Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Jack, I Swear...

I don't really have much to write about as a cohesive whole.
So, I'd rather make a bunch of little observations and notes.

-I'm a little more than halfway through Mark Oliver Everett's (E of EELS) memoir: Things The Grandchildren Should Know and before I jinx myself and the book I will say its a harrowing read comparable to Didion's Year of Magical Thinking. I don't really know what I was expecting but this has already far surpassed it. I will write more about this later except to warn you, read with a box of kleenex and maybe a good friend or loved one nearby.

-If there is a planet Radiohead, I would like to live on it. Rolling Stone recently called them the band of the future, I would like to think we've been saving their music in a time capsule so that future generations will know what it was like to be alive at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. Also, their new album In Rainbows has officially reached the heights of masterpiece. (It just took a few listens) and try not to get chills after listening to videotape.

-The Heath Ledger story is an incredibly sad one. I don't really know what else to say, I had planned on writing a long tribute to him analyzing his performance in Brokeback Mountain. I decided it wasn't necessary and more words would only add to the clutter of noise surrounding his death. I just finished re-watching Brokeback Mountain and I will say, it's an absolutely beautiful performance. Daniel Day Lewis was completely right at the SAG awards, that last scene is like a punch to the gut. It's a tragedy when anyone dies, so I don't mean to prescribe more worth to Mr. Ledger's death than anyone else's But since he was in the public eye and we saw his contributions to the world, it's hard not to stop and think about what he was capable of and what we will now never see. At least we have Brokeback Mountain, and not to harp on this but this is the performance that completely turned me around on him, it's just breathtaking.

-I've decided that I hate award shows. I guess I'm just tired of seeing people with their heads lodged up their own asses in real life, I don't need to see it on television. Especially when it just boils down to 2 hours of advertisements and ten minutes of awards, I think I have better things to do with my time. Plus when we live in a country (here comes Mr. Self Righteous) where more people watch american idol than vote in a national election, I think we need to re-think our priorities. Also after watching Brokeback Mountain and thinking about how that piece of shit Crash won best picture (it was also up against good night and good luck, capote, and munich...dear lord). It's hard not to just want to actively boycott the damn things. Then I think about maybe I'm taking all of this a bit too seriously and like I said there are more important things to worry about, then I think about how JUNO might win best original screenplay.

And I'm right back where I started.

Good night.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watch American Idol.
I don't vote in elections.

I fail to see how the two are related. Please elaborate...

Anonymous said...

"The treachery of love — and also its promise — is that people can surprise you.

And so can movies. I’ve been known to complain about the abysmal quality of contemporary American romantic comedies, which forsake intelligence, individuality and emotional risk for crude sex jokes or gauzy bridal-magazine fantasies. While “Definitely, Maybe” is hardly perfect, it navigates the choppy waters of modern courtship with commendable, understated honesty. Perhaps the best evidence of this is that this movie, unlike almost every other Hollywood tale of New York singles, was actually filmed in the city."