discredit sources who opposed them in the build up to the iraq war. I know it probably sounds like old news but the writer knows what he's talking about and he's not just a muckraker, the detail he goes into and specifics of the article are quite terrifying, but judge for yourself. It's surprising to see such a facist magazine like Rolling Stone print something as damaging as this, but sometimes they surprise you.

That's about enough for now...

"And when they tell you that they think they've got you figured out
And when they tell you that they think they know what makes you tick
And when they step with their 12-point program for being like them
And when they tell you that you're blowing every chance you get
And when they tell you that you're setting up a life of regret
And when they tell you that you just can't get a single thing straight
Well, it's too late
But this is the life
No matter what they say, you know that
This is the life
For better or worse, it'll stay that way"

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Thank god for John Cusack...

Seriously this guy deserves a a full blooded ceremony in his honor where people sit around and talk about how great he is.
Not only is this man responsible for Lloyd Dobler, Martin Blank, Vince Larkin, Captain John Gaff, Nelson Rockefeller, Craig Schwartz, Rob Gordon, and the list goes on and on. He so good I will sit through the most arbitrary boring trash imaginable just hoping I'll get one of those john cusack moments that can brighten the dreariest of fucking days.

Anyway the reason for all this Cuasck love is not only does he make interesting, off the beaten course movies that do not reflect a desire to cash in at a moment's notice (well maybe some of them do, but he hasn't done anything as reprehensible as yours, mine, and ours) but he also wrote this piece for the huffington post, and it's about as dead on as you can be. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think, throughout the piece he makes several mentions of his heroes Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Moyers, and Dr. Martin Luther King and frequently thanks god for their ideas, presence, and words. Which is why I say in response, thank god for you john cusack.

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that."

Monday, November 14, 2005

Insert obvious comment about length of elapsed time between blog entries.


Rip off
Originally uploaded by airman0184.
Ah the years, where do they go?

It seems like years since I've been back on this thing, thirty two years to be exact. I know my adoring public has been clamoring away for some of my sharp insights and biting commentary, ah hell who am I kidding? I kinda forgot about this thing and everytime I was motivated to write something, the idea of writing it and knowing it won't come out the way I wanedt to always halted my process. And by process I mean the act of sitting down in a chair and typing. I'll get back in the groove of things in a little bit, but for now enjoy some picatures. I'll see ya...

"Get with it. Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars, in a speck on one in a blink. That's us, lost in space. The cop, you, me... Who notices?"

"Someday my dream will come. One night you'll wake up and you'll discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you and it never will. Suddenly you are old, didn't happened and it never will, 'cause you were never going to do it anyway. "

Sunday, October 23, 2005

You wanna do the mandance?

So little to say and so much time in which to say it.

Wait a minute...

Strike that, reverse it.

I got really excited about the advanced movie today. Got some pics from the gooney golf course (that is its actual name) and it gave me goosebumps. Well not actually, but I can see the movie now whereas before I was just writing about vague recollections of a really shitty golf course and the people who inhabit it. Now, the course is a character, and this course is the kind of course that for example if you were to say somebody has an unattractive face you would say their face has character like steve buscemi or wilem defoe (bless their nasty mugs). This course has got so much character, its hard to contain it all in one script. The rotting standees, the filthy putting green, the bathroom signs that read out of order instead of men/women. I don't think I even need an art director for this thing, this course is fucking perfect the way it is. It's trash of the highest calibre, and better yet its Delaware/Pennsylvania trash but we're going to swing more to the delaware side on this one. And that's what I want this movie to be about: all the dissappointment, bitterness, and anger that come from living in this state. I am not, however, trying to make the case that delaware is number one shit hole in the country, I know there are at least a baker's dozen worst places on the eastern seaboard alone. But I'm not from any of those places, and Delaware I feel, has its own kind of frustration associated with it that is unique to any other state, I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I'm working on it. And again it's a comedy (supposed to be one anyway) and things are exaggerated for comedic effect, its anger but funny anger. The kind of anger where you just thrash about for a few seconds and then immediately run out of gas and forget why you were so pissed. The kind of anger that displays itself at the most inopportune times, and above all things, it's about how sometimes you half to travel half way across the world...to find yourself. No wait, that was the amanda bynes movie, nevermind. But believe me, the script is nowhere near done, I need to do plenty o' drafts before I can start ripping into that beehive. I probably can't make it entirely about delaware, I'll probably have to broaden it to make it more accessible and maybe none of the points I want to make about delaware are valid. What do you guys think? Remember, it has to be funny above all things. FUNNY.

Saw Stay this aftenoon, kinda dissappointed by it. The script was written by David Benioff who wrote 25th hour and troy and a book of short stories that is fucking brilliant. This script however was so traditional and standard and it bummed me out more so than if it had been written by a hack because I know how powerful this guy's voice is and how captivating he can be. All in all it wasn't a terrible flick, it had an excess of ambition in what it wanted to do, something I can't really hold against it. But for me there was no investment, no emotional impact, it was all surface and camera trickery and in the words of D.A. "weird camera angles." At the end of the film when the final twist was revealed, I found myself wishing they had sculpted a better story out of a really neat concept (no spoilers here, this is the anti fan boy blogspot). Anyway, I thought afterwards that Benioff could have knocked this shit out of the park as a short story, if anyone wants to know the twist by the way, just sign on and IM ME. But oh well, i got a really funny movie friday night and a lame one today, what can you do.

That's it for now, i should go to bed because like manuel, I have a train to catch in 7 odd hours. Good night to you all.

"We don't want your forgiveness. We won't make excuses. We're not gonna blame you, even if you are an accessory... But we will not except your natural order. We didn't come for absolution, we didn't ask to be redeemed. But isn't how it is, every goddamn time... Your prayers are always answered, in the order they're received... "

p.s. if anyone can tell me what this here quote is from, I'll make sure you are in pizza face paradise.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Friday, October 21, 2005

nobody broke your heart. you broke your own cause you can't finish what you start.

I wish I had remembered this in time, but the website www.sweetadeline.net posted that this october 21st marks the second anniversary of elliott smith's death. It's a few hours late, but i just wanted to acknowledge it, it still bums me out.

I have nothing really to add, no profound statements to accurately sum up smiths music or the effect blah blah blah...

I'll let my main man Mr. E do that for me...

R.I.P. ELLIOTT:
EELS are very saddened to hear of their friend and neighbor Elliott Smith's death. E and Elliott had talked about doing something musical together but, sadly, never did. E: "Elliott was very encouraging to me about my songs and that meant a lot to me. He was a really sweet guy that wasn't equipped to deal with some of the cards that life dealt him. I'll always remember walking off stage one night after playing "It's A Motherfucker" and Elliott walking up behind me in the dark and patting me on the back. That's how I will remember him."

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Oh that's right he's dead, and rather pungent.

I finally found some lyrics I felt like sharing with you all...

TEARS TO SHED
What does that wispy little brat have that you don’t have double
She can’t hold a candle to the beauty of your smile
How about a pulse
Overrated by a mile
Overvalued
Overblown

If he only knew the you that we know

And that silly little creature isn’t wearing his ring
And she doesn’t play piano
Or dance
Or sing
No she doesn’t compare
But she still breathes air
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown

If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know

If I touch a burning candle
I can feel no pain
If you cut me with a knife
It’s still the same
And I know her heart is beating
And I know that I am dead
But the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
And it seems that I still have a tear to shed

A sure redeeming feature from that little creature, is that she’s alive
Overrated
Overblown
Everybody knows that’s just a temporary state
Which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate
Who cares
Unimportant
Overrated
Overblown

If only he could see how special you can be
If he only knew the You that we know

If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain
In the ice or in the sun it’s all the same
Yet I feel my heart is aching
Though it doesn’t beat, it’s breaking
And the pain here that I feel
Try and tell me it’s not real
I know that I am dead
But it seems that I still have some tears to shed

Thursday, October 13, 2005

We're the real splitters and no one is fucking with us.

Nothing to coherently tie all of these things together other than they are all awesomely outrageous...

-I've been listening to the jackson browne song "these days" every day for the past couple of weeks. I have become dependent upon it and it's not because I need to listen to it or anything, although it is a very comforting song. I just think it is one of the most perfect songs ever written, lyrically that is, there is not a wrong word or sentiment in the entire song. It has the simultaneous effect of being almost diary entry personal but at the same time universal in a way that all songs strive for but few can achieve. I was listening to mr. browne talk about these days and he said he wrote it when he was 16. What kind of 16 year old writes the line, "don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them." Although he did say it was in a different form back then, but still the tone of the song couldn't have been any different. That baffles me, but I will probably continue to listen to it.

-I really need to see Episode III again, I know a unanimous eye roll is bound to happen as you guys read this, but I was watching the documentary about the original trilogy on dvd yesterday and I just go really nostalgic for it even though it happened only a few months ago. Maybe it's not that I want to see it again so much as I want to go back to that wednesday night midnight showing, I wish I could take myself back to a place where I haven't seen it yet and see it again with my friends for the first time. It is coming out on dvd in a few weeks and we will do the entire trilogy in one day I guarantee you that, I'll be sure to do an extensive post concerning that little hootenanny. There are so many moments I need to see on a screen again: anakin screaming in tortorous pain, uncle owen standing on the crest of the hill as the sun sets in the distance, vader's mask slowly lowering down to anakin's face, the look on yoda's face right before he and sidious end their dramatic confrontation via lightning, the list goes on and on. Maybe I just want to see count dooku snacking on some salt 'n vinegar potato chips again...

-Spike Lee's He Got Game is one of the most beautiful films ever made, if ever a film achieved the heights of visual poetry, I would rank this one up there with any of terence malick's films. The last line denzel's character says to ray allen is one of the best send offs and summation for a character of any movie I've ever seen. No matter how many times I've seen it, that moment always gets to me at the end. Plus its about basketball, I really wish I still played, I think I'm going to take advantage of the palladium gym and start shootin' hoops. I say that every year the more I think about it, I just need to get a routine going where I just shoot around every day. I'm not ready to play competitive games or anything, I just want the ball, the net, and the quiet. Then, I'll start kicking ass, it's such a beautiful sport, I really wish I hadn't let it go. (I'm making this sound over dramatic I was not ever a really die hard serious basketball player, but I did enjoy playing it a lot. And I do miss it.)

-This administration has had more indictments, subpeonas, and court hearings than any in recent history (if that's not true somebody correct me). It just seems like as of recently, everybody's getting their asses handed to them. Granted nothings happened yet but if public opinion is as judgmental now as it was of the Clinton years, hopefully this shit will never leave our minds. I just think its baffling that these guys (Frist, Rove, Scooter, and DeLay to name a few) could have all these allegations of wrong doing toppling down around them and there are still people in the press defending them. The best one I heard so far was that everybody knew of Valerie Plame's CIA identity and leaking it was not a crime as it were. Where's Ken Starr when you need him? Oh yeah, that's right he works for them, there is Fitzgerald but unlike Starr he doesn't seem to want to make the investigation about a second rate witch hunt and instead actually pursuing the various injustices and punishing those who committed them. We'll see how this all plays out, but the really bitter and angry side of me wishes I could stuff this down the red state's throats, I hate to cast such a general net of blame but, I had to get it out and maybe now we can find a more rationale explanation as to how these villains got elected twice. Where's Rage Against the Machine when you need them, they would probably have had ten more albums out if they stuck around. Zack come back.

-Also, what's with these stupid ass nicknames: Scooter? Brownie? Is Bush running a goddamn tree house brigade or something? It all fits into the fact that we have a president with the mind of a five year old running our country. That would explain an awful lot, but I think also most normal five year olds would do a better job than him.

That's it for now, I think.

Yeah...

Yeah definitely...

Yeah definitely, see ya.

"i'll take a dog's life
just layin' in the sun
i'll take a dog's life
'cause i don't care for this one"

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Gabe need help re:tuneskis

Yo Gabe, sorry I'm not calling you but I know how much you love to read this blog. You like reading it almost as much as I like writing it, so the reason I'm posting this is to ask for your help. Please give me detailed instructions as to how you play music on your blog whenever you open it. I know you did it with yours so just let me know, thanks.

-ethan

But I want to debate this particle cube thing...

If you've read Nate's blog, and by this point I'm pretty sure you all have. You will know that he and I attended a speaking event hosted by Dr. Robert Thurman (he teaches at Bone's School). My interest was peaked when I read that the Dustin Hoffman character in I Heart Huckabees (or I Love Hucklebee's, as an anonymous film teacher put it) constantly espoused the theory of inifinity made popular by Dr. Thurman. In other words, the Bernard Jaffe character was sort of based on Thurman. The lecture was titled Buddhism the new enemy of the church, a title about which even Thurman was confused, he was just there to talk about buddhism straight up.

There was so much stuff in there last night, to try to distill it all down to a blog entry would be useless (and from a friendly critique given to me by Gezus, far too much reading) Although, not to get sidetracked here but didn't you, gabe, write an entire nba pre-season out look in your blog, those were kinda long right? Practice what you preach is all I'm saying. And...

Whoop that trick.

Anyway, one of the things that really interested me from last night's talk was this idea of the deconstruction of our identity. Thurman framed it as one of the noble truths of the Buddha, but I forget exactly which one it was. The idea being that we as human beings are absolute in our physical identities. I'm me, that's who I am, and you are you and so on. This kind of thinking however, allows us to partake in the notion that if that is indeed true, and we are so absolute in our one-ness, therefore, by definition, we must be the center of the universe. The problem comes when you think about what are the basic goals for human life, one of them is to be happy. And for a lot of people that happiness only comes by making those around you happy, or when the people you love are happy.

Thurman cited a more speciific example of two people in love, for when a relationship is kicking in high gear you and your partner think the other is the center of the universe, the most important person in the world. What happens next is doubt begins to creep in because of our concrete isolated identities, you begin to think well does he/she really love me the same way I love them. Because in order for you to satisfy your "others" sense of self worth and their own self centered universe, you must sacrifice your own and it is from this dogged pursuit of happiness that suffering is born. The Buddhist ideal is founded in the notion that there is no identity, you are you, but connected to everything that lives, breathes, and dies in this plane of existance. You may not be the center of the universe because you are the universe and therefore your happiness does not depend on a select few feeling a similar state of mind.

I feel like a lot of the time, we are motivated into the me oriented thinking involving own little universes and what not. So, it's actually almost soothing and comforting to think that everything and everyone around you all exist within the confines of infinity, which has no confines! It means the possibilites are endless and a wealth of knowledge about all things awaits you like items piled into a bottomless shopping cart on one of those televised shopping sprees nickelodeon used to show.

Sorry to ramble on, I'm sure I dumbed down whatever fascinating insights Dr. Thurman provided. But check out one of his books, re-watch I heart huckabees (I had to last night after the lecture because it made me giddy in remembering how comicallly alive and curious that film was in exploring the very ideas dr. thurman touched upon) I think it's pretty cool that a movie motivated me to pursuit the quest for more knowledge. Hopefully next time I won't need the movie...

Yoda: Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.
Anakin: I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.
Yoda: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.
Anakin: What must I do, Master Yoda?
Yoda: Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

To Say Something That Means Nothing to Anyone at All

In response to the recent slanderous attacks on my blog posting board, I would like to address the following issues

I am not nor have I ever been a douchebag.

The film in question that was quoted on the very same post board was in fact Changing Lanes.

Pleasantville is a fine film.

Explosions in the Sky is one of the best bands on the planet, I need to know where they are and when they are at any time of the day or night.

And as for the regularity of the posts, I say this in response...

EASE UP! BACK UP OFF ME! YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, on with the post...

With Nate back in the city I've been able to catch up on some much needed to be seen flicka shows. Let's start from the top.
Capote was first on tuesday night and this was definitely one of the best films of the year. I'm a sucker for artists' inspiration stories finding neverland and shakespeare in love come to mind. With Capote, however, it's a completely different take and unlike any of the recent slew of bio pics I have seen crowding our cinemas. First of all, Phillip Seymour Hoffman owns every single inch of this movie. This is his first legitimate starring role (state and main is the closest I think he's ever come), he's always been a great team player by filling in key roles and never hogging the narrative thrust. With this film he is allowed to hog the spotlight a little bit, but he never does it for the sake of a starring role. He is so much the soul of this film that all the camera really needs to do is train itself on his face and all the crap they teach you in film school just pours out of him. Not to say that the director and writer were lazy in any sense of the word, the direction is paced and executed in such a way that you don't usually expect from a first time director (waiting...anyone?) (okay that's not really fair, I haven't seen waiting... but come on you were all thinking it). And the script offers some fascinating insights into the crime itself and the story of its creation as the "non fiction masterpiece of the century". This really is a film to see in a theatre listening to the moments of silence where the rest of the audience is just as enraptured as you are. At least as enraptured as I hope you are.

Thumbsucker, a delightful little romp about four horny high school buddies trying to score on the night of their high school prom, when inadequacy ensues, you can be sure the laughs will folllow. Bet you didn't see that one coming...

Actually Thumbsucker is pretty damn good as opposed to most movies made about teenagers. The key to this film I think is a reliance on non-answers and empty solutions, you just accept that that's all we got and get on with it. Also what I really liked about this film was the portrayal of the parents, in the performances and the writing. Usually in films like this we are used to the bumbling idiot parents who are so cluelessly dumb about what their kids are going through that they substitute any sort of parental concern for spouting out inane and dated hip hop catch phrases. They are merely cartoon versions of parents and it's a rare teenage film that presents parents with anything resembling human behavior. Thumbsucker is, luckily one of those films. The parents are fucked up but struggling to make things right, they don't understand their kids but they want them to be happy even when they have absolutely no idea how to do it to themselves. They have failed dreams themselves and moments when they thought everything they had accomplished was worthless. Thumbsucker has some really touching moments because of this and surprising in how rewarded we feel by the conclusion that everybody is fucked up. The cast is great, including, because I have to mention this in the face of all the nay-sayers, Keanu Reeves. He once again proves that given the right role he can be a really subtle and funny comedic actor. Anyone remember thomas haden church, a once has been joke who is now a golden boy because of sideways? It just takes the right role.

Paradise Now was last night (again thank you dev) and that was at the new york film festival, it doesn't open until the end of the month. I had some problems with the film mainly because it couldn't decide at the end of the day whether it was an issue oriented message film or a character driven drama about two men making an absolute choice when they haven't gotten it all figured out yet. My main issue was the lack of character with the two leads, they didn't possess any individual humanistic traits besides the need to breathe and eat that made them the least bit compelling. I had a hard time following them around because I wished they were more interesting to watch. I wished we were given compelling human beings rather than mouthpieces for ideological statements. With that in mind, what happens too often with message oriented movies is that they cease to exist as human drama and become simply an excuse to espouse a checklist of facts, ideas, and historical interpretations. This alone did not bother me, I applaud any filmmaker who tries to inject a political stance, as long as they don't sacrifice the drama because of it. That being said, Paradise Now, is worth seeing. It has a final shot that will stick with you long after you leave the theatre and it's a positive step in the right direction for future films like it.

Finally, the last was Good Night, and Good Luck. Really strong film and before I get into it let me just pause a moment to appreciate the talents of George Clooney...
I know, he was a tv actor on a remarkably successfull drama, and yes it took him a while to find roles suited for him (with the exception of from dusk till dawn which fit him like a speedo) But right now, I think he is on a roll, he directed this film, he's got Syriana coming out in november (which looks fucking amazing) and he's got another collaboration with Soderbergh out next year. Personally I think making out of sight back in 1998 was the best thing that could have happened to him, and kudos to soderbergh for taking a chance on him. Something I really admire about Clooney is that he cares, he said a few days ago that he wanted to make more politically oriented films like the paranoid thrillers of the 60's and 70's and that makes me happy to hear a hollywood star wants to make films that challenge popular opinion. That doesn't mean they are all going to be great, but they at least they are not complacent with the popular culture of today. They attempt to be subversive. Films like Good Night, and Good Luck want to engage us and not simply bore us to tears. Clooney wants to make films like this and the fact that he directed Good Night is an indication that he will put himself on the line to do so. He's like a non-psycho version of tom cruise, neither of them are "great" actors but when they are good, they are better than good. And most importantly, they work their asses off on every project they are involved with, and they care about the movies they make. I don't know, I was just thinking about what a steady and positive contribution George Clooney has made over the years and I'm glad he's doing it.

On to good night, and good luck. I know I've been saying this a lot but I really liked this film. Clooney shows a remarkable restraint and amazing improvement over his last film confessions of a dangerous mind, a film I liked but grew tiresome with because it was 8 billion different things at one time. Good night has none of that bullshit, it's a claustrophobic thriller only instead of submarines and gene hackmen it's white guys with glasses smoking cigarettes while duking it out on the air with stone cold killers like joe mccarthy. What I especially liked about the film was the fact that while their was definitely some mythologizing and hero worship going on (I think it's impossible to avoid such pratfalls myself) a lot of it was subdued by the fact that the cast went out of its way to paint these people as recognizably human. They joke, they make sarcastic comments, and they treat their cause not like a cause, but rather something that simply should be done. The CBS studios they inhabit are filmed like a Byzantine maze, always contorting itself into some new shape and direction, finding new areas for the actors to hide or be discovered. It's a dizzying effect, giving one the feeling of constant motion and a real time documentary feel as we watch this story unfold. I don't think I can say enough how masterfully this film is directed, but I'm having a Clooney induced love fest so maybe that's what that's all about. Fascinating film, David Strathairn is great and he is one of those actors like Frank langella (who is also in the film) that seems to float by from film to film and deliver strong work every time out but never really achieve the recognition they deserve. It's great that this month two films, one starring phillip seymour hoffman and this one with strathairn are giving two great performers the chance to be actors and not just character actors.

Okay, I think that's enough, I could go on about squid and the whale, but I've already talked about that. Check out a mid july post to get the skinny on that film, but in short I loved it and I think everybody and their mothers should go see it, together. Or mix and match what do I care. So I hope this blog entry was long enough, I hope you enjoy reading it....suckers.

"Don't say your sorry
Cause sorry means something is wrong"

p.s. I suck as a critic I know, but I've got to be better than Rex Reed right?

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Remember when we were kids, remember what we used to say to each other?

EXT. BENCH. DAY

Sammy and Terry sit on a bench near the bus stop. Terry's
backpack is by his side.

SAMMY
Do you need some cash for the bus?

TERRY
No, I got a few bucks... Aren't you
gonna be late for work?

SAMMY
Oh -- Yeah. That's OK.
(Pause)
Terry, I don't even know where you're
going.

TERRY
Oh, well, I didn't really have a
concrete plan yet. I have to go back
to Worcester and get my stuff...

SAMMY
Oh, are you gonna try to see that
girl?

TERRY
Well... Yeah... You know... Thought
maybe I'd try to show my face... Let
her brother have a crack at me...

SAMMY
What?

TERRY
No...

SAMMY
...I don't want anyone to have a
crack at you.

TERRY
I'm just kidding. I just thought...
Just thought I'd check up on her...
(Pause)
Anyway, after that, I don't really
know. I've been thinking about Alaska
a lot. I still got some friends out
there. I don't really know. Anyway,
I'll write you.

SAMMY
You will?

TERRY
Sure, Sammy. Of course I will. You
know that.

Pause.

SAMMY
What is gonna happen to you?

TERRY
Nothing too bad... But I gotta tell
you, I know things didn't work out
too well this time...

SAMMY
Well, Terry --

TERRY
...but it's always really good to
know that wherever I am, whatever
stupid shit I'm doing, you're back
at my home, rooting for me.

SAMMY
I do root for you.

She starts crying, and looks down.

TERRY
Come on, Sammy. Everything's gonna
be all right... Comparatively... And
I'll be back this way...

SAMMY
I feel like I'm never gonna see you
again...!

TERRY
Of course you will, Sammy. You never
have to worry about that.

SAMMY
Please don't go till you know where
you're going. Please...!

TERRY
I do know where I'm going. I'm going
to Worcester and I'm gonna try to
see that girl. And then depending on
what happens there, I thought I'd
try to see if there's any work for
me out West. And if there is, I'm
gonna head out there for the summer
and try to make some money. And if
there isn't, I'll figure something
else out. Maybe I'll stay around the
East. I don't know... I really liked
it in Alaska. It was really beautiful.
You just -- It made me feel good.
And before things got so messed up I
was doin' pretty well out there.
Seriously. But I couldn't stay here
long, Sammy: I don't want to live
here. But I'm gonna stay in touch.
And I'll be back. 'Cause I want to
see you and I want to see Rudy. I'll
come home for Christmas. How about
that? We'll have Christmas together.
(Pause)
Come on, Sammy. You can trust me...

Still looking down, Sammy shakes her head, tears leaking
down her cheeks.

TERRY
Come on, Sammy... Look at me... Look
at me...

She looks at him.

TERRY
Hey, Sammy... Remember when we were
kids, remember what we always used
to say to each other . . .?
(Pause)
Remember when we were kids?

SAMMY
Of course I do...!

She throws her arms around his neck. He pats her gently.

INT./EXT. BUS. DAY

The DOORS OPEN and Terry comes up the steps and into the
bus. Outside, Sammy watches him pay the driver and move
through the bus toward his seat. The BUS DOORS CLOSE.

EXT. BUS. CONTINUOUS

Sammy waves till the BUS DRIVES all the way down MAIN STREET,
turns a corner and is gone.

INT. BUS. CONTINUOUS

Terry, in his seat, turns forward and watches the view go
by. He smiles a little.

INT. SAMMY'S CAR (MOVING). DAY

The morning sunlight flickers through the windshield into
the car as Sammy drives along toward work. She passes the
TOWN HALL CLOCK and sees that it's 9:20.

She dries her damp cheek with a forearm and rolls down her
window to let the morning breeze blow through.

Squaring her shoulders a little, she drives through town at
a slow and easy pace.

The days are just packed...

I read a review of the complete calvin and hobbes collection that is about to be released.

I found this from a calvin and hobbes website, it's a poem from Scientific Progress Goes Boink!

It's not even worth the attempt to put into words the genius of those books. I just wish Watterson would give up his whole anti marketing and licensing stance (although that's probably what I most admire him for) and let me make the movie. Think about it, it could totally be a Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller/Sin City collaboration. I would just take the dialogue word for word from the text and slap it up on screen. I wish I knew more about animation though, because doing this live action would just be stoopid. But assuming I am an animation wizard, he would be a co-director of course and I would absolutely not tamper with his vision and turn calvin and hobbes into some kind of racing stripes talking animal movie kids movie. It would be an important kids movie, but oh well, maybe someday. The books are still here, and they are just one of those things that will never go away for me, it's funny because they always make me nostalgic for when I read them the first time. Some of the images and words, I can pin point a pretty close approximation as to when and where I read them. Then I read them again, now, and I'm not nostalgic anymore, because I'm right back to those moments. I guess that's how nostalgia works though isn't it? Oh well, I'll take whatever I can get. And these books give a lot, because the more you know, the more you grow...

On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.
Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and isses from the fire
Whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
On his back and dreaming deep.
When te fire makes him hot,
He turns to warm whatever's not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gentle hug.
Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
But I can wait a little more.

Friday, September 30, 2005

I done fucked up in the game now...

Sorry, I forgot to give the address for Bennett's response to his own comments:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300008

You can also hear Rush Limbaugh defending his pal...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509300009

Check it out.

We have a black man in a mercedes driving the speed limit...take him down.

First of all, can somebody tell me what fucking century we are in right now?

And before anybody gets huffy, yes, I'm going to quote this out of context. But you can read the entire transcript and hear the damn thing at www.mediamatters.org, the following was said by Bill Bennett, the former Secretary of Education under Reagan

BENNETT: "Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Apparently somebody called his show claiming that the lost revenue from all the aborted fetuses from the past 30 years would be enough to preserve America's Social Security's solvency. And Bennett went on to make the point that such ridiculous extrapolations like that of aborting every black fetus would lower the crime rate, have the right idea but they are too dangerous, immoral, and wrong by design. I like how he covers himself there at the end, we wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea.

Maybe I'm looking into this too much, but this is sounding like some colonial slave talk right here. Wasn't one of the arguments for the slave trade the idea that Africans were incapable of living by themselves because of their savage nature? That they would tear themselves limb from limb if it weren't for their white saviors, what the fuck is going on? People still think like this? Is this guy really saying that the crime problem in this country will dwindle if the African-American new born population is discontinued? How long until somebody suggests this to living breathing human bodies? I don't want to get melodramatic and all doom propheting and there's probably no connection to this kind of thinking from idea to practice, but this is really freaking me out nonetheless. He's not advocating this solution, but his words indicate that the reasoning behind it is not completely artificial. And it's not just that he's a racist, that's not what bothers me about this. Yes, it's reprehensible to say that black people are predisposed to crime and violence, don't get me wrong. But this guy's line of thinking is so violently aggressive and hateful. I just don't understand how anybody could react like this in the year 2005. At the same time, I understand also that this guy (hopefully) speaks for a very limited and powerless minority, but then again he was the Secretary of Education for the united states, he's in charge of the education standards for the children of this country. Again, what the fuck?

If a former or current government official went on CNN and said that the world was flat, wouldn't he be discredited and laughed off to obscurity. Hopefully the same will happen to this guy.

The day after he made the initial comments, like Pat Robertson, he was back to discredit his attackers (as he calls them, why do all these right-wing guys think they're martyrs?) But, as it turns out he defended his comments with more falsehoods. You can read his response here, which never really addresses the true nature of his words, merely the context in which his dumbass presented them. I know what I heard, and believe me, it doesn't bring me any pleasure to write about shit like this, hopefully this guy will wise up. I used to think people still hated each other as much now as they did back then, they just knew how to hide it better. I guess they're not hiding it anymore.

I'll let PVT. Train take you home...
"This great evil--where's it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doing this? Who's killing us, robbing us of life and light, mocking us with the sight of what we mighta known? Does our ruin benefit the earth, does it help the grass to grow and the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you too? Have you passed through this night?"

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

the wind

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for while

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while

Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for while

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for while

These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for while

Keep me in your heart for while

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Oh sirrah! A man writing an opera about a woman? How delightfully absurd!

So, at the opera last night...

I don't think anybody expected this blog to begin like that.

Seriously though, I went to an opera last night at Lincoln Center, Falstaff was a name of it and it was operacized version of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor with some King Henry IV thrown in for good measure. And it's the damndest thing, I really liked it. It's not that I expected not to like it, it's just that I didn't know what to expect. The only opera experience I've had prior to this was La Boheme but that was a Baz Lhurman production so that was really like a big elaborate lazer show really. No, that was really good to but you know how he is, everything's gotta be boom boom boom! Getting back to falstaff though, it was a beautifully designed, lavishly decorated, and seriously well sung performance. The ending was something out of a great screwball comedy, come to think of it shakespeare is sort of the grandaddy of all screwball comedies, and somebody should thank for him for that. Opera has always puzzled me in that it's just so hard to put a human face on that singing, it doesn't sound natural. This is not a criticism of any kind, but being the simple minded person that I am, I still marvel over the fact that these are human voices making these sounds. I just can't comprehend how someone finds and develops that gift, it just seems so extraordinary, I guess a lot of singing is like that though. I remember reading somewhere that Rufus Wainwright gets heaps and loads of musical inspiration from Opera, not just in his singing style and musical taste, but in his lyrics as well. So much of what he has seen in opera, he has translated into his words, hopefully someday he can write an opera that will stop all the world. That will show everybody. But yeah I had a fabuloso time last night, and one more thing before I wrap this up, that Lincoln Center has one grand old theatre, to see a full blown opera up on that stage is something I'm really glad I got to see. Plus I was with ravishingly beautiful company so that didn't hurt. There was one little minor fib on my part, apparently and if somebody wants to break this down too me this, now is the time: I chew my gum too loudly. Right after the first scene in the first act, the woman in front of me asked me if I could stop chewing my gum because she could hear it the entire time. I half expected a chorus line of oompa-loompa's to come cartwheeling in singing about the horrors of chewing and chewing all day long. I guess since I don't chew gum as often as I used to I'd forgotten about proper etiquette, so wherever that woman is I apologize. Remember that kids, gum and opera just don't mix, and I can't be taken anywhere.
That unfortunate business aside...
I want to say one more time and I promise and absolutely swear this will be it. Thank you, dev.

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is...and felt how awful goodness is."

(This quote really has nothing to do with the opera, I just saw it on a website and felt like posting it)
Okay, I'm off...

Monday, September 26, 2005

Take that, Miklos Rozsa!

AFI Recognizes Most Memorable Film Score

The American Film Institute revealed its top 25 Film Scores of the past 100 years on September 23rd at the Hollywood Bowl.

A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams' iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.

1 STAR WARS - John Williams


2 GONE WITH THE WIND - Max Steiner
3 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - Maurice Jarre
4 PSYCHO - Bernard Herrmann
5 THE GODFATHER - Nino Rota
6 JAWS - John Williams
7 LAURA - David Raksin
8 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - Elmer Bernstein
9 CHINATOWN - Jerry Goldsmith
10 HIGH NOON - Dimitri Tiomkin
11 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
12 VERTIGO - Bernard Herrmann
13 KING KONG - Max Steiner
14 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL - John Williams
15 OUT OF AFRICA - John Barry
16 SUNSET BLVD. - Franz Waxman
17 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Elmer Bernstein
18 PLANET OF THE APES - Jerry Goldsmith
19 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - Alex North
20 THE PINK PANTHER - Henry Mancini
21 BEN-HUR - Miklos Rozsa
22 ON THE WATERFRONT - Leonard Bernstein
23 THE MISSION - Ennio Morricone
24 ON GOLDEN POND - Dave Grusin
25 HOW THE WEST WAS WON - Alfred Newman

KING KONG AINT GOT SHIT ON ME!!!!

Sunday, September 25, 2005

YEAH lord of WAR!!!

As you can tell by the title of this here post, I finally got around to seeing Lord of War. I saw it at the Loews on 34th street right near penn station and I only mention this because tickets were only 9.50, that's a horse of a differnt color. So yeah maybe I should do all my thievin up there from now on. Anyway Lord of War was one of my big ticket (i totally sounded like leonard maltin there, who is by the way the most attractive critic on television) fall movies for the specific reason being that it was written directed by andrew niccol. Writer of the truman show and director of the criminally ignored and underrated gattaca, he has a knack for alternative realities and posing questions about humanities relationship to its paritcular environment. At least that's what the film school side of me says, and on top of that he's a fucking sharp writer and director. Lord of War is definitely his most ambitious and most technically assured film to date, there is a knockout opening sequence tracing the construction and eventual usage of a bullet told from that perspective. People have compared the style of this film to David O's Three Kings, I don't really see that. This looks like an andrew niccol film, he seems to have a thing for sleekness whereas Russell is much grittier and used. Anyway as I was saying this film is in some ways a colosssal leap for him in terms of thematic qualities but otherwise it fits right into his normal milleu of obsessions, except, unfortunately for us, this film takes place in our time and claims to have been based on a true story. Not to divulge too much story and bore you with details, it's basically about the rise of a ukrainian gun runner who keeps everything about his life secret from his model wife while dodging and evading a determined interpol agent, all the while juggling his coke head brother who used to be in business with him. This is where the film failed for me, it feels like Niccol had all these angry and cynical things to say but couldn't find the right device for them story wise. The plot feels too ordinary and Niccol is too smart of a writer to not at least know he was exploiting cliches. Don't get me wrong, this is a strong film Cage is great and there is something very angry about this film that makes you laugh at certain points where you're not really sure whether you are supposed to be laughing. Sure parts of it are over done, like Cage's extended drugged out sequence, but at the same time you admire a film that has an excess of ambition rather than one scared of it. I'm not saying that makes bad movies good, but sometimes if a film tries at all you can see the passion and integrity that went into it and you admire it just a little bit more. So yeah, go see it if you have the chance if only to support andrew niccol's career and grant him the opportunity to make more films.

In conclusion to yesterday's thrilling entry, I missed the floating island again, this time at Carl Shurz. I just didn't have enough time to get up there, stupid lack of public urinals. And when I got there the river was bone dry (with tugboats that is) Its too bad because the more I read about it, the more interesting it sounded. This guy was saying that the whole thing was a tribute to the brain behind central park. And that it is a testament to man made nature the same way that central park was just a dump until somebody decided to simply dump more grass and trees on top of it to make the postcard image we see today. It's just interesting to take a small chunk of that almost and drag it around the island, I dont know maybe i just really like tugboats. Come to think of it I dont think I've ever seen one in person, someday, someday.

Tonight's simpsons had the best O.C. parody ever and one of the best lines about divorce ever. I hope I can remember this

" But Lis, if mom and dad get divorced, you can compensate by marrying a much older man. Meanwhile, I'll be one of those 35 year old guys who hangs out at high school basketball games."

Saturday, September 24, 2005

I missed the goddamn tugboats

So I went looking for the floating island exhibit, floating all around the island of manhattan. Apparently this guy thought it would be quite quirking if he installed dirt, grass and trees onto a barge and lugged it up, down, crossways, and sideways in the waters of the east river. The point being I went to see it today at the East River Park, which according to the artists' website is located at the East River and E. Houston Street. Easy enough to find right? Well let's just say if this were an Indiana Jones movie and they cut to one of those shots with a map and a thick black line indicating my journey from point A to point B, it probably would have looked like it was written with a spirograph. I went in the most convoluted, roundabout, exactly the wrong way to go to get there and on top of all that I missed the fucking thing. So I'm going tomorrow to Carl Shurz park where somebody shot a frankly lame boy and girl piece there last year to try this again tomorrow about 11:15 ish I think in the AM, if there are any takers well, it's not exactly mai-thais and yahtzee but LET'S DO IT!!!! But the fact remains that I still know nothing about New York City. I could have walked down to water street from where I ended up and not even noticed it. Quite lame

At least it was a nice day today...

Something that has come to my attention however, I know some people who've lost some people recently. And I thought of this quote as all I could think to add. From an oft quoted band on this blog: Eels, the song P.S. You Rock My World. Which has no relation whatsoever to the award winning short of the same name, I can assure the director was not aware that the Eels' P.S. and his P.S. stood for the same thing. That's all, anyway here's the line for those we have lost.

"...and i was thinking 'bout how everyone is dying and maybe it is time to live."

Thursday, September 22, 2005

More quotes part deux...

I'm a fuckin' un-original bastard...

"I was married, I mean I haven't been for five years. My wife died in an accident just south of town. She was picking up my youngest son from baseball practice, on the way home she was at an intersection. And there was this guy he was coming the other way and he was trying to beat a yellow light, but it was raining so he changed his mind and he tried to stop but it was too late. The car went into a skid and he skidded across the intersection and he slammed into my wife's car. She died on the way to the hopsital, and I never got to speak to her again. Yeah, it could have been worse, I mean thank god Pete made it through it. He's okay more or less. You know it's really weird, sometimes when I'm concentrating on something really hard or in the morning, just as I'm waking up, I forget. Just for a second, I forget. You know it's this really strange thing where everything you build your life on, everythink you think you are is just gone. It's just gone."

Where would we be without indie family dramas?

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

In the jingle jangle morning, I'll come following you...

They're buildin' the gallows outside my cell.
I got 25 minutes to go.

And in 25 minutes I'll be in Hell.
I got 24 minutes to go.

Well, they give me some beans for my last meal.
23 minutes to go.

And you know... nobody asked me how I feel.
I got 22 minutes to go.

So, I wrote to the Gov'nor... the whole damned bunch.
Ahhh... 21 minutes to go.

And I call up the Mayor, and he's out to lunch.

I got 20 more minutes to go.

Well, the Sheriff says, "Boy, I wanna watch you die".
19 minutes to go.

I spit in his face... and I kicked him in the eye.
I got 18 minutes to go.

Well...I call out to the Warden to hear my plea.
17 minute to go.

He says, "Call me back in a week or three.
You've got 16 minutes to go."

Well, my lawyer says he's sorry he missed my case.
Mmmm....15 minutes to go.

Yeah, well if you're so sorry, come up and take my place.
I got 14 minutes to go.

Well, now here comes the padre to save my soul
With 13 minutes to go.

And he's talkin' about burnin', but I'm so damned cold.
I got 12 more minutes to go.

Now they're testin' the trap. It chills my spine.
I got 11 minutes to go.

'Cuz the goddamned thing it works just fine.
I got 10 more minutes to go.

I'm waitin' for the pardon... gonna set me free
With 9 more minutes to go.

But this ain't the movies, so to hell with me.
I got 8 more minutes to go.

And now I'm climbin up the ladder with a scaffold peg
With 7 more minutes to go.

I've betta' watch my step or else I'll break my leg.
I got 6 more minutes to go.

Yeah... with my feet on the trap and my head in the noose...
5 more minutes to go.

Well, c'mon somethin' and cut me loose.
I got 4 more minutes to go.

I can see the mountains. I see the sky.
3 more minutes to go.

And it's too damned pretty for a man to die.
i got 2 more minutes to go

I can hear the buzzards... hear the crows.
1 more minute to go.

And now I'm swingin' and here I gooooooooo....

Monday, September 19, 2005

Sigur Ros makes the most hopeful, inspiring, jaw-dropping, serene, calming, beautiful, devastating, and flat out rockingest music I've ever heard.

I stole the title of this post from the name of a facebook group, except replace sigur ros with bright eyes, so that's the origin of that.

Anyway, to piggy back off of nate's last post, the new sigur ros album Takk... is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music I've ever heard in a long long time. I know I tend to droll at the bit over a lot of things on this blog (Star Wars, Eels, the gathering darkness) but this album makes me weep. And seeing them at the beacon last monday night was like some kind of miracle, the show was awe inspiring, you hear these sounds on a record and you think to yourself, well yeah it's all machine processed and manipulated. Once you see that it's just these four icelandic dudes rockin out, it makes you feel like all the things Robin Williams tells Matt Damon he's missed on that park bench in Good Will Hunting. First off, singer jónsi birgisson's voice sounds like Thom Yorke's DNA reconstituted into the body of a ghostly angelic Icelandic child. I do now know how he does it, but goddamn, whoever encouraged him as a child into music should have endless amounts of riches and doubloons heaped upon them. The standout tracks are the previously written about Glósóli and Sæglópur, but Mílanó, Andvari, and Hoppípolla are just like as one reviewer put it rather ostentatiously, listenting to god cry tears of gold. That's ridiculous I know but the point remains. Hell the whole album is spectacular, these guys seem to get better and better with every new recorded output, this is their best album yet. Takk indeed.

With all this being said, I should recognize a major failing of mine and apologize to Mark Primeaux. I remember in 11th or 12th grade, I forget which, he came into muz (our lunchtime music listening club) and was really jazzed about this band sigur ros and their album Ágætis Byrjun. Me being the damned fool that I was and still am, looked at the cover with its angel fetus plugged into some kind of electrical device and hearing about how the guitar player uses a violin bow instead of a pick. I brushed them off as weirdos and didn't even give them a chance, laughed them off as a wannabe radiohead.
Ah the foul stench of youth how it corrupted ye... Luckily I am much older and much wiser now, so I know better.
Sorry Mark, you were so fucking right.

"Night falling on the city
Sparkling red and gold
Don’t it just look so pretty
This disappearing world"

P.S. The new david gray album is really good too.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Come on y'all, eat some of this shit!

There's a really interesting article in the new york times this weekend, it's part of the fall movie preview. A.O. Scott wrote about how movies this fall and movies in general are tending towards fantasy, nostalgia, and in some cases a flat out retreat to adolesence. Movies are not really being made about what it's like to live in america and the world right now, and when they are, they're overwrought pieces of self-serious wildly unrealistic trash like crash, hey that rhymes. He closes his article with something I thought I would never hear a film critic say and I dig it...

"Or maybe not. Several recent movies have sparked interesting conversations - about the war in Iraq, the fight against terrorism, the ethics of human cloning. These were the action blockbusters of the past summer: remakes, sequels and franchise pictures like "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins," "War of the Worlds" and even "The Island." Last fall the movie that galvanized similar reflection was "The Incredibles." Of course, all these movies deal with contemporary reality on the level of allegory, which provides its own form of distance. But it is interesting that the half-encoded topical meanings found in them seem to be part of the intentions of their makers, rather than the projections of critics and other interpreters. It may be that the role of the blockbuster is to engage with matters that more self-consciously serious movies shy away from. I can't wait until next summer."

That being said, I decided to post a list of the ten films (That's a good number for lists like this) that I am excited to see this fall. Luckily, since I am not a film critic I do not look at the list as symoblizing some sort of sociological trend in filmmaking, I just see a bunch of rad-ass movies, I'm going to shell out 10.75 and up for this fall. Then again, I did see A Sound of Thunder, well there's one off the list.

The following is in no particular order

-Elizabethtown
-Jarhead
-The New World
-Lord of War (although that's tricky since it's coming out next week, but Andrew Niccol kicks ass)
-The Corpse Bride (again, next week, I hope all the good shit doesnt't come out right away and then vanish)
-Good Night, and Good Luck
-Capote
-Brokeback Mountain
-All The King's Men
-Syriana

This was actually more difficult than I expected, everything save for the last two films I have seen trailers for so I have some idea what they're going to be like. With King's and Syriana, what I've read and who is involved has got me chompin at the bit. I realized going through the films this fall that there are a few flicks like Stay (written by David Benioff) Prime (Directed by Ben Younger) and the infamous Get rich or Die Tryin (directed by Jim Sheridan). The names I associated with these films are the reason I want to see them, but for one reason or another their perspective trailers just haven't really done it for me. I really want them to be good, meaningful films but I am not completely assured yet. And none of the event movies this fall are doing anything for me, I could, however, use some more films from David Gordon Green, David O. Russell, and Wes Anderson and why not throw in another eerily beautiful minimalistic gus van sant film while your at it. That being said, I'm sure there's stuff I've forgotten about and hopefully there will be constant surprises in the coming months.

Before I go I have to give a big "whaddup" to a film First Run Features is putting out this fall, it's called One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern, it's about the 72 McGovern campaign if you haven't figured that out. And it features interviews with grown up nerds like Gore Vidal, Warren Beatty, and Gloria Steinem. And it's narrated by Amy Goodman, who kicks ass every day on her radio show democracy now. That being said, it looks interesting, I haven't seen it yet but I will, I like movies.

Sorry, one more thing, The Squid and the Whale is coming out this fall, pretty soon I think, it's fantastic, I didn't put it on the list cause I already seen it. That is to say I saw it. You, however should see it.

Thus, I good you bid evening...

"The man-poet who banged Frances - dark lady of philosophy. The parking lot crusader of truth... who turned his back on his other like a cold-blooded gangsta."

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Don't mind if I already did...

I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant...

That's right, kounterklockwise is back, comin' out GUNS BLAZING!!!! Head on over to the site and check it out.

www.kounterklockwise.com I still dont know how to put links or any of that other fancy shit. That's as good as I can do. Deal.

On a lighter note, you can also go to http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/ and watch sigur ros's new music video. It will restore your faith in music videos again. Well, probably not but it's absolutely beautiful and the song kicks ass, plus its got weird doll like icelandic kids walking around enjoying each other's company, dancing, holding their evil in check. It's just a great video, I was telling nate that the last time I got the same reaction from one of those things was when I watched the scientist video way back in freshman year. I'm sure there are milliions of other great music videos out there, I just gave up on them a while ago, but this one is a shocker alright.

There's more stuff to report but I'll do that in the coming days with more frequent posts. I just wanted to get you fools to watch that sigur ros video. That is all.

"So? I'm just as important as him.
It's just that, the kind of importance I have ...it doesn't matter if I ... don't do it."