All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone

A lot of new stuff to report.
But as they say, out with old, in with the nucleus.

First of all, the explosions in the sky and kevin devine concerts last week were wonderful experiences. Those two are acts that get better every time I see them, and I feel like I know their music so well that it becomes a much more personal experience. Especially Kevin Devine, who played a quiet and intimate set with just a guitar that was the loudest and energetic I've ever seen him. While I hope he achieves success because he deserves it, I also hope he remains relatively close to the status he is now. I don't want to be one of those guys who wants to keep an artist all to himself, but can't I just have Kevin Devine? One day, I will write a movie set to his music...one day. Same goes for explosions, I just hope these guys keep making better music and as long as they have the means to keep doing so, I could give a damn whether they have a video or Rolling Stone writes a cover story about them. Anyway they both put on a great live show, and everybody should try to seem at least once. You best.

Second of all, Babel is one of the best movies I've seen all year. It's a divider, apparently some people falling into the love it camp and others falling into the hate it group. I personally loved it, I think Inarritu makes films like nobody else. I put him in the same class as Terrence Malick in that his films make emotional sense rather than narrative sense. And if you're up for it, it can be one hell of a movie going experience. It overwhelms not only with its cinematic power but also how it delves into the moments that make up a life. It does it without ever becomeing grandoise or self-indulgent, Babel springs from the minds of people who see the brighest light in the darkest night. Babel is a reason why movies are still important and always will be to me.

I have one last thing to share, this was something I was thinking about on the way home from work today. It all ties into the honesty of kevin devin'e music and the beauty of Inarritu's film. I think it does, but just assume it does and we'll meet up halfway.

It all started when I went to a bonified L.A. party this past weekend. I don't say that to be glib or to brag, I'm just an observer relaying how an incident sprung forth some supposed insight from my mind. Anyway we go to this party and for one thing my name was on the guest list. I thought it was very strange that while these two nicely dressed women were pleading with the bouncer to make some special arrangement to let another one of their friends in, Danno and I stroll in like VIP. Me and my dashboard hoodie and my tattered rags, gettin the velvet rope pulled aside for us. Something just didn't seem right. Then we're at the party and it's like everything I'd ever seen in a movie before about L.A. A lot of fake. Fake smiles, other fake body parts. People walking in a certain motion that makes it look like they're posing on a runway, even as they walk to the bathroom. Topher Grace strolled by us on his way to the bathroom, he didn't have a pose, he seemed pretty normal. Sorry about the name dropping, it's the only one I got for this story and I thought it helped add to the atmosphere. Everybody just seemed into this game they were all collectively playing. It seemed like the object was to appear as if you knew something the rest of the club didn't know. To appear as if you had all the answers and were not anywhere near divulging them with the rest of us. It seemed like a very isolating game, but I guess if you're playing with like minded people, it becomes a group effort. People just seemed out to one up each other on every possible level.

This got me thinking about creativity and artistic expression. Where does it happen in all this? How does someone say someting personal about life through this? Not that this was the be all end all of film producion in Los Angeles but a good portion of these people have a lot stake in the process. I've always thought of filmmaking as a chance to say something and connect with someone else in a way that is unlike any other connection possible. It's hard to explain but think about how you felt when you saw a film that really meant something to you. Where you could tell the creators put themself on the line and said something so unabashadely sincere that if this were an alternate universe, you could have made that movie. That's filmmaking, not agents, managers, assistants, executive assistants, clubs, events, bookings, deals, and all the other stuff that people seem to talk about more than what those terms are supposed to support: creativity. I'm sure this will be met with a collective eye-roll, seeing as how I've only been out here a month and a half and am nowhere near grasping how this industry works. I admit to that, but from what I have observed in my time here, this is how I process all of it. I don't have any answers, just more questions. I know I sound naive, but movies to me have never been about what they seem to be about. They're about something I can't name but I've felt it, and hope to capture one day on my own. I don't know, I guess I just felt out of place at this shindig, maybe that's all there is to it.

Sorry for the conclusion, I guess I just ran out of steam.

Good night.

I lost my gun today when I left you and I'm the laughingstock of a lot of people. I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know and it's on my mind. And it makes me look like a fool. And I feel like a fool. And you asked that we should say things - that we should say what we're thinking and not lie about things. Well, I can tell you that, this, that I lost my gun today - and I am not a good cop. And I'm looked down at. And I know that. And I'm scared that once you find that out you may not like me.

I can't let this go. I can't let you go. Now, you... you listen to me now. You're a good person. You're a good and beautiful person and I won't let you walk out on me. And I won't let you say those things - those things about how stupid you are and this and that. I won't stand for that. You want to be with me... then you be with me. You see?

GABE WATCH THIS!!!!!

So let's shake and trade and be on our way...

Let's go, go, go.

Not much new to report today, I just felt like jotting down a few things before I shuffle off to bed.

The cable box on my television struggles to survive and continue feeding me pictures of the new Real World Denver cast, this is extremeley important to me right now.

I bought the Jóhann Jóhannsson cd on itunes today per nate's suggestion and now I'm listening to another band called On Fire, they were also from itunes. I randomly found them and somebody said they made beautiful music on a par with Sigur Ros, how can I turn that down? Also Johann seems pretty good so far.

The new Spiderman 3 trailer is pretty damn cool. I still don't know who or what venom is, but the movie looks like it's going to blow us out of the back of the theatre.

I'm going to see Babel tomorrow night and the director is going to be there for a post film Q+A, not that I will ask a question but he is one of my favorite directors so it will be cool to see him in person and hear what he has to say. I also really want to see Babel, like really really want to see it. It's going to be big, Gabby Hayes big.

I wish I had some cool stories to report, but my journeys at the Sony Lot have yielded nothing yet, but hold on. Just like Tom Waits said, we gotta hold on and something will happen.

That's it for me, I'm Joe Namath, good night america.

"You still can change, you have to know you still can change
I know, I know, for now I want to be this way
This was a choice this was never a mistake
This was never a mistake."

We're not lost and I'm not embarrassed for us all...

I just want to preface this by warning I will not be revealing any new revelations about the election, pretty much everything I have to say has probably been said by somebody much much better than me, much. Check out Greenwald's blog, go over to Democracy Now! Crooks and Liar Kos AmericaBlog, I'm sure they have some good insight into the whole bloddy affair.

I gotta say it feels weird, Jarrad makes a good point that it's so hard to determine in politics whether one party really does have the right answer. Politics has a lot to do with personal decisions, morals, and conscience and it's hard to do that with party politics playing as big a role as they do. At the same time, I'm all with Nate's righteous anger (I'm sure Jarrad is too). I think change is a step in the right direction and I think the people who have led this country into the place it is in now deserve some kind of retribution, if losing the job's is the least that happens to them they should consider themselves lucky. And I think this speaks volumes to the will of the people and to the resounding rejection of fear mongering and severely anti-democratic measures perpetrated upon the citizens by the so called safe guards of democracy. To polish off an old chestnut, we're mad as hell and have voted against taking it anymore.

On the other hand, I'm cautiously optimistic. As much as I don't agree with Nader most of the time, he brought up a good point on Democracy Now when he said the democrats ran on a non-mandate, they had no plan. They fed off the anger towards the republican party. Do they have a plan? I know that's always been a joke against the democratic party, but now that they are the majority, it's not really a joke anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy, but what happens if the anger dies down in 2008 and people go back to the voting patterns they displayed 2 and 4 years ago? These are all hypothetical and maybe I've grown too disillusioned with the whole American political system to believe something good has happened. I don't want to be that guy and I don't think I am. I know there are severe, solid differences between the two parties, and I do think now we have people in office who will listen to our complaints rather than live in a bubble. We will continue to complain and we should still keep a vigilant eye, now maybe they will be heard. I guess what it comes down to is that politicians from both parties have very different policies, but they all play the politics game. They're like movie studios, they want to put asses in the seats. They want to sell as many tickets as possible. They cater to the lowest common denominator.

I guess now is the time to celebrate the fact that our electoral process has, for the first time, since I've been aware of politics (that began in 2000), has atually reflected the will of the people. And it was not hijacked by a bunch of republican cronies and stolen from us. We spoke, they heard, things changed. Sure it's not perfect but it's the best system we have...

...for now.

And with that I leave you with kevin devine to wrap things up.

"The tabloids tell us hate the rat who strikes those subways closed and puts you out
Forget those 50-hour tunnel weeks inhaling steel dust poison through his mouth
Well if he don't deserve a pension that makes his family feel secure
If we're now so disconnected it's our relfections we ignore
And if our constant choice is skimming past the writing on the wall
Oh whoa oh woh
Then I'm sad to say we're lost and I'm embarrassed for us all"

The Black Parade

Apparently you tube didn't honor the URL I posted in the last entry.

So here's the video for the Black Parade, watch it and rock.

I also I just want to clarify that even though I said the album is about death and the band is optimistic. I was not being contradictory, the fact that they can be that way in the face of such gloom highlights just how talented they are.

It's later than it needs to be...

Apparently, the way this thing works is whenever I have a lot of stuff to report, I never actually write in my blog. I get the notion but then I think to myself, I have so much to say that I will eventually get frustrated with how badly I communicate it, it slowly becomes not worth it.

So now I have decided to write, but I'm not going to write a lot because I've noticed the last couple of entries have been unwieldy, I will try to be concise. I can't promise I'll try but I'll to try.

Saw two more movies to recommend to you all. The Prestige and Marie Antoinette, I liked Marie better but more on that in a second. Prestige is worth seeing because Christopher Nolan is developing into one of the most unique talents of his generations. I just watched Memento and insomnia again recently, Insomnia being insanely under appreciated in my book and Memento, I think pretty much damn near revolutionized the thriller genre. The only problem with Prestige is that it doesn't add up to much and the ending is a bit of a cheat. That being said, it's a great ride getting there.

With Marie, I think Sofia Coppola is also a singularly unique talent in her generation. She knows how to capture loneliness with the subtlest of gestures, it's captivating to watch. Marie has gotten a lot of flack for ignoring historical accuracies and for ignoring the political context of the story. I have no defense for either of those charges except to say, you missed the point, you fool. Seriously though, I think Coppola was going for more of a mood piece than a period piece. And her interpretation of marie antoinette leads me to believe she sympathized with her as a girl stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. And how the purpose she served was never to lead her own life, but to build up the lives of others. It's a sad story, and Coppola gives it the right amount of compassion and distance to feel her isolation. Plus versailles and the soundstrack are pretty stellar, this is a movie that has definitely grown on me since I saw it.

Speaking of Music, two really good albums I want to tell you about. The first one being kind of obvious: Kevin Devine's Put Your Ghost to Rest. Devine's gotta be my favorite singer songwriter working in music today. His songs have become so personal to me that they're like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen for a while. Plus he's advancing in ways I never predicted. His lyrics are sharper and much more powerful, his songwriting and arrangements have stepped into all kinds of new territories. He even has an alt country kind of song called Less Yesterday, More Today that hints at even better things to come. My only hope is his Capitol Records deal doesn't slow down his out put, he needs to keep making music. I love this album, I can't stop listening to it and I hope to make a movie one day set to his music, I'll be ripping him off anyway.

The second music item is really unexpected, it's The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Before you write these guys off as emo screamo weirdos. Let it be known, this album rocks and they too step out on such a ledge that I immediately admire them to not sticking to any kind of generic mtv playbook. They could have flopped hard, but I think they're flying inside right now. Black Parade is a concept album about a patient dying from cancer and the entire album is from his point of view on his death bed. Sounds like fun, but it actually is and I usually don't like really loud stadium rock but I'll be damned if I don't admit this guys me amped. Welcome to the Black Parade is the best single to be released so far this year and I think it will continue to be as such even when the year is over. I like My Chemical Romance because they're not afraid to be earnest and optimistic. And dammit, they mean everything they say and this shit is important to them. Any kind of compassion like that just uplifts my soul and makes me happy, I say more power to them. If you don't believe me then check it out for yoself...

The Black Parade.

Other than that, had a fun weekend in Monterey last weekend. Real pretty country up in those parts, Nate kicked ass in the half marathon, showed those country folk how a city boy runs it. Had a crowded Halloween this year where I not only missed Better than Ezra perform live, well that's pretty much all I missed. It was fun none the less, especially looking for parking.

Now if you'll excuse me, I will retire...

"So we laid glowing in the grass
To watch the sun swap with the moon
Trade our future for our past
The present tense was all we knew..."